As the photos show, it was a small, but good fly-in at Bois Flurey aerodrome (LFDP) on Ile d'Oleron. It is a well cared for grass strip ~ 3600 ft in length with a shorter ultralight (lawn dart) field. Most of the airplanes based there were Robins (surprised?), although there was a Zenith tucked away in a hangar. Not a lot of activity, but we did see a few airplanes operating there. Rickmer's Sundowner was just out of annual and we found there was some issues with the induction system. It was remedied in short order and we enjoyed the hospitality of the "Cactus Bar", my fiend Nicolas's favorite place to visit for social activity and libations. Nicolas graciously invited them to the "BEECH house" to stay and we enjoyed Nicolas's cuisine while 'watching the tide roll in and watching it roll out again' from the front deck. Wednesday night at a seafood restraurant was to die for (especially the chocolate noir dessert, thank you Kathrine!) followed by a digistif back at the BEECH house. The trio was set off by us late this morning and they are now fighting their way in weather back to the Frankfurt area. If you go to Flight Aware, look for D-EHEY. All in all, it was a great get-to-gether with Peter Shirrmeister, Rickmer and Kathrine Rover. l was happy to see Peter and Rickmer and to meet his lovely wife Kathrine.
Because my visit to Ile d'Oleron was planned for over a year, I will respectfully decline any President Trophy Points for this fly-in. I just happen to be here. Peter and Rickmer made the fly-in happen inspite of my objections over the expense for them to visit just to share a glass of Bordeaux with me. But I dearly thank them for the visit as it was a FUN time! I think a trip to Germany is in my future.
Edit: As far as the performance of Rickmer's Sundowner, it will have to wait. However, I witnessed the take-off and was impressed. Bois Flurey is at 49 ft msl and we were close to standard conditions. So, you would expect good take-off performance. But, it looked to be to be quite spritely during the take-off roll and It appeared that Rickmer's airplane broke ground in less than 300 meters. Rickmer has promised to forward me the cruise data. His airplane is well equipped with G-5s and a analyzer. I'm sure the data will be posted in the not too distant future. One thing is for sure, the noise level is quite subdued. Not like the Sundowners I have flown.
Edit 2:
The deck we shared for three days.
View attachment 28719
Unfortunately the sun disappeared before I could snap this shot. The locals call the land in the distance "the continent".