French Air Areobact Team practices over my farm

rox · Feb 3, 2006

Here in Salon de Provence we have the French Air School for air areobatics. It is so cool, it is about 1/2 - 1 mile from the farm.
The team flys in formations and will go straight up ad then peel off. They use colors in their contrails, red, white and blue.

It is so pleasent to be on the farm working outside and they fly overhead practicing. It is like having a free airshow at least once a week. I'll try and post some more photos, today I tokk a photo of jsut one guy out practicing.

Also we have real regular gliders that sail over our property. The airplane pulls them up and then they jsut glide with no engine power.

It is so pleasent becasue we don't live next to an airport where you are having regular ongoing air traffice, our airtraffic is nice, it is entertaining.

We also have a quite a few helicopters that fly overhead, the landing pad for the helicpters is about 1/4 to 1/2 a mile away. They are for the express way monitoring. It is fun they hover over our property.

Also we get the helicopters that are used in forest fire fighting.

All in all our property seems to be on some major rout that they all seem to like and when you are working outside it is such a nice diversion.

I know it is probably somewhat vain but I like to think that we get so much air traffic becasue the property with the terraces, the house and the barn, the authentic Bories, and the rows of olive trees are attractive to the pilots. Probaly jsut wishful thinking on my part.

Some day I am going to get a good piece of vinyl and make a big sign that can be seen form the air, to offer my thanks and encouragement. One part of our rookf is flat with pea gravel and it would hold abig sign jsut perfect.

Not a great photo but look close, you can see the plane jsut over top f the hill.

texbaylea · Feb 3, 2006

rox - I am envious being an admitted airplane nut. I got started with WWII . Now those were real aircraft, not the glorified blowtourches we have now. I have to admit that the aerobatics they do now are something to watch however.

I am sure that you are right that the pilots like looking at your "spread" as we say here in Texas.

Vernon

midlf · Feb 3, 2006

Rox - you are correct about not having regular airline traffic. Before we became country bumpkins we lived under the landing pattern for the airport, about five miles out. It could get a bit annoying at times.

About helicopters: We lived two blocks from a major hospital with a med emergency landing pad. I did not mind them although when they came in with a "hot load" they would rattle our windows. For "normal" stops they came in over the lake with a much less aggressive rotor use. Now the news helicopters are a different story. Those darn things were down right annoying. Especially when they just hung over the neighborhood for 15 minutes so they could relay a livecast weather report from the lakefront. Don't even get me started about how they hung over the Harley 100th concert and were so loud you couldn't hear the bands. Good thing stinger missiles are not a retail item.

Air shows are great. We would have the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds over the lakefront every couple of years. Very impressive.

Now we are in the landing pattern for Palmyra Township International airport. There is a significant difference in traffic from a grass strip.

Egon · Feb 3, 2006

I could sit and watch flying machines all day.

Egon

rox · Feb 3, 2006

midliff,
did you live in Wauwatosa near Froedert?
Before we moved to Frace we lived in Brookfield.
My husband owned the Elm Grove Inn, in Elm Grove and also the Red Circle Inn in Nashotah. He had a partner for a number of years and then they split up and each took a restaurant. My husband kept Elm Grove.
It was really neat to hear you talking about the Palmyra airport and also the Harley 100.

We were there for the Harley 100, OMG it was so much fun, "Now you in hog heaven Baby, the home of Milwaukke Metal...'''

The French Team is exactly like the Thunderbirds. They fly straight up so high you can't even see 'em then whosh... they head straight down. I don't know why the pilots are not throwing up!

midlf · Feb 3, 2006

Rox - not Froedert. We were two blocks north of St. Mary's. Between Downer and Lake, just east of the Downer shopping district. The SO was a long time Tosa girl.

Whooo - your hubby did not just own the Elm Grove Inn. He ran one of the REAL CLASS ACT restaurants in the area. The Red Circle Inn is right up there also. When our financial dude does lunch with us we go to the Elm Grove Inn. (With what we pay him he can afford it.) I did not know they had the same owners. The SO said she knew that. I had not heard that the Elm Grove had changed hands. How long ago did your hubby sell it?

Now we make most of our restaurant visits to the Main Street Family Restaurant in Palmyra, mostly for breakfast. It has a somewhat different atmosphere from the Elm Grove Inn. We can get in and out of there for under $15.

So how did you end up being a French olive farmer? That's a long way from suburban Milwaukee. BTW your "farm" also looks like a class act.

rox · Feb 3, 2006

mdlff,
Hubby owned The Elm Grove Inn for 13 years and sold it jsut before September 11th. I think we sold it on September 4th, 2001. He sold it to his Chef. My husband is French and is a French Chef and in the last few years of owning the restaurant he had a day to day Chef and he was the owner, kind of managing the Chef. So that is how we ended up back in France. I always promised him that when we retired we would move to his country since we had spent all our married life in my country. So here I am "Green Acres" with French subtitles.

When we sold our house in Brookfield to buy the farm we bought a one bedroom condo in Tosa so that we would have a spot in the USA. So now I'm a Tosa girl too. It is right on Bluemound, 120th jsut over the border from Brookfield and Elm Grve so we feel comfortable there.

This is so cool meeting you on TBN, you have eaten at my husband's (former) restaurants. Small world isn't it?

_RaT_ · Feb 3, 2006

Roxanne, I understand your feelings. It is a very cool thing to watch these planes do what they do. I get envious every time I see them. I remember working at an Air Force base in town. We were not far from the runway. As the pilots practiced touch and go's, it was hard not to feel a bit insecure about my life. Here I was pounding nails while someone else was screaming by in a multi million dollar plane and then putting the full throttle in and launching into the atomosphere in mere seconds only to come back around and do it again. On the other hand though, that kind of maneuvering makes me a bit nauseous. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

CRJCaptain · Feb 4, 2006

RaT,

You sound like you need to go out to your closest general aviation airport and sign up for a familiarization flight. I think it's only $60...just don't blame me if you get hooked. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
(What's another expensive hobby, right?)

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