Day: March 11, 2015

Wim and I had selected today as being the day for a trial landing on the field at the chateau that we would like to turn back into an airfield. We checked a couple of days ago and although the surface of the field was a bit bumpy and pot-holed due to having had horses grazing on it over the winter, it was much dryer compared to when we all got bogged down on it in Victor’s Mehari, although still a bit on the soft side.

Wim went in before me and landed safely and the owners and their dog were gathered around his aircraft when I approached, so after a fly-over to make sure that they knew I was there, I elected to land more to the left of the track he’d used to make sure that there was absolutely no chance of colliding with anyone or anything. It was a mistake because the surface was softer over there and my landing was very poor anyway, as I came in a bit too high and hard. My right main wheel immediately dug into the soft ground and to cut a long story short, the momentum of the aircraft was sufficient to snap the stub axle completely off.

If this had happened in England, all hell would have been let loose, with the need for a repair scheme, approved parts, multiple inspections and goodness knows what, resulting in the aircraft being grounded for probably about a month. But this is not England, it’s France. A close inspection revealed that there was no other damage to the aircraft other than to the landing leg itself. The trailing arm bracket was a bit bent but that only needed a couple of light bangs with a hammer to straighten again. The X-Air’s landing leg is made from a standard aluminium aerofoil section that Wim happened to have a length of in his workshop and as a result, we had the old one off in five or ten minutes to use as a pattern and had a replacement made within an hour or so. Then it was back to the field after a cup of tea to fit it and 56NE was ready to go in less than three hours of the event occurring. Marvellous.

One unfortunate outcome of all this was that having promised the chateau owner’s son a flight in 56NE so he could see the local area from the air for the first time, it wasn’t possible to do it in the time available and he leaves for England tomorrow for about three weeks. But although the weather was quite warm and not too bumpy, it could have been better, so I’m sure we’ll be able to find a better day when he returns. I’m pleased to say that my take off and return to Galinat were without incident and as I didn’t fly direct and did a few circuits of the area, I was able to take a few shots with my ‘new’ (to me) Fujipix to see how it performed.

The first shot is of St Léon sur Vézère which looks quite grim with dull colours and bare trees in this picture but is a lovely spot for a meal at L’Auberge du Pont in the summer.

The next shot is of the Chateau de Peuch, which is situated to the south of Plazac on the back road that winds up the hill to Fleurac.

It was owned by a Dutch industrialist who died a few years ago and his widow eventually decided to sell it. I heard that it has recently gone for €3.5 million, to a young British couple with small children, but have not had this confirmed. Apparently they also managed to acquire the houses close by the property as well, so it’s alright for some!

The final shot is of the privately owned chateau that is half-way down the hill between my house and Thonac. It has large and slightly formidable automatic metal gates and a stone tower next to it, visible in the photograph, that is on a similar angle to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

So as the heading says, quite an eventful day taken all round. Fortunately, no real harm was done to person or plane so as I said to the owner of the field where it all happened this evening, it’s all just part of life’s rich tapestry 😉