For the past few weeks, which have been intensely busy, a photographic overview

Air France Cadets team 851

Pilots from all over the world

Week 30, our pilots are happy!

The Interregional Young Pilots Competition saw 18 young pilots participating under the supervision of Daniel Badaroux and Bruno Balay

Young pilots' briefing

Good news! The winch has arrived on 6th August 2010.

The three PTP (Preparation for Instructor course) pilots succeeding their courseg

It's hard to see but you can read "We like St Auban!" on these magnificent yellow Tshirts worn by the group Bissig

Just some sunny photos for the beginning of July.  Lots of pilots, interesting flights (dodging the storms), and great fun.

And here are our enthusiastic Air France Cadets with their favourite glider !

In week 24, we welcomed an Israelian team. They came with their cameraman. 
He is doing a reporting on gliding. It will be broadcast on the Channel 1 of Israel.
 During their course we ask the team : " Why do like to come to the National Gliding Center ? ". 
They answer : " We like to come to the National Gliding Center because there are a better quality of gliders, the conditions for mountain soaring that we don't have at home. The color green, we come from yellow and brown colors. There are good instructing and good atmosphere. "

In week 22 we welcomed our big flying doctors course again (the APSV) - it was a great success ! Organised by Eliane de Medrano, the congress alternated flights, conferences and social events. The weather was excellent, with the exception of Monday, when a strong Mistral prevented anyone from taking off.

The beautiful weather after all the rain has resulted in our gardens and flowers looking absolutely wonderful, thanks to a great deal of hard work by Cédric and Christian. Bravo !

Loubna is a trainee studying in the European Section at the professional ycée in Manosque, she is here for the month of June. During this time she is not only helping with administrative tasks in the office, but also preparing a project to present as part of her final examinations.

Antoine BON has come to complete our team of tow pilots.

This week (week 23) there are 5 different nationalities present on the site. Some have been coming for years, several are here for the first time.

One of the flying doctors from the APSV congress decided to stay on for an extra week (Heini SCHAFFNER from Switzerland). He presented a very interesting topic related to pilots and hypoxia.

 After two difficult weeks of rain and the return of winter, finally the temperatures and gliding conditions are getting back to normal for the month of May. 

Two weeks when most pilots stayed in the hope of an improvement, always with a smile (even when they had come from as far as Japan !).

A new group from Air France has arrived for one month of initiation into gliding, they should all leave with a glider pilot licence.

Several pilots from the CNVV are participating in the French Championships in Vinon, (Jean-Marc Caillard, Olivier Darroze, Pierre Lemaire). We wish them all the best !

Some photos taken by pierre Lemaire last week, flying with the Air France Cadets…

This week is the beginning of an ITP (instructor course) with 7 pilots. This weekend the French aerobatic team are coming to train as they always do at this time of year.

On Thursday it will be the first barbecue of the season where everyone can eat outside

No news is good news ! Due to there being so many pilots and such a lot of coming and going… the weather has been good, bad and brilliant, alternating between showers, sunny spells and stormy afternoons. Despite the ups and downs everyone agreed that the quality of flights was excellent, even if a little restrained geographically, and our young pilots made good progress (under the attentive eye of Eric Napoléon and Baptiste Innocent).

Groupe Tino (ETR Aquitaine) and groupe  Eckhard STOI

The instructor courses are always full - the PTP (which lasts two weeks) and the ITV (which lasts two weeks). 

A new Air France training course started last week (on 12th April) - the eight cadets are enjoying their first taste of gliding.

Our Danish group had to stay a bit longer than originally intended (thanks to the cloud of volcanic ash) but they were rewarded with an extra day of gliding ! Our three Russians were redirected from Moscow to Rome, from where they took a taxi to Nice and a hire car to get up here.

While waiting for the latest news (and more photos) you might like to enjoy looking at the photos sent to us by Benjamin NEGLAIS during week 14!

http://picasaweb.google.fr/neglais.benjamin/StageJeunesPoleFrance#

The CNVV has been buzzing for over two weeks,  it is our busiest time of the year, with between 60 and 70 pilots on the airfield.  We have had a few days of rain but in general the early Spring weather conditions have been pretty good.

Our biggest group comes from Germany , the flying doctors who have been coming for the last fifteen years for their annual congress.  Jürgen Kriebel has stepped down after many years of organising this congress, to be replaced by Jürgen Knüppel.  Jürgen (Knüppel) has been very busy making sure everything runs smoothly, not always an easy task !

On the airfield are also smaller groups from Germany , Finland , Holland and Poland .

Not to forget the French !  Two French clubs come every year at this time, to enjoy some early season gliding – we are always happy to welcome them.

The French National Team are here for their annual training, supervised by Eric Napoléon (the coach)  and Hervé Perrin (National Technical Director).  The FFVV President Jean Emile Rouaux is also here this week.

8 Air France cadets have started their four weeks’ glider training. Some had never been in a glider before and should leave here with a glider pilot licence.  In all there will be 56 cadets coming to St Auban during the year 2010.

The weeks would not be the same without the giant barbecue organised on Thursdays, and last week ninety people enjoyed the brochettes and sausages grilled expertly by Cedric Livolsi, Nicolas Tworek and Michel Soyez !

Click here to see some beautiful photos taken in the air by Philippe de Pechy

http://picasaweb.google.fr/phdepechy/201003Xx_SaintAuban#

And while we all wait for the weather to improve, you should all stop immediately what you are doing and click on this link, to look at the magnificent photos (including a short film ) sent by Philippe DELOBEL who was with us (for his first gliding course in St Auban) last week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philippe-delobel/ 

The end of week looks good - Spring is finally on its way… we celebrated that with the first barbecue of the season !

This week is the first " feminine " course, with 5 women pilots, plus the third week of young pilots and an ITP instructor course.

Plus other aeronautical activities when there are no thermals !

We're off !

The season 2010 is up and running ! We started last week with an instructor course (5 pilots) plus an aerobatics course (3 pilots) and an advanced gliding course (3 pilots). It's still pretty chilly in the morning (minus 8°) but the gliding has not been too bad, on Wednesday there was wave…

Which didn't last too long, because the snow returned with a vengeance on Thursday !

But not too much, and it didn't stop the pilots taking off on Friday and Saturday.

This week is the first young pilot's week, there are twelve of them, plus a small group with Jean Philippe Varnier who are here for the first time.

Take Care ! 

In January it was not a good idea to land out here in St Auban, since the airfield was fully booked with our local flock of sheep…

All the staff would like to wish you a happy Christmas an a happy new year.
From now on, the Center will be closed for 2 weeks.
From Monday 4th of january we will be please to welcome you and give you further details for your next stay .

Meanwhile, consult our website,

Best wishes for 2010

Year 2009 is here