This year, we will be organising a Franco-British flyin to encourage French private pilots (of whom there are many!) to cross the channel for the first time. Fly in and meet your contemporaries from across the channel, and enjoy a program of events (food and booze goes without saying, but some culture as well!).
More details on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/events/1213730081988450/
Or on the website: http://www.lingaero.com/FlyIn.HTM
Any questions, drop me an email to [email protected]
Too bad I’m probably away that weekend, I’d have liked to have gone to this to provide some of the British side.
In the diary!
Participants as of 15/05, with departure airfield included (if known) in case anyone wants to plane share
Confirmed
Mark S (Iceman) – Blackbushe – TB20
Veronique B. (president of the French aviation federation’s “female pilot” section) – Abbeville – Virus Microlight
2 x additional French microlights departing Abbeville with Monique
Vincent F. – Angouleme – DR400
Sebastien H. – Le Plessis Belleville (near Paris) – DR400
Possibles
Paul Sengupta – Bourne Park – Bulldog
Rob (skydriller) – Bordeaux – DR400
Dear all.
The event is drawing near, and, (touch wood) weather forecast looks good!
Provisional program
Friday night: Arrival and dinner at local pub
Saturday morning: Breakfast at airfield and more arrivals.
Sat afternoon: Visit Portsmouth historic ships
Saturday night: Curry
Sunday morning: Local flying
Sunday evening: depart
Accommodation is available close to the airfield. Let me know if you’d like to stay and I can sort it out for you.
For those staying the whole weekend there will be a fee of £55 per person payable on arrival which covers your landing and parking, rental of a minibus (and lift to hotel), and entry to the historic ships museum.
Here is a link to the (French) PDF information (I am just finishing the English version):
Great to meet you all today, and thank you for all the food and everything 
Thanks to all for this wonderful weeks, particularly @Bordeaux_Jim who organised the event, and the Lee Flying association which hosted us. We met lots of nice people that we look forward to seeing around various events in the coming years.
View from hotel room
Hotel surroundings
Some of the domestic aircraft that joined the event
HMS Warrior in the Portsmouth harbour. A 40-gun, armoured frigate built in 1860 with a steam engine and a propeller that can be hoisted out of the water when under sails to minimize drag. It never fired one round in anger.
Mont-St-Michel on its way to… France?
Upper deck of HMS Warrior
Lifeboat with a view
Part of the interior. Never really figured out what this was;
Nice, little steam engine powered by 10 boilers, half of which were under maintenance at any point in time.
One of Her Majesty’s proud destroyers with Britain’s finest trying to keep us at bay just in case. Most of us were French afterall…
HMS Warrior’s iron-cladden hull
Before-dinner drinks at the Roundabout hotel…
…where there is a local stag party
Weather on the way back. The French coast.
Arsène Lupin’s Aiguille Creuse: the Hollow Needle. Supposedly it contains the treasure accumulated by Arsène Lupin – the gentleman burglar.
Deauville (LFRG) was extremely busy on this nice Sunday.
Le Havre
Deauville on departure
Les Etangs de Hollande. Almost home.
Paris from the vantage point of ILS25R to Toussus (LFPN)
Orly (LFPO)
More Paris. One never gets tired of this.
Final to runway 25R at Toussus
Nuclear reactors at Saclay just off the Toussus perimeter.
Thanks to all who came.
Was a pleasure to put some faces to names and to see some French pilots making their very first channel crossing.
A fun weekend of aviation geekery, food, beer, and sun was had by all.
Hope to see some of you down in Bordeaux for the “return match” at the end of this month.
