Club of the month: “Nez au Vent”, a microlight club in full swing

Federation news16 February 20232 min read

News item of 16 February 2023. Last updated on 11 April 2023: some information may have changed. Latest news

At Héric, the microlight club of the Nez au Vent association is the Nantes microlight club. It was founded 32 years ago by Yves Vanderquand, a former fighter pilot who achieved the feat of flying until he was 95!

Our base has about 70 microlight pilots, in all classes except, sadly, helicopters.

We keep the club lively by organising an annual summer gathering for its anniversary. We invite neighbouring clubs and our members to come together for a festive lunch and dinner, with group flights around the area in between. We also organise an annual weekend trip to another airfield in the Grand Ouest, to give every pilot the chance to fly outside their usual setting. This strengthens flying skills, and we see strong bonds of friendship and cohesion form, which delights us and makes us want to be an active club and not just a stable of owners!

We have 3 instructors (paramotor, weight-shift, three-axis and gyroplane), which attracts a great many people for introductory flights and training.

All pilots are welcome at our airfield, whether for a touch-and-go or to stay a few days. We always manage to welcome you and make fuel available. The clubhouse is open for a coffee or a nap!

It's a great place to be!

However, life is not always cheerful. Having escaped the clutches of the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport, we are tenants of farmland owned by an elderly farmer who is now in a care home, and we fear the worst for the future. We are not in a leisure zone. We fear that one day we will lose our site in favour of agriculture.

Club of the month Nez au vent Intro 2

The whole club team

To promote the club, we take part from time to time in the life of the surrounding villages, for example by offering introductory flights to youth associations for teenagers. We planned to run the BIA at the neighbouring secondary school. We hope these efforts will not be in vain!

Julien TONNELIER / President

Frédéric Castel / Treasurer