A Culinary Stopover in Cholet

Heading to Cholet-Pontreau airfield for lunch at the new restaurant, “Côté Piste.” The weather forecast was relatively clear, with no significant issues expected, although the afternoon would be quite hot.

Arriving at the air club at 10:00 AM, I printed the weather briefing, which was quite sparse since all stations indicated CAVOK (“Clear Above You, OK to go” in English meaning! 😎). There were no NOTAM restrictions, so I headed to the hangar to begin the pre-flight inspection of the Cessna. After completing the inspection, we pulled the plane to the parking area and boarded. I contacted the tower, who authorized me to taxi to runway D10. A DR400 was already at the holding point, followed by a Bombardier CRJ-1000 from HOP!, creating an “aeronautical traffic jam” at the start of the vacation season! After completing the engine checks, I announced that I was ready for takeoff. At that moment, the new helicopter from the Rennes University Hospital (CHU) appeared in my field of vision and landed directly on the commercial parking area of the airport.

After the helicopter landed, I lined up and took off. I climbed to 2000 feet and headed towards Cholet. We flew over the city of Châteaubriant and then Ancenis, where the Loire River was almost dry. As I approached the Cholet airfield, I contacted the AFIS (Aerodrome Flight Information Service) officer. I made a left turn and entered the downwind leg. Runway 03 was in use, so we had to fly over the city during the approach. I landed with a slight headwind and then taxied to the parking area in front of the tower. After paying the landing fee, it was time for lunch!

The restaurant is spacious with a stunning view of the runway, and we were able to observe some takeoffs and landings. A new chef has taken over the restaurant. The menu is interesting and varied. It’s a great aviation-themed stopover.

After lunch, we returned to the plane. We started the engine and taxied to holding point Alpha. The engine checks were successful, so I taxied back to runway 03. I applied full power and took off. The return flight was at 3000 feet to avoid afternoon turbulence. While flying over the city of Ancenis, the Nantes air traffic control contacted me and asked me to act as a relay because an aircraft had exceeded their radio range by flying too low. I relayed the information so they could properly end their communication.

At our altitude, the visibility was excellent. We could see Ancenis and Nantes in the same field of vision, and then Châteaubriant and Rennes, a distance of approximately 50 kilometers. As I approached St-Jacques, I was able to perform a very long approach, like a charter flight returning from the Caribbean… because there was absolutely no traffic!

A little aviation trivia:

The airfield is named after Roland Garros, and a memorial has been erected in his honor along the taxiway. He obtained his pilot’s license there on July 19, 1910, license number 147.

109 years later, I posed with “Miss Cessna” (she’s also an “American Demoiselle”…), with a pilot’s license number well over 300,000!