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Any flyers on here?


RickM
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No but if circumstances force me to stay here for a few more years then I will learn to fly, I have an international airport on my doorstep that after 10 years still has not had a single passenger flight, it is woefully unused and there is no shortage of hanger space to store an aircraft.

 

My UK home is 10 minutes from Redhill aerodrome, probably be cheaper to buy a ferry though [:D]

 

In fact you have got me thinking, I feel a plan coming on....................................

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Aerodromes in France are fantastic; largely government funded and free to use (a few exceptions, but the norm for local airfields is to have no landing/parking fees).

Cost-wise, flying down costs a fraction of the cost of driving (well... given that the fixed costs of the aircraft are there regardless). 110 litres of super-unleaded gets 2 people and luggage from Barton (Manchester) to The Var, where I land 3km from the house. No peage, no ferry, no dartford crossing and no 16hrs driving.

5h20m (nil wind... much less when the mistral blows) plus a stop for Douanes, fuel and steak frites at Troyes. EasyJet it must be said is cheaper and realistically safer, but the door to door time is about the same either way. What you're can't do, however, is get the EasyJet pilot to route to the west over the Alps, just because the visibility is amazing and the winds are light...
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We did have an ex RAF man here on the Forum.  Lived in the Dordogne too but he hasn't posted for a while.

I live near several small aerodromes and we see people flying in from wherever to have a picnic lunch near the landing strip with their families living locally and then they fly off again.

Once had an invitation to an aerodrome in Normandy for a bbq and it was super enjoyable and everyone was just so friendly.

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@ BinB

Another one of your smart comments.

I am not an expert on flying but if you were to fly from Troyes to Fayance I guess you would fly East of Lyon airport towards Nice which would then make part of the Alpes indeed to your West. Am I right OP ? Well that is how I would do it on FS.

Like Chancer, I would love to learn how to fly.
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[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]@ BinB

Another one of your smart comments.

I am not an expert on flying but if you were to fly from Troyes to Fayance I guess you would fly East of Lyon airport towards Nice which would then make part of the Alpes indeed to your West. Am I right OP ? Well that is how I would do it on FS.

Like Chancer, I would love to learn how to fly.[/quote]

Oh dear, shown up again. Stick to what you know or get a sense of humour.
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As soon as I got my first rental income I signed up with the gliding club, forked out €800 and then nevr got to use any of it because the rentals went ballistic and I have very little time, and what time I had I never knew until the last minute, it was never gliding weather at those times and in general it has been a very poor couple of years as I rarely hear the tow plane going up.

 

Now the money is pouring in my interest is once more piqued by powered flight. There has been an aéro-club at the airport since time began (it was a grass strip for the club before the airport was built in 2007) my retired Docteur friend learned to fly there, he told me it was the cheapest place in France but it was still a kings ransom to me then with barely a survival income.

 

I will have to pay them another visit, the last time it was just a bunch of scruffy unwashed old blokes drinking whiskey, like something off a film [:D]

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The only flying that I do and pilot them is with radio controlled gliders and once I was asked why I didn't take up full size jobbies? My reply was that I have seen how I land [:-))]

But, if I could have afforded it I would have loved to have got my PPL. But say-la-veee as the French would say [:(]

My avitar is just one of the aircraft I own. A Fougar Magister primary jet trainer. All of 6' wing span and a wonderful PSS, power slope soarer, glider.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Rick!

 

I am off to the flying club tomorrow to sign up for lessons!

 

A long term tenant, a sub-contract engineer at the Airbus factory has returned for his 2nd incarceration and has rented with me once again, to compensate for his misery he decided to get his PPL while here and I am tagging along with him.

 

Seemingly it is one of the cheapest places to learn to fly in Europe, turns out that all the instruction, the theory work, the tests etc are free, all we pay is for the hourly rate of the aircraft which seems a lot less than in the UK, between 70 and 100€ per hour.

 

It has come at just the right timeas well!

 

http://aeroclubalbert.esy.es/page8.html

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