Soaring in the PACA

(Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)

In the summer of 1997 I flew at Saint-Crépin in the French Alps. The chief instructor at Saint Crépin is Philippe Napoléon, brother of two-times World Champion Eric Napoléon. The French fly differently - but obviously it works, since they seem to win practically everything... There I learned how to make a photo turn below the level of the turnpoint, and a few other things. Everyone shows up in the morning to take the gliders out of the hangar, park them at the end of the runway, then comes the most sacred duty of all: le déjuner from 11:00 to 13:00. Then - flying. Take off in airtow, face the mountain, release a 100 ft above the farm, and climb up 7000 ft along the face of the Alps in the "dynamique". Everything goes by the method. In le dynamique, the speed must be 110. In le termique, 70. Of course, you fly "le termique" also on the face of the mountain, barely missing the rocks...

Aéroport St. Crépin - a magnificent soaring site. One enters downwind over the walled town of Mont-Dauphin...

At St. Crépin, I have seen rain and fog at 9:30 a.m. At 1 p.m., after le déjuner (before which one would not fly anyway) it was a superb soaring day! Now, about that photo turn below the turnpoint: The turnpoint was le signal de Lure, a tower on a mountain North St. Auban. We just flew towards in the slope lift, below the mountain ridge level, got within the 1/2 km radius, and made a turn in a ravine below the tower away from the mountain! Of course, God was on our side: right then a big thermal hit, and in 1/2 turn I rose above the turnpoint. No wonder these guys win world championships!