Planning a trip to Fontenay Le Comte LFFK in about a month to meet a few mates who are holidaying nearby. Has anyone been in before? Can’t seem to find an email address or fax number or raise them on the phone to find out if its still open and condition etc.?
Have you seen
http://www.aeroclub-fontenay.com/
?
Also, the VAC chart reports
15 – B : – Fontenay le Comte TEL : 02 51 51 09 32
– Fontenay Vol à voile TEL : 02 51 69 73 02
– AERO 85 TEL : 02 28 13 02 66
On a general note, for any a/d in France it is good to start with consulting http://navigeo.org , though of course this is not official information.
Excellent , very friendly airfield, ‘ouvert a la CAP’, ie no PPR necessary. Just turn up and park on the grass opposite the hangars.
Typical French aeroclub aerodrome, uncontrolled , air/air 123.50 blind calls in French, usually not very busy except weekends.
All circuits to the south.
Runway is pretty new tarmac (2006?) , in excellent condition. The old grass runway used to get pretty waterlogged, so did the taxiways.
Fuel pump manned by the aeroclub. Nice bunch at the aeroclub, always helpful. Give them a call on weekends if you want further info or just as a courtesy.
There is also an association there that has built a 3/4 scale replica of a Mosquito, amazing guys.
My mechanic is on that field, Joel Patault, runs Fly West (new hangar on the eastern end), and is truly excellent.
The other mechanic, Michel Herbretaut, with old Cessnas outside, is pretty good too (Aero 85).
Taxi to town is about 15 euros, town itself is not especially interesting, nice historical centre, ugly new bits. If you have friends meeting you there make sure they study the map how to get to the airfield, it is pretty obvious where it is but I somehow miss the exit from the main road to the airfield all the time when I drive! Buses to Niort and La Rochelle.
a 3/4 scale replica of a Mosquito
Would that be the one I photographed last summer at the Vichy homebuilders’ fly-in?
That is certainly an impressive bird, though the US’an boxer engines look much out of place.
http://i.imgur.com/HRPtRlw.jpg
http://bogaert.jimdo.com/
great guys, I had a hilarious lunch with them with some fantastic flying stories.
Example: ‘so we decided with Jean Claude [random name I picked] to fly to Senegal on a whim with the aeroclub Piper Cub… a week later, while still stuck in Limoges….’
and my favourite: ‘the old gendarme was rather dim. We organised this airshow, and had to publish a Notam with an ATZ restricting the show to 3000 feet. So the gendarme turns up and asks, so how can you be sure there won’t be more that 1500 people turning up?’
Thanks for your help – I’m now in touch with them.
