IFFR France celebrated their 50th Anniversary at their 2024 annual gathering held in Toulouse between 6 and 8 September. World President Mike McFarlane and First Lady Sali had flown over from Melbourne, Australia for this special occasion.
This time last year there was not a cloud in the sky for the journey to and from the French meeting in Evian. Sadly, this year, stormy weather meant many of the VFR pilots from the UK, the Benelux section and even Andorra had to go with “Plan B” – but we all got there for a great weekend of IFFR Fellowship. Past World President James Alexander was smartest – he and Catherine set off a day early before the thunderstorms set in across Southern England and Northern France. Past World President George and Caroline Ritchie, Rodney Spokes, Mike and Margaret Cromati and Brian Harvey and Bob Field elected to take the EasyJet Flight from Gatwick. IFR pilots Robert Limb and Peter Greenyer finally managed to get away from Southern England on Friday and were able to join us by Friday evening.
After a welcoming Friday lunch in the Jean Mermoz aeroclub hangar at Muret Lherm airport just outside Toulouse, we enjoyed a visit to the AuraAéro electric aircraft factory and then to Droneaero – a start up company developing drones for agricultural use. On the Friday evening we dined in our hotel in the city centre.
Saturday saw us visiting the “Pioneers of Flight” museum charting the history of aviation in France from its earliest days, and the pioneers of l’Aéropostale, the original air mail service which saw some of the first regular transatlantic flights to South America. We then went on to , the fantastic Aéroscopia museum, with exhibits including a prototype Concorde, a super Guppy transporter plane, an Airbus A380 and a massive range of other Airbus aircraft,. It was fascinating to be able to see “under the skin” of many of these fine aircraft. Our day of exploring aircraft ended at the “Ancient Wings” museum of old aircraft. These are almost all stored outdoors. Its clearly a labour of love to preserve these old aircraft, rich in history, and to protect them from the ravages of age and weather.
On Saturday evening, we had time on our own to find our dinner. Many of us chose to dine in the great square close by the hotel which being prepared for an outdoor concert on the following evening.
On Sunday we had a guided tour of the Centre of Old Toulouse, and then an afternoon at leisure to give us time to prepare for the 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner.
The Gala Dinner was a wonderful evening, held just outside Toulouse at Le Mas-Tolosa. After reception drinks and canapes in the garden, we adjourned inside for dinner, followed by speeches recalling the past 50 year history of IFFR France. We ended the evening with a wonderful celebratory birthday cake. Thus ended a great weekend of flying and friendship and – truly a great occasion to celebrate this great milestone.
Fortunately, after much watching of the charts, Monday was a better day for flying. Still not a day for VFR pilots, but with only occasional CBs around, fine for the IFR pilots to make their way home.
