Really, really big update!

In early December, I was idly scanning the listings of ULMs for sale on Le Bon Coin when I came across a beautiful ICP Savannah. It was all white with snazzy coloured graphics and guaranteed to catch the eye of any aircraft lover. But the big thing about it was that its price was a snip, and not only that but the seller also said that it could be negotiable further at the time of sale.

I did nothing about it at the time except keep a copy of the small ad, which I showed to my sister and brother-in-law over the Christmas holiday. I told them that with one flyable aircraft already and a second under repair under covers in my back garden, to acquire yet another could be seen as an extravagance to say the least. But I did say that the one on sale was totally different to the other two, being not just capable of flying low and slow over the Dordogne countryside but also of zipping at high speed back to England in only around 6 hours.

Instead of agreeing with me, they did the reverse and encouraged me in my foolishness, saying that you only get one life and that I should pull the stops out and go for it. So I did. I contacted the seller, who told me that the aircraft had been sold, but that he would keep my contact details just in case the buyer pulled out. So this gave me some relief, as at least I could say that I’d given it a go but had been thwarted by events.

But my relief was not to last long, as I somehow suspected that it wouldn’t, because in less than a couple of weeks, the advertisement came up again on Le Bon Coin. It appeared that the prospective buyer couldn’t raise the necessary finance so the Savannah was up for sale once more. This time I had no excuse and phoned the seller, suggesting that I’d like to view the aircraft the following Wednesday, January 20th.

But then blow me down if on checking Le Bon Coin out again on the Monday, another Savannah had appeared for sale, this time a VG (Vortex Generator) model up in Bretagne. The first Savannah was located at la Ferté Gaucher near Coulommiers out to the east of Paris, so I phoned the second seller and said that I’d like to see his aircraft on Thursday 21st, the day after the first one. This would enable me to do a 3-legged, triangular round trip of something over a thousand miles over the two days with a night-stop in a hotel somewhere in between the two aircraft’s locations. It was all agreed, so I set off from home for la Ferté Gaucher last Wednesday morning with 6 1/2 hours driving ahead of me – in thick fog.

Nevertheless, despite the fog and freezing temperatures in northern France, I arrived at the airfield at la Ferté Gaucher just before 3.00 pm, the time that I said that I would, and was warmly greeted by Robert, the owner of the ULM school there who was handling the sale of the Savannah. After the usual cup of coffee and initial chat, we went into the hangar to view the aircraft. It was everything that I expected it to be but there was only one snag. Robert apologised profusely and said that due to its having stood for a very long period and the cold weather, he’d been unable to start the engine as the battery was flat and wouldn’t charge despite having been connected to a charger for several hours.

There was nothing that could be done, therefore, apart from my giving the aircraft a close inspection. If the engine wouldn’t start, there was no possibility of my having a test flight, and in any case, although the sun had broken through by that time, there was still a very low cloud base due to the earlier fog. By this time it was becoming pressing for me to get going and head off for Bretagne, so Robert said that he’d wait until Friday morning to hear what my intentions were before offering the aircraft to two other potential buyers who were waiting in the wings.

I agreed with that proposal and after we’d bade each other farewell, jumped into the Kia and headed off west. Having driven for over 6 1/2 hours already and with a 5 1/2 hour drive ahead of me to where the second Savannah was, I thought that I’d drive for about 3 hours or so and then find a hotel for the night. This would make it easy to meet the seller of the second aircraft the next day at 1.00 pm, the time I’d suggested for the second viewing.

But my plans were to be thwarted. Night fell as I drove and I began to look out for a hotel either on or close to the road that I was driving on at around about the 3 hour limit. But no luck! There just wasn’t one to be found without making a large detour into one of the large towns, like Rennes, which I wasn’t really keen on doing. I’d come prepared for such an eventuality by bringing with me a sleeping bag and pillow off my bed at home, so in the end I decided that I was so tired that to continue driving would be dangerous and pulled into a rest area where I’d spend the night in the car.

And despite freezing overnight temperatures and having chosen not the best area to stop at, as I was a bit too close to the main road that remained pretty busy all night, I managed to get 4 or 5 hours sleep. The worst bit was washing and cleaning my teeth with cold water in the freezing cold the next morning and I was glad to jump back into the car afterwards and switch on the heated driving seat!

And to cap it all, within less than 20 kms after starting to drive again, I came across the perfect little low-cost hotel right at the side of the road. Wouldn’t you just know it 😐

I met Michel, the second seller at the appointed time at the airfield where his Savannah was hangared and once more after the almost-compulsory cup of coffee, we went outside to view it. This aircraft was a year younger than the first but with many more hours on it, and it showed. It was also up at a considerably lower price, but the closer I looked at it, the more it became clear that it would cost much more than the price difference to get it up to anything like the condition of the former.

Michel suggested a test flight as the cloud base had lifted since earlier in the morning, so off we went. This Savannah had the Rotax 912 UL 80 hp engine but it lifted off very smartly. Michel demonstrated it very effectively with some often quite extreme manoeuvres before giving me the chance to fly it. He also asked if I’d like to do a landing but I said that I was still very tired and that I’d give it a miss on this occasion. Better safe than sorry.

As the Savannah is the Number 1 STOL ULM, I asked Michel if he would demonstrate its short field performance. He did so by doing a touch-and-go, taking off again in less than 50 metres, turning sharp left in the climb to no more than 50 metres to one side of the runway and side-slipping back on again to land also in about 50 metres. It flew like a motor-bike and I was totally gob-smacked 😯

After taking a look at the aircraft’s papers, it was time to leave and start heading back south again. Michel knew that I’d seen another Savannah the day before and I told him that I’d think about things and let him know what my decision was about his aircraft. Actually I already knew that I wouldn’t be going for it. Here’s a short video that I’ve made that I think gives some indications as to why, which you can see by clicking on the following pic.

As I left, I stopped and phoned Robert, the first seller, to tell him that I would be going ahead with the purchase of his Savannah and on Friday I gave Michel the news that I wouldn’t be proceeding with his. I’m not going to say any more about the new one just yet as I’ll be going into full details with pics etc in my next post. But suffice to say that this is a really big moment for me and that I’m very, very excited about my intended new aircraft 😀