The long weekend of the 9th/10th and 11th June was planned as the longest fly out in terms of distance of the 2017 calendar. The plan was to spend the Friday evening in the picturesque town of COLMAR just south of Strasbourg before moving on or rather slightly back to the city of NANCY for the second night. The COLMAR stop always had a high potential to be scuppered by the weather as it meant crossing some 4000ft mountains to reach the destination. Despite arranging the trip for June and the most likely good weather period the Gods of Sod were out to get us again. With hotels booked and everything ready to go the forecasts for the Friday were pretty grim across the Channel and northern France and then with the likelihood of lowish cloud and even worse some big thunderstorms over towards Colmar itself. Having consulted with a pilot friend in Luxembourg who knows the area extremely well and with his advice to cancel based on the latest weather information it didn’t leave me much choice.
However with an improving picture for the Saturday the inevitable Plan B was to head to NANCY for the Saturday night and pick up the original plan for a return on the Sunday. Dave Longhurst and Richard Gormley who had G-FS decided to have a crack at going on the Friday and stop somewhere en route to Nancy and tie up with us there. Having managed to get across the Channel to Calais the high winds, turbulence and poor visibility resulted in them deciding to spend what ended up unfortunately as a dreadful night in the centre of the town.
The other six aircraft including Alex Kenning in his Monsum from White Waltham departed on the Saturday morning in extremely nice weather conditions, light winds, blue sky and some scattered ‘Simpson Clouds’, not the Met term but you know what I mean! First stop was the well-trodden route to Calais to go through the customs formality of entering the continent. With the advance info sent off online a minimum of two hours before it’s a pretty straightforward process. Departing North Weald at 08.30Z we were soon transiting Southends Class D towards Sheerness and then over Kent and on towards Dover. Reporting ‘coasting out’ to London Info we could already see the coast of France in the distance with the wake of the busy cross-channel ferries leading the way to the Port of Calais.
The Channel crossing was a delight and in no time we were changing to Lille Approach for a Flight Information Service, being given a squawk and with the French Coast rapidly approaching being told to change to Calais Tower. Slipping into Calais was as straightforward as ever with a direct join downwind right hand for runway 24. The downwind leg effectively routes east along the wide sandy beach before turning right onto base leg and then onto final for the wide 1535 metre runway. Vacating at the second exit we taxied to the main apron to join the line of NWFG aircraft. After a quick cup of excellent French coffee, we were ready for the next leg to our next stop of Verdun (LFGW) which was to be our lunch stop and a first visit for the whole of our group. The flight time was estimated to be around two hours for this leg and having been told there was no fuel there a couple of the aircraft elected to have a top up at Calais.
Departing Calais we turned SE and routed towards the Cambrai (CMB) VOR. With a FIS from Lille Approach we headed down passing St Omer, Merville and on towards Arras. With some nagging scattered cumulus which was causing a fair bit of turbulence and hazy conditions below when possible we climbed up to 5000ft to just get on top. This gave a beautiful picture of the cloud tops and the stunning green rolling fields and arrow like French roads joining the towns and villages below us. With CMB below us it was a direct routing towards the Montmedy (MMD) VOR. The countryside below became more undulating with just scattered villages and very small towns below and makes one appreciate that even this far north France is a vast country with huge areas devoid of any large towns or cities. With spot heights of over 1000ft as we approached MMD the wooded areas became a lot larger which together with the River Meuse cutting through deep meandering valleys made it even more picturesque. Being a weekend Lille had confirmed that the numerous danger areas were not active which made the whole leg very simple. Getting to the edge of Lille’s coverage they directed us to call the military airfield at Etain as we would be crossing their airspace inbound to Verdun, but again being a weekend everything was closed. Verdun airfield sits high in a forested area to the south-east of what is classified as a small city and as we approached we could see the famous Ossuary of Douaumont which houses the remains of 130,000 unknown WW1 soldiers and overlooks the cemetery where 16,000 French troops are buried. It is difficult when flying over such a beautiful and serene area to imagine the carnage that unfolded in the very fields and woods below.
Verdun is synonymous with the history of the great battles and the slaughter of WW1. The Battle of Verdun which was fought from 21st February to 18th December 1916, was the largest and longest battle of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies. It also found its way into the history books as being one of the most costly battle in human history. Estimates have found a total of 714,231 casualties, 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an almost unimaginable 70,000 casualties a month. However other research has estimated an increase in the number of casualties to 976,000 during the battle, with some 1,250,000 suffered at Verdun during the whole of the war. A very sobering thought. It is certainly worth a trip back for any GA pilots interested in that period particularly with such a handy airfield to go in to. Back to the present and lot happier times the calls to Verdun were on the French Safety Comm 125.25 and of course were to be made in French only. Our guys are getting better and more confident at that especially if there is a low risk that someone will speak back!
The airfield was very easy to spot sitting on the high ground between densely wooded areas and reminded me of Spa which we called in at some years ago especially having a similar elevation of 1236ft. The circuit for R28 is left hand for the 1100 meters of concrete. The not insignificant crosswind livened things up a bit but we were soon taxiing onto the apron, shutting down exactly 2 hours after the start at Calais. Meeting up with the crews that had arrived we were just in time to order some food before the kitchen closed. Unfortunately, FC piloted by Steve Gellard with Tony Chapman and wife Nat were playing catch up and didn’t make it on time and had to make do with a drink and some crisps!
Approaching downwind for VERDUN
Short final for R28 at VERDUN
The airfield staff were very welcoming and apart from the early closing of the kitchen Verdun is certainly one to consider a stop at. Either as a break on the way to somewhere else or in its own right to explore the dramatic history in the surrounding countryside.
It was now getting very warm indeed with the brisk wind acting more like a fan oven than cooling us down so pre-starts were completed quickly with the door open. Taxiing out with the door still ajar to get some air moving it was blind calls in French for departure. Climbing out with a left turn and the lower level showed the beauty of the green rolling hills of the area and we set course towards Nancy. A call to Etain the military base to the NE of Verdun revealed no one at home so we continued with Strasbourg Info for the anticipated 40-minute flight to Nancy Essey (LFSN). The countryside continued in the calm wooded rolling hills with small villages scattered around deserted roads before we could see the city of Nancy in the distance. With the large ex-military wartime and Cold War base of Toul which is now a gigantic solar panel area out to our left-hand side we called up Nancy Tower and were directed to join crosswind for R21 at Nancy and to keep a good look out for other traffic including helicopters. We had a great view of the city as we approached crosswind especially as the airport is so close to it.
Approaching crosswind over the City with NANCY airport in the distance.
Avoiding the noise sensitive areas we were soon on final for the 1600m runway. Vacating as directed at the far end we headed to the fuel pumps to replenish our now very thirsty aircraft. We were pretty well at the front of the queue of our group which was just as well as with one guy doing one aircraft at time it was taking a while. There was also a bit of a complication as the fuel dispenser is usually by Air Total card only so we had arranged to be met by a very helpful member of the club at Nancy which allowed us to pay by ‘normal’ credit card through them.
Refuelling complete we called for taxi and parking and were directed to an area at the end of the large apron. With the aircraft wrapped up there was then a long walk back with wheelie cases in tow to the terminal building in the boiling heat. On getting there it was deserted and on the keypad access it said ‘Code Tower Frequency’. Could anyone remember! Anyway, we got in and found a very helpful club pilot who phoned a taxi company for us and got some on the way for us. Into the cabs and a nice short ride into the City Centre and our Ibis Hotel.
The hotel was perfectly located and there was our usual afternoon explore before a return to the hotel for a freshen up before heading off for a group dinner the location of which eagerly awaited as it was being decided by our experts Dave Longhurst and Richard Gormley who had found such a great location on our Granville trip. The city is an absolute delight and the main attraction is the focal point of the 18th century Place Stanislas which with its grand buildings, arches and fountains is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s easy to see why.
Part of the PLACE STANISLAS
We regrouped at the hotel that evening and headed off for Dave and Richards selected restaurant. This was the Excelsior Brasserie, near the train station, which is an amazing Art Nouveau building and has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1976. The setting, service and food were excellent and although wincing at the possible bill for such a grand establishment it was.
The group at the Excelsior
incredibly good value and a good night was had by all. Well done to Dave and Richard once again. After dinner we headed back to Place Stanislas to partake of a few beers in one of the outside bars in this grand square, the warm evening air a welcome change to what we had been experiencing at home of late.
The hotel was good and after decent night’s sleep we had more time in the morning to explore the city, its architecture and parks before heading back to the airport for an early afternoon departure back home. Our departure times were within the extended lunchtime period when the tower was unstaffed but we had established with the local club pilot that it was fine to leave, just make blind calls. I love the French way of doing things!
With aircraft packed up, checked out and filled with fuel we began to taxi out for a departure on R21. Several of the guys had already left but this was very much a free day to do whatever suited. Climbing out with a right turn gave us another great view of the city and is also more interesting when you can relate to some of the sites you can see as you have been there on the ground.
Our next stop was to be a new one, Albert Bray (LFAQ), which primarily serves the local Airbus facility and was ideally located on the route back but was chosen as with notice they were able to offer us an outbound ‘customs’ facility. The route up towards Albert is littered with various restricted military areas but being a weekend we assumed that as nothing was NOTAM’d all would be ‘cold’ however whilst sitting back and enjoying the view and speaking with Seine Info we did a check only to find that restricted area R114G (2200/FL85) near Reims was active and that was right in our way. Going under wasn’t an option because of high ground and obstructions and over would have taken us into Paris Class A so a diversion was the only option and that would add around 45/50nm. With route recalculated to avoid it we carried on over the rolling quite countryside. I thought that perhaps we could get a crossing service so went back to Seine Info to find out who from. We were told to standby and after a minute or so the controller came back to say it was his mistake and that it was only the much smaller R114A that was in fact active and that we were clear to cross R114G. Always worth an ask, so we reverted back to our original route. The flight was quite uneventful although we could see the evidence of the forecast warm front that was due to slip south way in the distance. From Seine we were told to change to Lille Info and shortly after to Albert Tower for entry into the Class D CTA. With only some gliding going on the south of the field and the wide 2200m runway in sight from miles away we were given a very long straight in for R27. Touching down 1hr 50 mins after departing Nancy we taxied to the hangers and the small clubhouse which were all pretty deserted. Parking on the grass area we went for a wander to see if we could find somewhere to pay a landing fee. We found a very pleasant extremely aged gent sitting in an equally ancient chair who only spoke French. By which I mean we should speak better French with our regular trips but we made ourselves understood and were pointed in the direction of a fridge that contained some drinks. Once again a new airfield, no hassle, most welcoming and very French. With a little while to meet our planned Flight Plan departure time we had a little explore around the hangers with various interesting but unidentifiable homebuilt aircraft lurking in there. A pity an Airbus Beluga wasn’t in there but being a weekend it wasn’t surprising all was very quiet.
A BELUGA at Albert Bray captured by Richard Gormley the day after our stop.
Suitably refreshed we headed back to the aircraft and were soon climbing out from R27 with our FP being activated by the tower and on a direct track to the BNE VOR where we then to head towards Lydd. As soon as we left the CTR we were back with Lille info all the way to the coast. The approaching front was much more visible now and as we approached the coast there were patches of cloud and rain with some scattered low cloud to add to the mix. We knew it wasn’t due to last long and although a bit murky we had no trouble in maintaining reasonable VFR although we did hear on the radio Alex Kenning in his Monsum turning back towards Le Touquet due to poor weather. We knew that Alex was further west than our track as he was returning to White Waltham and hoped that he would be able to get out again later that afternoon as the time was starting to march on. We had no issues and soon saw the cliffs and sea below as we coasted out at Boulogne. Once we cleared the front it was plain flying all the way back to North Weald and it was just a 1hr 45 min flight from Albert. A phone call later revealed that Alex had had to sit it out for an hour at Le Touquet but had made it safely back to White Waltham by early evening.
Unfortunately, this was a shortened trip with the planned day and overnight stop at Colmar having been lost due to the weather but overall a great couple of days. Everyone agreed that Nancy was a great location and certainly one well worth a visit. Good interesting flying and a great city visited. Once again a big thank you to all who took part in the trip and especially to Malcolm and JR for organising the stops and of course Dave and Richard for finding such a great dinner venue.
