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30th Airshow at Cerny-La Ferté Alais

Great weekend out for more than 100 pilots and their close friends - some 30 000 in fact!

Charles Aznavour sings us that he loves Paris in May. And he is right, of course. But a nice variation for your next getaway to France in May could be to go 50 kms further south to the Cerny-La Ferté Alais plateau for its yearly airshow. The Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis organises its "fête aérienne" every Whitsun weekend and attracts more than 30.000 avid fans.

This airshow can only be compared to that other mecca of vintage aircraft, Duxford in England. While the latter features slightly more military planes and a bigger crowd, many cognoscenti appreciate the wider range of aircraft and the friendly atmosphere of La Ferté Alais. And indeed the variety of planes shown and flown is unique; offering you from the first Blériots to the latest Mirages through more than a hundred civil, training, fire-fighting, postal or military airplanes.

This year was no exception and the show was considered by most as the best ever. The organisers did a marvellous job at offering visitors an ideal balance between a relaxed pace and sustained entertainment. I was particularly impressed by the commentator, Bernard Chabbert, who probably quadrupled the enjoyment factor on his own. Bernard packs more aviation experience than most of the specialists I have ever met. Leisurely seated in front of the runway, he casually drops fascinating short stories on every plane and every pilot you see. All day long, on his own. He grabbed my interest so well that I found it extremely hard to go and take pictures in places which were out of PA range. Bernard's effortless navigation between poetry, human feelings, suspense and technical prowess cast a delicious spell on all participants.

Of course, all aviation historians know this, but I did not. Did you know that

Manfred von Richthoffen - aka the Red baron - wanted his WW1 fighter planes painted red so that enemy pilots would not see when he was injured? In an era when patriotism and courage were considered more important than human lives, he managed to decimate quite a few families before dying himself at 24.
the Breguet 14 was the first serious bomber in WW1? At the time, most aircraft fuselage and wing surfaces were made of fabric, glued over a light wooden frame. Which was not far from tyre making. Which is why the Michelin family generously offered to build more than a thousand of those bombers on their personal fortune.
WW1 pilots found it sometimes hard to go back to civil, ground-level life? Which is why many of them started the tradition of airshows in a world that was not yet regulated. Using the tricks they had learned in combat, barnstormers found it very amusing to go walking on their wings or exchange passengers with cars or motorbikes. When did you last see this in your local high street?
Mr Latecoere realised that disused WW1 bomber planes would make ideal mail carriers? Looking at the most significant mail traffic at the time - France-South America - he saw that using planes overland and boats for crossing the South Atlantic could skip 3/4 of the time formerly needed to carry a letter from Paris to Buenos Aires. He then went on with heroes such as Mermoz and St Exupery to cross the ocean by plane too.
a Lockheed 12 used by business man Sydney Cotton and a De Havilland Dragon Rapide used by UK diplomats were used as spy planes during WW2? Syd Cotton even managed to fly one of his German hosts on an inspection tour of Berlin airbases, surreptitiously filming at the same time.
the Messerschmitt 109 was the first properly "industralised" plane? It was built three times as quickly as a Spitfire. But when some well-known German ace was asked what he would need to win the battle of Britain, he simply said "Give me a Spitfire".
the NA P51 Mustang combined an American airframe with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine used by the Spitfire? Thanks to its special air intake/outlet, it delivered almost the same performance as the Spitfire while offering enough range to accompany bombers to Germany.
De Gaulle wanted some of his Free French pilots to operate from Russia, creating the Normandie Niemen group? This brought together an interesting cocktail of pure blue blood and diehard communist militants, with good results. Stalin was so pleased with them that at the end of the war, he gave them their Yak fighters.
the B17 bomber planes caused more deaths than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And that the Americans used them only against strategic objectives, while the British used them against civilian targets, returning the favour of the blitz they had endured in 1940? Bomber crews and fighter pilots paid the highest tribute per man during WW2. "Never has so much been owed by so many to so few", as Churchill so aptly said.
the Chance Vought F4U Corsair's famous "W" wings resulted from the need to marry a very large propeller with a strong, short landing gear? Both necessary for a plane that had to take off and land on aircraft carriers. Only later was it found that the wing leaving the fuselage at 90° from its tangent brought other important benefits in terms of lift and drag.
The Bearcat was the most powerful propeller-driven fighter plane, with more than 2500 bhp?
the Douglas AD-4N Skyraider, while looking only like a serious fighter, carried almost as many bombs as the B17 Flying Fortress?
a Canadair as those used to fight forest fires manages to embark 6 300 liters of water in 12 seconds. Without capsizing.
Catherine Maunoury, 10 times acrobatic flight French champion, world champion in 2000 was actually a stewardess who did not feel too safe aboard planes? Deciding to fly planes herself probably helped her feel more at ease at work.
you could say that planes keep a memory of the pilots who have flown them? If only because of the metal fatigue caused by their manoeuvres.

Practical details

La Ferté Alais is a few kms off the A6 motorway Mennecy exit, 50 Kms south of Paris. It is impossible to get lost thanks to first class signposting for the last 10 kms. And the gendarmerie good-humouredly ensure a surprisingly swift traffic for the 30 000 visitors. Car parks are a very short walk from the runway. And the airfield is only a 15 minute walk from the La Ferté Alais RER station (line D). You will find all sorts of barbecues, bars, specialist shops and even campsites not more than a few yards from the runway.

Day tickets are 25 eur for adults, 12 for children (6-14), and car parks are free. The schedule this year was almost the same on Saturday and on Sunday, allowing you to experience the full program in one day, or to have a more leisurely visit over two days, and an exciting evening redrawing the ideal plane among aviation fans.

The museum is open all year every weekend and on bank holidays, from 14h30 until 18h00 in summer, 17h00 in winter. It features some 50 planes. Admission is 4 eur for adults, 1.5 for children.

Contacts

Sylvie Roger, Secretary, Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis, who run the "Flying museum": Plateau de l'Ardenay, Aérodrome de Cerny, 91590 La Ferté-Alais, tel +33-1 64 57 55 85, email esalis@club-internet.fr, web www.ajsb.com

Olivier Coignard, Directeur, Larivière Organisation, who organise the yearly airshow: 12 Rue Mozart, 92587 Clichy Cedex, tel +33-1 41 40 32 32, email organisation@editions-lariviere.fr, web www.organisation-lariviere.com

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