Aero Stay at Brioude
News from 10 July 2023. It has not been updated since it was published: some information may have changed. Latest news
Our stay at Château Brillant-Pouance last year left us with a "must go back" memory, so we decided to hold our "up in the air" week in the Brioude area.
The machines left our base "Les Avant-Gardes LF4561" in a staggered departure on Saturday morning in perfect weather, bound for a stopover at the Lurcy-Levis airstrip. The 8 machines tested the freshly mown runway, and the welcome, as usual, was friendly, with madeleines and coffee waiting for us.
Meanwhile, our support vehicles (a 9-seater and a light car) were on the road to Brioude aerodrome.
The flying club at our base camp, Brioude LFHR, allowed us to park our machines on their superb airfield for our week of Auvergne escapades.
Our accommodation, in this case chalets at the La Bageasse campsite, gave us good nights' sleep so we could fly in this very beautiful region. The vehicles gave us mobility and let us keep up with fuel supplies. Rigorous organisation is needed for 16 people, so as to keep as closely as possible to the set schedule, because at this time of year thunderstorm activity arrives in the late afternoon.
Again with staggered departures, fast machines first, we used the Safesky app to space out our arrivals.
We put our wheels down at about ten aerodromes and microlight strips, including "Des vastes" and "col de Bear", and some of our seat covers still remember it, so tightly clenched were we!
We received a particularly warm welcome on our visits to Saint-Priest-des-Champs (LF6321), Thérondels Douzalbats (LF1226) and Langogne (LFHL). We also thank the microlight base managers who allowed us to land without their being present. We hope to return the favour: our base has everything needed to welcome those who want to discover our region.
Preparation of the meals we ate at the campsite was handled by two co-pilots, Lysiane and Xavier, who masterfully managed the shopping and the cooking, not forgetting Cathy, who cooked two of the meals we ate in her restaurant on Brioude aerodrome.
Flying outside our comfort zones gave the pilots extra experience, which on the whole is as enriching as it is rewarding. The effects of altitude, turbulence caused by terrain, runway surface conditions and so on... forced us to manage all this as well as possible in order to stay safe.
Thank you to everyone who made these enjoyable moments possible.
© Photos: Didier CABOURDIN
