The weather in Europe was very unusual for this time of year. Normally, June is fairly stable, yes with showers, but not stormy like weather. This time however, weather was more or less like spring 1944... Due to severe thunderstorms, gusting 60 kts, the organizers main task was to find shelter and safety for 40+ visiting aircraft. When we should have been consentrating on invasion beach flyby formation briefing, the time was spent finding hangars. We feel so sorry for the organizers of this event, it was not what they had planned. But, mother nature cannot be controlled and given the circumstances, we are totally impressed with their ability to secure all aircraft in such a short notice. THANK YOU GUYS!!!
As a funny sidenote, we found ourself on the front page of the Evreux newspaper with a nice article about the event. The guy behind the counter at the local newspaper kiosk laughed when he saw me buying three copies realizing that I was on the front page... :-)
Evening dinner party had to be relocated due to the fact that the tent was not "certified" for the forecasted winds. Again, the organizers did a fantastic job relocating the event on short notice. We were entertained by the Satin Dalls singer girls, performing WW2 songs...
Great performace by Satin Dalls and the L-3B pilot from UK! 82 years old, flying his L-3 an writing books. RESPECT!
At the public day (Sat. 8 June), we were exhibiting our aircraft for the public. Due to very strict regulations, the audience were not allowed into the aircraft but had to stay behind a fence... which I felt was a pity, because at our airfield Kjeller, the crows is walking aroung the historic aircraft... touch, see, feel, smell... and here we are, the biggest L-bird gathering since WW2 and the enthusiasts has to watch it from a distance.
As a "little surprise", Iza (Izabel Bazin, main organizer) had actually managed to get
Patrouille de France to do a FULL SMOKE-ON FLYBY!!!!!!! That, ladies and gentlemen, takes more than a phonecall to arrange! It was just fantastic!!!
Again, due to a severe weather situation over Europe, we had to cut our visit one day short in order to get between the front systems on our journey back home. We departed St. Andre de L'eure in the afternoon Saturday 8 June, just 3 days after arrival. The tailwinds were good, but due to local showers of rain, the conditions were quite demanding. Via Amiens we made it to Lille and decided to stay the night due to severe winds further up Belgium/Holland. We are aiming for an early start and to get as far north as possible tomorrow.
Dag (LN-RAP/Japie Krekel) is as always a good talent finding the good spots for eating. In aviation, there is an expression "the hundred dollar burger", when you fly out to eat a lunch somewhere. In our case, it's the thousand dollar burger! Honestly, it was a good burger.
Kenneth Maigaard with his "D-Day Doll". Respect to the danish for coming down here with 4 x L-4 Grasshoppers!!! We have spent the days here getting lots of new friends, far and local. Despite the main attraction of the D-Day beach flyover being cancelled, the main outcome of this event has been that the L-Bird community in Europe is now a lot closer than it was. Fellowship has been expanded, new friends from all over, even the USA!
Pity to read that the weather behaved very badly. Stay safe and have a good trip home. It is a challenge for sure but good airmanship you already proved, so carry on like that.
SvarSlett