Club of the month: Club ULM de Saint Lieux les Lavaur

Federation news15 June 20223 min read

News from 15 June 2022. Last updated on 16 June 2022: some information may have changed. Latest news

WHERE THE AIR YOU BREATHE IS AIRBORNE

If you have wondered where the land of Cockaigne is, the one and only, the real thing, wonder no more. The local terroir bears the name of the little cake made of woad leaves (the “coca” in Occitan), a dye plant that brought the region its wealth and renown. The bastide towns mark the landscape, cassoulet the taste buds and rugby the skin. Here too, Ader, Dassault and Pesquet invented, developed and studied things that fly, leaving their mark on this Toulouse region that is at once so earthy and so airborne. There is not a family without an acquaintance, a friend or a relative “in aviation”. Flying is part of the natural order of things here.

SAINT-LIEUX, AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS

Thirty minutes is enough from Toulouse or Albi to reach the club. Often, when clouds darken the foothills of the Massif Central and the Autan wind makes any attempt hazardous in the Lauragais, the Albi basin makes flying possible there, to learn or to improve. Later, you head out towards the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean or the Grands Causses, only an hour’s flight away. The choice is varied and the landscapes breathtaking. The strip itself is in open countryside, surrounded by large, clear fields, nestled in the green setting of a small leisure lake. You make your first landings here under the watchful and sometimes mocking eye of great crested grebes and grey herons.

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The Saint-Lieux-les-Lavaur microlight strip © Guy Mercadier

THE AGE OF REASON

In the year the Wall fell, the club was building its own, on the initiative of Marc Axisa. Thirty-three years already. A small strip “in the middle of the water”, then the present grass runway, 280 metres, drained and rigorously maintained, with plenty of room around it. The weight-shift machines opened the ball, then the other aircraft joined in, 3-axis and paramotors. Activity grew steadily and the facilities had to keep up. Now, with its large clubhouse, classroom, top-quality equipment and a hangar as clean as a new pin, the club has a facility that is as functional as it is pleasant to live in. For companions, the neighbouring leisure park is a real asset. At the club, on the other hand, it is sometimes much more studious.

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Meetings are very well attended at the Saint Lieux les Lavaur club, notably by the president, Michel Marti © Guy Mercadier

ONE CREED: TRAINING

Eight instructors (3-axis, weight-shift and paramotor) officiate at Saint-Lieux. Michel Marti, the club president, is an instructor but also in charge of the “theory exam” file within the FFPLUM. Didier Darcy, the chief pilot, provides ongoing instruction for students and instructors alike. The club is also a theory exam centre and regularly hosts institutions such as the DGAC. Besides technical skills, particular attention is paid to the flying environment, in particular human factors. The machines match: for their flying qualities and versatility, a Skypper Bionix2 weight-shift and two Aeroprakt A22s, all very recent. These machines are also available for hire and are used for introductory flights.

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Off for a weight-shift flight! © Guy Mercadier

THE CLUB, THE LIFE

Rigour and high standards (after all, we are going up in the air!) are not incompatible with the good-natured spirit of a members’ club. About eighty members use the place: students, pilots and owners. A local barbecue or a restaurant on the islands (Oléron, recently), an evening on aerial archaeology or a maintenance day, anything is a pretext to get together, to relive the flights or even put the world to rights, to taste a new wine, we are in the south-west after all! They also think about stepping out of the bubble again (lockdown left some traces), going out to other sites or events, welcoming new audiences. Adapting to changing perceptions and practices, without compromising on safety and on living well together. In short, staying thoroughly alive to the times, strong with past experience and a fine human story.