The RALLY et SAINTES

stopped for lunch, was being blotted by occasional rain showers. The cloud gradually dispersed as the Proctor plugged south along the Cotentin peninsular and by the time we were past Jersey there was a fine evening ahead of us. It had been arranged that we should rejoin the Auster and Turbi at Angers, and so we landed_ there although there was still enough daylight for us to have made Saintes in one hop. As it turned out, the weather on the short sea crossing route, by which the others had travelled, was so foul that they put down at Alengon for the night. The reception at Angers was most cordial and we were dragged-not at all unwillingly-into a celebration over some local gliding certificates which involved a quantity of very effervescent wine. As there seemed to be some sort of competition going to see who could get a cork furthest into the air, there was rather more effervescense than wine. Eventually, a car took us into Angers itself, past the massive castle whose walls now house a tapestry museum, to what was, we were assured, the last room to, be had in the town. To this, after dining out and sampling the terrors of the town juke boxes, we returned, to face the problems of three large people and two beds. One of the upper tnattresses was flung upon the floor and to this the Editor was condemned_his "o_puniom subsequently adding insult to injury by accusing him of snoring.

The next morning, after a rocar citroen company 'bus had reft us at the gates of the airfield and as we were exploring the curious 'contents of one gf th.e hangars (except the pilot, who was exploring in the bur)ou, the curious formalities attendant upon our departure), the missing Auster and Turbi arrived, the latter causing much interest among the Fren"fr_u, indeed it did everywher.. Er.rlOoOV stood about and yacked for about half_an_hour and we pushed otr, leaving the two other aircraft trundling down to the far end of the field to refuel.

Saintes, when we arrived there, was an im_ pressive sight. ^Two long rows of brightly coloured aircraft led from tie hangar and Cfri house to the grass strip. Jodels oflariou, ,Vp., predominated, including the 3_seater urrA'lfr. four-seat Mousquetaire, which ur.ir.J aurirrJ the afternoon. One had automatic stabilisers fltted and another a Kaiser engine_a remarkably good-looking home_built, frototype flat four. There were a number of Emeraudes and a *h;. host of prototype single_seaters, including the Jurca Temp6te and the Statoplan pouiinl. There was a beautifully finished Turbi "r;;;; could see no less-than four Flying Fleas. Indeed the redoubtable Henri Mignei himself h"d ";;; in one of them, and gave two of ,, "orrriJrg, if somewhat startling, demonstrations. About mid-day there were the usual speeches in the hangar, accompanied by the vin d,honneur.

M. Georges Beraud welctmed us on behalf of the R.S.A., of which he is president, and M. Marcel Agesilas, head of the Service des For_ motions Aironautiques et Sports Aeriens, gave an account of what his branch of the Mi;;.; were doing or going to do. The Auster and Turbi arrived just at the end of the speeches and shortly after that Fred Driessen and his wife and David Armstrong, who had come ou.. independently, via Southend, completed the British contingent.

A rather protracted lunch and an afternoon on the airfield were followed by a scramble for hotel rooms-some of which had acquired two separate bookings each_and the urtho, and Maurice were most hospitably entertained by M. Monnier and his *if..

M. Monnier is President of the local Club, the Aero Club of Saintonges and Aunis, and. his g.r.r*i,y as a host add:d greatly to the plJasur.r- o? the occasion. The banquet that evening was enlivened by .an impiomptu choir singing Gregorian plain "trunt_tt ough with lyrics which would have astonished that eminent cleric-and a good time, as they say, was had by all.

The party broke up in good order and those of the concurrenrs who had been boarded out in the neighbouring town of pons entered the clamorous Citrcien camionette which hrd i.;; placed at their disposal. References to pons asinorum , were received with the silence d;; deserved.

Sunday saw most of us on our way. Our Proctor left about mid_day. A brief halt at Nantes (where the constani sitence of the tower frequency was ^subsequently exptained quite simply by , llg.3-was ut trr.t, 1 fo, food, fuel and Customs, and we were Uu.( at Denham in the early evening, about tralf_past ,i.. i;;;i the others, starting later, ,urr^into bad weather that we just avoided, and in fact Fred,s proctor was ' cut off, for, a couple of days. But there, that's the luck of the gu-..

Turbi Plans

The existing French Turbi sheet 2 is now re_ placed by ptan No. p.F.A. 53-0t "rj slo+. These sheets are drawn to a much larger scale (approximately one-fifth) and f,uu" -i"'"" ..__ pletely re-annotated in English. il";;ow, in addition, considerably -lr" O.tuii'tf,u, ilr" French plans.

Further sheets of plans for the Turbi are i n course of preparation, and these wili be an_ nounced in popuun FLyTNG when available.