Club of the month: Aéroclub de la Pierre Levée
News from 19 May 2022. It has not been updated since it was published: some information may have changed. Latest news
Every month, in your newsletter and on the federation website, look out for our “club of the month” feature. This May 2022, discover the Aéroclub de la Pierre Levée!
40 years of history
In 1982, Gérard MACHON, founder of the Model Aircraft Club, created a microlight section in collaboration with Claude FLORANT, a wine-grower and private aeroplane pilot. This collaboration led to the building of the first 200-metre runway and the purchase of the first microlight, the “Dragon” (a British tube-and-fabric machine with a Citroën Visa engine).
The site had no hangar: in the evening, the Dragon left on a farm trailer to be stored in a barn! Two years later, at the end of 1984, the Club had about twenty members and construction of the hangar began.
The Dragon, the club’s first machine almost 40 years ago © ACPL
From 1984 to 1994, the club continued to grow thanks to the purchase of new two-seaters, the Maestro and TwinStar, from Micro-Aviation. A new 600 m runway was laid out. The club attracted more and more members and, from the 2000s, invested in a new Micro-Aviation machine, the tricycle-undercarriage Pulsar III. The club’s facilities and equipment were modernised, notably with solar power, additional rainwater tanks and a new fuel tank.
The “UltraStar”, a single-seater, very manoeuvrable and fast compared with the Dragon © ACPL
Today
Located not far from Cognac, in Grande Champagne (an exceptional terroir with more than 13 200 ha of vines for producing the white wines used to make cognac), the LF1628 airfield now has 2 grass runways (a 600x30 m main runway and a secondary one of 300 x 30 m) over a total area of 5 hectares. All the land (runways, taxiways, parking areas, hangar) belongs to the club.
In addition, the facilities have permanent authorisation for use by prefectoral order.
The club’s facilities today © ACPL
The ACPL has about forty members and its President is Fabrice TASTET, who is also a 3-axis instructor. The club houses low-wing and high-wing microlights, a weight-shift machine and gyroplanes. An extension project is under way with the creation of a new hangar. Every year the ACPL runs completely free classes to prepare for the Brevet d’Initiation Aéronautique (BIA)! Taught by President Fabrice TASTET, assisted by pilots of our club, this training is an opportunity for students to get closer to the aeronautical world, talk with pilots and, why not, become one!
The BIA classes are appreciated by the students ©ACPL
Our OPEN DAYS
We hold our open days every year on the 1st weekend of July. This year is a special one because the ACPL is celebrating its 40th anniversary and for the occasion is particularly inviting owners of PULSARs and other “pod-and-boom” machines.
The event will start on Saturday at noon, with 3-axis microlights, weight-shift machines, gyroplanes and paramotors in the air, as well as scheduled attractions such as drone racing, model aircraft, hot-air balloons, a flight simulator, beacon hunts, an aircraft drawing contest for children…
This year, on Saturday evening, we are holding a country night with American cars and Harley Davidsons, a country dance demonstration and a rock band to set the mood!
For all information, contact: 06 63 18 89 03
