Paginatitel

The Grumpy Gang

The Grumman Aircraft Pilots Association European Branch

We walked from one pageant to another through dimly lit passageways and narrow stairs. Eerie! As one approached a corner one could hear gentle whirring and the odd click. Some of the automaton monks, it would appear, need a bit of Shell 100W oil and made one think they had been made in the middle ages! Looking at the moving (not moving in the emotional sense, but in the motorised, squeaking sense!) scenes made one thank heavens that we live in the 21st century and were able to live and work in decent conditions. Next time I go there, I think I'll donate a can of WD40!

After the rather macabre movements of the monks we left the quiet sobriety of the Abbey to visit a prune farm! I'd never heard of a prune farm. Did you realise they 'farmed' prunes. How wrong can one be. We had an excellent guided tour of the prune process, from delivery, sorting, drying, and packaging, all very interesting and informative. We even had samples to taste, prunes in chocolate, prunes in whiskey, brandy, hooch, whatever--I'll never look at a prune in the same way again! Don't get me wrong. It was a fun day out and once again gave us every opportunity to laugh and chat (and discuss the marketability of prune soup!).

After returning to Marmande we mostly drifted off to our hotels to get ready for the evening's banquet, the main event of the weekend.
What a good time we had, in great surroundings, the hangar being populated with very many different types and styles of aircraft from Morane Saulnier, Gipsy Moths to a BD Micro-jet. Altogether we had 34 aeroplanes attend with about 84 people present at the banquet.
So it did get noisy! We had lovely food, wonderful company, generous hosts, beer, wine, champagne (6 euros a bottle, yummy. I lost count at the number I bought!). Of course we had the normal boring speeches, made even harder due to the ribald comments and wine tossed at the handsome speaker

One cannot write about events such as this without mentioning our very own Grumpy Vicar, aka Richard North! He kept a multitude of people amused at his scatological musings, his ribald comments, and his outrageously audacious flirting. At the end of the evening, despite our warnings, the ladies still hadn't learnt how to handle him!

All the frivolity and camaraderie was the build up to the highlight of the evening, the award giving. The annual award to the person(s) who has made the most endeavour in getting to the Fly in is our most prestigious award--it's called the Wistler Trophy in memory of our well respected Norman Wistler who always tried to get to our fly ins no matter where they were held. This year we decided to return the award to Finland, the 2006 winners of the Wistler Trophy being Kaj Granstrom and Siero Paavo, who flew all the way from Helsinki (and back) in their AA5, OH-AYO. It was a great effort consisting of a long flight and through some poor weather in the northern regions. The attendees appreciated Kaj and Siero's efforts and, as befits intrepid aviators, they were applauded long and loud.

The annual 'Grumpy Award' is the one who nobody publicly wants, but secretly cherishes! It's the one we arbitrarily award to the person who has survived despite the Darwinian factor of their escapades attempts! This year we awarded it to Brian "Grumpy Tie" Hogan who managed to land safely, in the wrong airfield, and in the shortest distance! I shall say no more. My lips are sealed!