Egletons: A Grand Day Out

One thing you may not have known about Kevin is that he can fly! Yes! It's true. After several solo trips, he abandoned his training when we came to France, only a few hours away from qualifying for his PPL (Private Pilot Licence). He does go on about the jet set life he missed by a whisker sometimes... but we're penniless renovators now, and flying is something we only do by the seat of our pants.

Anyway, while driving back from St Nectaire last week, we spotted an aerodrome at Egletons, so I allowed Kevin a little nosy. We met a young pilot called Matthieu who happily flung open the hangars for us to look at the selection of planes. He invited us along to a special event on Sunday, which was yesterday. It was a sort of rally for small planes, lorries, classic motorbikes and vintage cars. We took our perfect neighbours, Alain and Brigitte, along with us.

As soon as we arrived, Matthieu grabbed Kevin and swept him off into a tiny little plane, much smaller than the Cessnas Kevin is used to. Within minutes, high up in the sky, he gave Kevin the controls. He flew over the area where we live, but found it impossible to spot our actual farm, because it was 'all just trees and fields'. Hmm. Kevin reported that the flying style had to be adapted for this little aircraft; something about 'trimming'. And when he landed, he had to touch the front wheels down first, rather than 'flaring', which he said felt a bit scary. Matthieu and Kevin were gone for around 45 minutes, but there was no charge. Of course, Kevin is now saturated in eager puppy flight-lust.







Alain and Brigitte took the opportunity to have a little guided tour of the different planes and microlites.








Children could have a go at this little microlite. They were assured that it would lift off the ground if they pedaled hard enough!


None of us wanted to try the rolling car experience. They really whizzed it round!















Once we'd had our fill of the aerodrome, we headed into the centre of Egletons to see what was happening at the market. We parked outside this house, and I decided that one day it would be mine...






The basket stall that's never there when you really need a basket, but suddenly appears when you least expect it... I noticed that the Union Jack bag was the cheapest.

And then home.

Comments

  1. Tony14 August 2017 at 03:14

    Well that all looked like fun. Trouble is that for me, a day out like that could act as a "gateway drug" into more flying and lots of money spent.
    A thought occurs - if you abandoned the three hole golf course, could you make a microlite landing strip :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deborah Hockey14 August 2017 at 08:41

      Ha ha... you're absolutely right. Poor Kevin. We can't afford his particular drug of choice. The three hole golf course has been expanded to four! It's so far removed from any actual golf course, that microlites are welcome to land here.

      Delete

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