Changing of the plans

...LFMT tour, le oskaaar foxtrot india est en final pour le trente et une droite...

Many things have changed since the last post:

new instructor, new plane, more engines..(2:p ) but above all, new country (or even new continent)

To make a long story short: our multi-engine training on the Diamond 42 didn't continue as planned in the US, but in Montpellier in France. The planes in the US were more in maintenance than flying, so the decision was made to fly the 2 planes stationed at at Antwerp. To have some better weather conditions, we would go to the South of France to do most of our multi engine missions. And so it went...

1 week after receiving this news, we were on the plane back to Belgium, and 3 days later, monday morning, we were in Antwerp to fly our 2 diamond 42's to Montpellier.It started well, my first landing with the DA42 was in Clermont Ferrand, where we were visual with the approach lights 100 ft above the minima. We (Dan, Hannes, Kevin and me with our 2 instructors: Paul Huyghe and Dany Creeten) were in France for only 9 days, but flew every day. It was an intens training with lots of preparations and a new environment to fly in. Quite a bit different. It's while flying in Europe you start to see what a paradise Arizona is for General Aviation. 100% of our flights in France was in controlled airspace. You don't just get into the plane as you do in Arizona. For local IFR approach training, you need to file a flight plan, for VFR manoeuvre training, you need to request an area somewhere over the sea between 3500 and 4500... You get used to it, but in a way you also miss the freedom you had in the states. We made some nice IFR flights to Perpignan, Carcassonne and Nimes. Most of the patterns and also some IFR training was done in Beziers, close to Montpellier. It was a nice experience, although the atmosphere was less relaxed as it is in the States. After 9 days, we flew the planes back home. From then on, we continue the rest of our multi training in Belgium. Up to now I have 3 flights in Belgium, to Ostend and to Chaleroi. Impressive how small our country is if you're used to flying in the States.

Pictures of Montpellier below

Last pictures of Arizona and of the trip back home will follow soon!

Grts Huts

Montpellier 15 - 23 december 2008