Pau-Albi, July 26th

July 26, 2018

This morning, the ceiling is at 400 feet, meaning it’s prohibited for VFR flight. We just have to wait for the sky to clear as this cloud cover is localized over Pau. Ten nautical miles away, the sky is clear. At 8:30 AM, there’s a briefing for the flight that will take us to Albi. But when… that’s another story altogether. I spend the time cleaning the plane, checking the oil level, tidying up the interior, and chatting with people.

At 10:30 AM, combat rations are distributed – because we’re with the military. In civilian terms, they’d be called meal trays. Take a look at what they look like! Once unpacked, here’s the quantity; I took a picture of the contents on the plane’s wing:

Tuna salad
Pâté (because it’s red bag, there are alse white or yellow bags – guess why!)
Potato chips
Applesauce
Chocolate madeleines.

The part that’s blurred out is to avoid advertising! This ration will be consumed at 11:30 AM and we’ll be ready to fight!

Finally, the long-awaited departure time arrives! It’s 1:37 PM. We’ve been waiting all morning under the sun. The temperature now reaches 36°C (96.8°F).

I landed on the runway in Albi after 1 hour and 40 minutes of flight. The airfield in Albi has a particular feature: its runway is crossed by a motor racing circuit. To land, you just need to aim for the space between two speeding cars… (No, I’m kidding!)

I taxied towards the parking area, and then one wheel sank into a hole on the grass. Fortunately, there was help nearby. I filmed this mishap, but I’ll keep that footage for myself!

In the halls of the motor racing circuit next to the airfield, we attended a conference by Henri-Gilles Fournier, one of the last pilots of the Concorde, who shared insights into his experiences with that aircraft.

It was a complex plane to fly. It routinely cruised at 60,000 feet and flew straight due to inertia linked to its speed. A slight movement on the elevator control would cause you to gain (or lose) 5,000 feet!

Following this insightful presentation, we took a bus to head into Albi’s city center. The least we can say is that we were expected (see the photo for proof). The aerial tour of the young pilots hasn’t been here in 17 years.

We have an hour to explore the city before being welcomed at the town hall for a few official speeches and an evening buffet. Here’s a glimpse of how beautiful the city is.