Regional championship at Chambley
News from 10 September 2020. Last updated on 11 September 2020: some information may have changed. Latest news
Originally planned for 29 and 30 August, the bad weather forecast forced us to postpone the Grand Est regional "microlight" competition to 5 and 6 September.
Saturday morning was devoted to registration and document checks, as well as the general briefing with the thirteen crews taking part, about ten track marshals and two flight directors. Samir, the race director, who had arrived on Thursday evening, presented the navigation and landing precision events. The crews took off at 15 o'clock for a first navigation leg across the Lorraine sky, passing via the Géville base in the Meuse, for a precision landing in a rectangle of 6 m by 10 m marked out with tape. Loïc, a young pilot from Nancy, hooked the banner with the tail wheel of his J3 Kitten to bring it back to Chambley, but unfortunately for him, it earned no extra points. The crews then returned to the strip for another landing precision test. After a very full day, crews, marshals and club volunteers met for a convivial evening shared with the pilots of the Club Fournier International from Germany, Italy, Belgium and Holland, who had chosen to hold their annual gathering at Chambley. It was a chance to meet René Fournier in person, nearly a hundred years old, the builder of these motor-glider aircraft. Meanwhile, the scoring team spent part of the night decoding the competitors' GPS trackers to produce a first provisional ranking.
After a good night's rest, only the windsock decided to sleep in, and that is just as well! The troops were mobilised again. General briefing, and the crews set off on a new navigation leg, this time with photo recognition. The route passed through Longuyon-Villette aerodrome for another precision landing. Meanwhile, the Metz CIRFA Marine did us the honour of attending the site; the FFPLUM / French Navy partnership will soon be rolled out at regional level.
A day full of suspense!
We had to wait almost 16 hours to learn the results, and the top step of the podium went to the Vosges crew of Aurélien GANAYE and Paul FITCHER on Tétras. Yves MUNNIA and Catherine PEYRAMOND took the second step and were first in weight-shift; they made a special trip from the Ardèche. Third place went to the local crew of Gaétan WALEK and Vanessa MORIN on an Ikarus C42. A special mention to Mélanie BADRE-BIARNAIS, whose certificate is barely dry, obtained only a few weeks ago, the only woman pilot entered in a single-seater, who took an honourable fifth place with her Pathfinder!
Regional microlight competition really is open to everyone, beginners and experienced pilots alike, as this weekend's results prove. The support of the federation's "sport" division was important and essential for organising this competition. The crews are now ready to move up to the next level: the French Championship in Blois in October. Financial help may be available from the Regional Committee.
To conclude, we can only thank Georges HUMEAU, president of the Chambley club, and his whole team, who contributed greatly to the success of this event.
A few shots from the day below:
