Chartres, July 16th

After a rather short night spent at the youth hostel, where we slept four to a room, the day began with a communal breakfast and a briefing to prepare for the flight to the next stage: Landivisiau. We will pass north of Rennes, 5 nautical miles from Dinan. It’s approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes of flight time, with a headwind that should increase the travel time and fuel consumption. If necessary, we can refuel in Saint-Brieuc.

At noon, I went to participate in a Airmanship test with a Flight Instructor (FI). We performed maneuvers such as 45-degree turns and slow flight. I executed all these maneuvers with precision. The FI only had one comment: my approach was a bit weak on the final approach, probably due to the flat terrain around Chartres!

Lunch was quick because the airfield was completely overwhelmed by a multitude of blonde and brunette heads. There were approximately one hundred and fifty children from local leisure centers, all eager to discover the aircraft and happy to board for serious explanations from the young pilots. I did my part by offering “www.hoptour2018.com ” flames, signing them and spelling out the names using the phonetic alphabet. Laughter was guaranteed when “Zulu” came up. At the paper airplane workshop, the Raptors and Interceptors impressed the young and less young, more by the quality of their decoration than by the precision of their flight, as 5 or 6-year-olds often have folds that aren’t quite right!

At 6:00 PM, we attended a ceremony dedicated to Jacques Lux, a Chartres aviator who disappeared while flying his Spitfire during the Battle of Britain in 1942.

In total, nearly 500 to 600 visitors were welcomed to the airfield under a lovely sun that didn’t spare the tops of my hands; fortunately, the suit and baseball cap protected the rest.

This very busy day ended with a gala dinner with representatives from local authorities, where I met Gisèle Tourneur, who completed the Aerial Tour of France in 1966.