The Grumpy Gang

The Grumman Aircraft Pilots Association European Branch

Home > Meetings >  1998 Marmande France

On the Saturday the main event was a visit to the Cave de Beaupuy in the famous wine town of St. Emilion where the whole process of wine making was explained to us and the final product generously supplied for tasting

Even more generous was the supply of wine that evening at the AYA Banquet. Master Chef Michel Metheraud excelled with a meal of five courses, each a gastronomic delight. Most of us had sobered up again by Sunday morning after a good night's sleep in Le Capricorne Hotel, and a flock of Grummans took off midmorning for an aerial tour of the region. We flew over the hills and valleys of the rivers Dordogne, Gironde, and Garonne, plus a change of scene along a stretch of the Atlantic coast. Our midday meal stop at Bergerac Airfield turned out to be a typical French Sunday lunch-long,leisurely and with a liberal supply of alcohol for those who weren't piloting on the return leg.

It is often said that the French really live to eat  while the rest of the world just eat to live. AYA this weekend proved that point! Some of us that afternoon, instead of swimming in the hotel pool, went to see the second Grumman Tiger restoration that Dominique Covre, head of the eightman team of L'Escadrille Orion, is currently working on. This Tiger already incorporates several parts of French origin, including the exhaust system and much of the engine instrumentation, which greatly changes (improves?) the appearance of the panel. lan Matterface and Evert Schraverus are to be congratulated on organising what turned out to be one of the best Europe Fly-In events so far.

All AYAers are also very appreciative of the friendly reception we enjoyed from the Aeroclub de Gascogne and of the generous way all the members of L'Escadrille Orion and their families and friends welcomed us to this memorable weekend. Before the last of the Grummans set out for their various home fields, from nearby French ones to far-off bases in Denmark and Scotland, some preliminary thought had already been given to planning for AYA Europe 1999. Initial ideas are that this may be held in Northern Ireland,