Sedan (LFSJ)

My very first landing in France in 2021! Normally, by this time of year, I would have done at least one bigger trip to France, as well as a few day trips. But this year, not so. Until June, flying to France would have been a hassle for me, since I wasn’t yet vaccinated. In July, I just happened to fly elsewhere, and in August, I just so happened that I didn’t fly at all.

So last Sunday, with brilliant late summer weather all around, it was time. Nothing too special, but worth a short writeup. Also because I was finally back in the saddle of the V-tail. Yeah!

As my destination, I chose Sedan-Douzy (LFSJ). I have previously made a short stop there, but at the time I didn’t venture further afield. It’s 50 minutes from Mainz (EDFZ) in the Bonanza, more or less tracking due west, through Luxembourg and a bit of southern Belgium.

Here she is.

The “cold” cockpit.

The main wings tanks were full as well as one of the wing aux tanks, which gave me more than enough juice, so I didn’t even have to get fuel.
This meant that despite a leisurely start of the morning, I was airborne at half past nine.

Departing Mainz-Finthen.

I climbed to 5000 feet, which technically isn’t correct for a westbound VFR flight, but I was going to be inside the Hahn class D shortly anyway. 12.6 GPH (a tiny bit LOP) gave me 141 KIAS or about 153 KTAS. Still lacking a couple of knots there…

One of aviation’s most beautiful wing views, IMHO (despite the massive wing blocking half the field of view).

Rental cost aside, this machine really makes me enjoy flying.

I then crossed through the Luxembourg TMA initially at 5000 feet, but then descended to 4500 feet, in order to stay below the general class C of Belgium. Brussels Information, as usual, only gave me the regional QNH, and that was it. After crossing the border to France, it was only a few more miles to go to Sedan.

I didn’t take any photos of the approach, as I had to get the overhead join right (winds favoured runway 08) and listen carefully to the common French airfield frequency of 123.5, in order to get if there were any messages addressed to “Sedan”. In fact, there was… a two-seater backtracking for takeoff, but he used the grass runway for that, so all was good. I parked the aircraft on the club’s apron and closed my FPL using the French telephone number. There were no people there on a sunny Sunday morning. There is no landing fee anyway and had my folding bike with me, so I was on my way a few minutes later, enjoying the glorious weather and my first time in France for over a year. I didn’t mind that the distance to the centre of Sedan was 11 kilometres… it was pleasant.

The usual war memorial in town…

This one was dedicated mainly to the French victims of World War I. For those interested in European history, Sedan is actually more known for its role in the war before that, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871. In early September 1870, 151 years ago, it was the place of a major battle, which was won by the Germans. This victory led to the surrender of the French, and ultimately to the end of the (second) French Empire and to the foundation of the German Empire, which lasted until 1918. Until the end of this empire, every year, the German government actually celebrated the 2nd of September as the “Sedantag”. It was the last European war ever won by the Germans. More detail here.

There was also a “second” Battle of Sedan in May 1940, which was swiftly won by the Germans, after which they proceeded all the way to Abbeville, leading to the Battle of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk evacuation. More detail here.

Sedan is characterized for its sizeable castle, which is right in the old town.

After the above mentioned (first) Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III had to hoist the white flag from the top of the chateau. Nowadays, one can visit the insides of the chateau, but to be honest, I rather opted for a café au lait on Place d’Armes…

I toured the old town a bit more, but there is not a whole lot more to see or do. Here is the River Meuse.

I had a nice lunch at that Vietnamese restaurant on the far left and afterwards returned to the airfield. The little village where the airfield actually is called Douzy. On its main square, there is a hotel/restaurant sometimes used by pilots on a night stopover. It’s only 600 metres to walk from the aircraft parking area.

If you do use this airfield as a fuel-stop, just keep in mind there is no TOTAL/BP/credit card machine/terminal for the Avgas pump, so you will need the assistance of someone from the club.

By the way, just opposite of the airfield entrance, there is a restaurant (sometimes mentioned in pireps on LFSJ) and a lake with swimming facilities. Despite the good weather, the latter was unfortunately closed, for “Corona reasons”, it seemed. That was a pity.

So, I decided to fly back mid-afternoon, using the same (straight) routing. Climbing out at 120KIAS for good cooling and forward speed here.

Luxembourg again cleared me to cross their airspace with no fuss. This is the gliding airfield of Useldange (ELUS).

And there is Trier-Föhren (EDRT). Had a glider come rather close to me around here, despite the German FIS calling it out to me, (“eleven to twelve o’clock, one mile, same altitude”).

The sight of the river Moselle is always nice, so here is a pic of that.

The rest was routine, a straight-in approach to runway 08 at Mainz, after which the aircraft was cleaned and put back into the hangar.