2. The airfield of Blois Le Breuil
2.1 Some history ... again !
The airfield was created 1938 in a hurry by the French Air Force, at a time when only little illusions were left on the intentions of Mr. Hitler. At that time, only one grass runway, the actual 02/20, existed. We know only a few things about the World War II period. Numerous vestiges from this time attest of a lot of activity. The airfield was used for a few days by the French Air Force retreating 2/33 recco squadron, to which the famous writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry belonged. He possibly spent some time in the farmhouse of Villeroux. In his famous book "Flight over Arras", he evokes his flights over the area.
Shortly afterwards, the airfield fell into the hands of the Luftwaffe and was used until 1944 for weather scouting and reconnaissance flights toward England. The Farmhouse of Villeroux was at that time living quarters and command post. A number of barracks was erected, as well as a big hangar with a noteworthy wooden roof structure. It was used until the early eighties, before unfortunately falling apart due to age and weather attacks. The airfield was shortly bombed by US Air Force thunderbolts in the summer of 1944, without much damage and taken over shortly afterwards, first by the US and then by the French Air Force for a few years. The southern part of the airfield remained military property long after that, which created a lot of problems every time building maintenance proved necessary. We are still looking for information and photographic evidence over that period, since many questions are yet unanswered ...
Glider activity started in 1947 or 1948.
In the sixties, future belonged to business aviation. The Chambers of Commerce of Blois and Vendôme invested in the building of a 800 metres concrete runway with a parallel grass runway, the actual 12/30. A new hangar was erected, as well as the restaurant "Le Concorde" and new premises for the club, along the road Blois-Vendôme. The local club moved out the farmhouse of Villeroux into the new and modern quarters. During the 80's, the runway was extended to 1.250 metres to accommodate business jets; night lighting and a VOR beacon were installed. Unfortunately, the crisis of business aviation as well as the competition of the highway and the TGV to Paris prevented the expected development to take place and traffic to increase. Nevertheless, Blois Le Breuil is nowadays the biggest airfield of the department Loir et Cher and has been recently upgraded to international status.
For the time being, the major part of the traffic originates from the local flying club, the Air Club Blois-Vendôme, as well as from a few business flights. During summertime, The airfield receives also a lot of foreign visitors coming to glance at the Loire Castles from the air.
A roomy airfield, moderate traffic : Ideal conditions to develop glider activity. The French Gliding Championships took place already twice in Blois : Hosting around 100 gliders with their teams on the site did not raise any particular promiscuity or air traffic problem.
2.2 The aeronautical environment
The airfield is located halfway between the cities of Blois and Vendôme and between two rivers: La Loire in the south and Le Loir in the north. It can be easily found and identified, except during low final glides in the evening, coming from the east, with the sun in the eyes.
50 km north-east is the military base of Orléans Bricy, home of the complete airlift capacity of the French Air Force (C-160 Transalls and C-130 Hercules). A restricted area composed of several class D airspaces exists, which can be penetrated upon approval by the local air traffic control (see ICAO map 1/500.000 and 1/1.000.000). This restricted area is not really an issue as far as cross-country flying is concerned.
40 km in the north, another military base : Chateaudun, with a very reduced activity. This is the French Davis-Monthan, where all obsolete military aircraft are stored. Here also a restricted D-airspace area does exist, which is managed by Orléans Bricy Approach. Crossing this airspace towards or from the north is allowed along two tracks after clearance has been obtained form Bricy Approach. Communications in French and English. Farther to the north (100 km from Blois) you will find the limit of the Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports restricted areas. Heavy traffic must be expected and strict respect of the horizontal and vertical borders are essential : You are not allowed to fly over the city of Chartres at an altitude superior to 5.000 ft.
50 km west of Blois you will find the airport of Tours Saint Symphorien, half civil, half military, where training Alpha-jets are based. The associated restricted area is normally not penetrable by gliders.
Towards the south and south-west, airspace is mostly free, despite of the numerous areas mentioned on the ICAO maps, provided that you maintain VMC flying conditions. By the way, Glider instrument flying is strictly prohibited over the whole country, without possible derogation.
All this may look a little bit restrictive, but that is relative : France is a large country and air traffic appears very diluted. You will not see aircraft very often, except for fellow-gliders. Nevertheless, keep your eyes open at any time : This is essence of air-safety.
2.3 The flight operations on site
The runway 02/20 and 12/30 are disposed to shape a big "L" with an opening of 100° (see map). Four different types of air operations coexist on the site : Aircraft flying, glider flying, ultralight flying and from time to time aerobatics.
2.3.1. Aircraft operation
The source of aircraft traffic is essentially the local flying club and aircraft homebuilders, some business flights and in summer foreign visitors.
A general rule : For all four possible landing and take-off directions, the aircraft traffic patterns are on the outside of the "L" formed by the runways. The standard traffic pattern altitude is 1.000 ft AGL. Most of time, aircraft will use the concrete runway, even if the wind is ill-oriented. Apparently, looking professional is more important than the own safety : Aircraft pilots will use the 02/20 runway only when the wind is blowing stronger than their own ego. Exceptions are the aircraft homebuilders, just because the location of their hangars is very close to the 02/20 and perhaps because they do not think of themselves so seriously.
The grass runways are very wide (150 metres) and are virtually divided in two in their length : One half for aircraft and one half for gliders, according to the side of the respective traffic patterns.
The local airfield control is operating daily from 09.00 to 12.00 and from 14.30 to 17.30. The frequency is 118.45 MHz. French and english languages may be used during the opening hours. The local airfield control is an information source only. It is not entitled to give any orders or instructions. The pilot is free to make his decisions according to his own judgement, decisions for which he, of course, carries the entire responsibility. You should be aware of the fact that radio-communications are permanently recorded. When the local airfield control is not operating, radio reports are still mandatory for the sake of self-information. Then only the use of french language is permitted.
The use of the radio is mandatory, specially to warn of any manoeuvres outside the normal scope of the traffic pattern, like landing on a not operating runway or like low final glides. You must report yourself in down-wind, base-leg and final. The local airfield control will provide you with wind and pressure information.
2.3.2 Glider operation
2.3.2.1. The start grid
Gliders on the Blois Le Breuil airfield are operated by the A.C.B.V.. the local gliding club, and the A.A.V.L.L., the guests of which you are, if you have brought your own tow plane. Therefore it has been found necessary to co-ordinate the start grid activities of both entities in order to
When the gliders are brought to the start grid (see map "Ways to the Start grid"), they should not be immediately aligned in the take-off queues, unless they are fully ready for take-off. They should be parked instead on the parking area next to the runway, so that pre-flight checks, task preparation, filling of glider’s water ballast, emptying of pilot’s own ballast, sandwich consumption etc... can be performed with all the required quietness. Gliders may be aligned in the queues only when they are ready for take-off, with the pilots present. This is to avoid that gliders obstruct the take-off path while their pilots are away for lunch, this just for the sake of having reserved a take-off position.
Two lines of maximum 4 or 5 gliders must be created in order to render parallel (not simultaneous !) take-offs possible. Those two lines will be fed with gliders from the parking area from the rear as necessary. A distance of approx. 20 metres should be left free between both lines in order to allow to move a glider backwards in-between without taking space from the landing area. (see map"The start grid").
2.3.2.2. Take-off procedure
How to bring the gliders to the different start grids is described in the map "The ways to start grids". Crossing runways, operative or not, must be done quickly but without haste, while keeping an eye on the traffic. The best is to use a portable radio and communicate with the local control on 118.45 MHz. Due to the distances to the different start grids, it is highly recommended to use a tow bar and a wingtip wheel.
Tow aircraft always land with the line. Most of time, the process is as follows :
Glider take-off on runway 30 : The tow aircraft lands on runway 02, overtakes the queuing gliders and places himself in front of the first glider in line.
Glider take-off on runway 20 : Same procedure, but the tow aircraft lands on runway 12.
This procedure ensures maximum rate of tows per hour. Unfortunately, it is not possible to use it on runways 02 and 12, for obvious reasons.
No need to explain how to hook-up the glider to the tow-line. However, everybody should know that French tow-lines are overdimensioned in their tensile rupture and that they are NOT equipped with any rupture fuse. Therefore if someday you find Yourself in critically high position behind a tow-aircraft, react immediately as you cannot count on a line rupture to solve the problem for you.
As long as the wingtip remains down in the grass, the tow pilot assumes that the glider is not ready for take-off. He will tense the line slowly and wait for the glider pilot to declare himself ready on radio and for the helper to raise the wingtip horizontally. The helper should not raise the wingtip if he observes a landing proceeding from behind, or any other perturbing situation. Once all these conditions are met, the tow pilot opens the throttle. Radio-communications with the local control are exclusively the tow-pilot's cup of tea. Stay quiet behind or, if you have something sensible to say, report to annex 11. If the tow pilot moves his rudder left and right before take-off, this is because he has noticed something abnormal on your glider. Probably your airbrakes are still extended. In that case, he will not take-off as long as the problem is not solved. This rule also applies in tow : If the tow-pilot moves his rudder left and right, then check immediately your airbrakes or eventually your braking chute.
For all glider pilots practising only winch take-offs at home : In France, winches are very seldom, therefore everybody expects that you master the aerotow 100 %. Sometimes the tow pilots will spiral in a thermal, banking at up to 30° in order to use the lift and increase the rate of climb. Sometimes they will come close to other gliders. If you don't feel absolutely secure, then better release the line and go on by yourself.
Release altitude is 500 metres. Towing higher is not necessary. Generally, the tow pilots will bring you into a thermal. The release order is given when the tow pilot clearly rocks his wings. Then release should be immediate, as the tow aircraft will start a sharp descent almost without delay. As from this moment, you are free as a bird until the evening landing...
Or maybe not quite : Let us suppose that, for any reason, you cannot release the line ! If this happens, don't panic, the tow aircraft will bring you back safely to the ground : First rock your wings to advise the tow pilot that something is wrong. He will confirm that he understands by moving his rudder left and right. As from this moment, extend your airbrakes fully and put yourself in down position behind the tow aircraft. Down position means really down : Under the propeller wash, and let the tow pilot take charge. He will descent at approx. 120 km/h at a rate of descent of 2 or 3 m/s. Keep your airbrakes extended during the whole descent which will end on the runway where you will be able to land safely, still in tow. As soon as you touch the ground, the tow pilot will release his side of the line, open his throttle and take-off again in order to leave you a free landing run.
Remark : During take-off and tow, the glider does not communicate with the local control. Therefore it is not necessary for him to confirm that he is leaving the frequency when doing so. This is different with motorgliders, which must contact the local control and proceed in a similar way as an aircraft : They must confirm loud and clear that they are leaving the local frequency and wait for confirmation before switching-off.
The glider traffic patterns are located inside the "L" formed by both runways. The traffic pattern starts from the initial point of the down-wind leg. The optimal altitude is 250 metres AGL. 200 metres is still okay, but 150 definitely not. Avoid fly-byes, which nowadays do not impress anybody and which are high safety hazards, specially when your speed is anaemic, as in many cases. Once in the traffic pattern, the decision to land is irrevocable : Do not interrupt, do not start thermalling again or whatever. Fly in such a manner as being predictable at all time and use your radio as defined in annex 11. If, when you are turning final, you see that the runway is full of gliders, divert towards the aircraft side of the runway : There is enough space available. You may say whatever you want about the airfield, but not that you had not enough real estate to land safely !
Under weak wind conditions, gliders stationed at the farmhouse of Villeroux often use the aircraft side of the 02/20 runway when landing in the evening. The advantage : You can adjust your landing run to stop close to the trailers and close to a chilled pint of lager. However this procedure requires a very close observation of the air traffic, specially on QFU 20 where your short final will cross the axis of runway 30/12 at very low level. Expect a very bumpy ride if your landing run ends-up behind the yellow taxyway markers.
Using your radio is mandatory in the traffic pattern, even if the local control is not operating.
2.3.2.4. Landing out
It is not possible to talk about soaring without evoking this possibility !
From the air, you will see that fields are mostly of huge dimensions, that the country is not so densely populated and that a lot of power and telephone lines are crossing the landscape. All these facts play a role in the outlanding decision : Land preferably close to an inhabited farmhouse, otherwise, be prepared to walk ! Telephones can be found everywhere. The phone number of the farmhouse of Villeroux is :
02 54 20 87 37
No matter where you call from on the French territory. If you have a portable phone, take it with you : The GSM coverage is very good all over the country.
With a little luck, an outlanding may turn into a unique experience : The step between providing a telephone and an invitation to sit at the evening table is sometimes narrow and may give you an outstanding opportunity to taste the French way of life instead of waiting for your crew outside on the road. Some dedicated freeloaders even make it a matter of honour to terminate their flight close to respectable country residences, preferably at dinner time...
The easiest way to communicate your landing position by phone is to use the Michelin road map as a reference (Scale 1/200.000). Sheet number 64 should be present in every glider at all time.
Since we are talking about outlanding, let us loose some words on the French Gendarmery, the local country police force. Normally, you almost never see them, but when you land out, you can be almost certain that they will pop-up, just by chance. Most of time they are quite OK and helpful if your personal papers and those of the glider are all there. Just be polite, respectful and co-operative. It would be very surprising that they look for trouble with a foreign glider pilot.
Avoid landing in cultivated fields : Most of time, there is enough harvested real estate around! Then you will avoid a possible damage to your glider and to someone else’s property : You have very few chances to win an argument with an angry peasant, unless you master the French language like a native.
One more detail : Our turnpoint catalogue includes a number of private airfields, which of course may come out very handy in certain circumstances. However, their identification from the air can prove very difficult without a good knowledge of the local landscape, specially in the Sologne area. Do not trust your GPS blindly, as it could well happen that you are not able to find the bl... landing strip in the last moment, when you are low and left without alternative. In such situation, prefer landing into a field after a good preparation, instead of looking for the strip until it is too late and finish your holiday in a telephone line of on the top of a tree. When landing on such a private strip, do not forget that you may not be welcome eventually.
An idea for a cross-country flight : Take some of these private landing strips as turnpoints and try to identify them from a safe altitude.
2.3.3. The ultralight traffic
The ultralight aircraft dispose of a runway parallel to the 02/20, located at its west extremity (see the airfield map). Some have an engine, some don’t. The powered ones sometimes tow the powerless ones up to 500 metres. However, they are not much of a nuisance for the gliders, but you may meet some of them in thermals, so be careful.
2.3.4. The aerobatic operation
From time to time a training session of a wandering aerobatic school takes place and lasts for three of four days, until the protest of the local population against the noise is too strong. Then they move to another site. They use the concrete runway as their primary evolution axis, so avoid crossing the airspace above.
The frame reserved to aerobatic flying is a vertical square with ceiling at 4500 ft above ground and floor at 1500 ft above ground. It is located directly over the concrete runway 12/30 and extends horizontally over one nautical mile.
2.4 Radio-communications
We have already mentioned that a great value is attached to state of the art radio traffic, of course in the interest of flight safety. The question of knowledge in French language is here of prime importance, since the tower works only in this language. Strictly speaking, only pilots fluent in French are allowed to use the airfield. However we cannot expect from our guests that they take a degree in French before they spend a holiday with us.
In order to compromise on that particular point, it was decided that our guest should master a limited number of French expression. Some of those are included in a page called "French Phraseology" accessible through the table of content, with phonetics and translation into English. Sooner or later, probably sooner, the airfield will be opened to radio traffic in English language since it has now acquired an international status according to the Schengen agreement.
A copy of this document should be in the side pocket of every glider
2.5 The IFR approach procedure
The airfield of Blois le Breuil disposes of an IFR approach procedure centred on a NDB located on the airfield. The Aviation Authority has advised us to inform our guests about its existence in the interest of flight safety.
This procedure is not used very often, however you should be aware of the fact that an aircraft in the IFR approach procedure has highest priority, even against gliders.
