SAFA Skysailor Magazine

4 SKY SAILOR July | August 2020 While idling on my phone during the lockdown, Facebook decided to really depress me by reminding me that just one year ago I was in France for three months of flying in the Alps. by John Chapman What a difference a year makes! Launching south with the viaduct in the distance Climbing out of Poncho D’Agast launch with my camp site on the river bank below I had started my trip in SW France with a visit to the Milau viaduct in the Tarn valley. This really impressive structure had recently been the subject of an ABC documentary lauding its engineering achievement. It’s also a flying site. I had a car for the first two weeks of my trip, since the forecast wasn’t optimistic for May, and I could get some touring done around the Ardèche and visit some new places before heading once more to Annecy. Arriving in the old town of Milau, I found a camping site near the river with lots of space since it was early in the season, and I went on to explore the Ardèche region. As well as visiting the local vulture conservancy, and a famous grotto with 36,000 year old cave paintings, I also found the main Milau launch at the Pouncho D’Agast overlook- ing the town and river. From my camp it was about eight kilometres up a good road, so I figured if the weather came good, I could get some value from my new lightweight gear by spending the morning walking up the hill. This happened a few days later – you can tell a good flying day in France, suddenly lots of pilots turn up. The launch is well organised on an east facing point above the river valley with take-offs in three directions – north, south and east. The first pilots launched early and obviously knew the site well, flying directly to the house thermal and climbing out. I waited until just after midday and launched with the goal of getting as close to the viaduct as possible – and back again. Getting above launch was straightforward – follow the early pilots. Then it was a case of looking for likely triggers on the sunny edges of the valley. This proved fairly easy and I could progress slowly into the light breeze from the south while main- taining well above the level of the plateau. This area of France is a raised area with deeply incised river valleys. The whole idea behind the viaduct was to avoid the long trip down into the valley on the old A75, through the old town and back up again on the other side. Now Parisians heading for the Mediterranean fly across the Tarn in five minutes, while all the exposed rock in the gorges makes this ideal habitat for vultures and a source of thermals. Having got the pics I wanted, I turned back towards camp and flew a leisurely return trip. French towns always seem to leave plenty of green spaces for parks and recreation, so multiple landing options take the pressure off and I enjoyed a boat around over the old town before arriving into a park near my camp. A good start to my flying summer… thanks for the memories, Facebook.