French Air Force noise at night

Complaining is the sort of thing that I could quite imagine would result in them coming over daily every half hour from 9pm to 9am so close to the complainers house you can see the pilot mooning from the cockpit from your upstairs window, and with such such an engine roar every tile on your roof lifts for a couple of seconds…

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We live only 40km from Landiviseau which is the location of the main base for the naval air arm supporting the Charles de Gaulle nuclear aircraft carrier…whilst being home based in Toulon it is maintained in nearby Brest and as the operationally embarked aircraft regularly rotate we see and hear, but at an unobtrusive height, the Rafale M flying into the base…but thankfully very rarely outside normal working hours!
We got more noise from the Embraer Tucanos of No1 FTS and then BFJT base at Linton on Ouse (now closed) near York which resembled angry bees continually buzzing about below 1,000 ft flown by rookies who often forget they shouldn’t be flying directly above near by villages.
At least a fast jet is a quick roar then over!

2 that go over my house several nights a week sound like lumbering old military aircraft or freight engines - but actually they’re Dreamliners (Boeing 787 highly modern) of Virgin Atlantic hauling freight to Africa. (they’re on flightradar24 app which military aircraft are not).

Despite what Graham says it’s a bit “off” to have this repeatedly at those hours. I would have a friendly word with your local mairie and ask if they have a contact chez the military. I wouldn’t even mind asking at the base or finding out if there is a community association located near the base you could work through.

I am sure Graham is right though formal methods won’t work. It’s a case of getting a polite request to try and get some variation to away from your house a bit of the time if someone there is kind enough

I had lunch once in Limoges airport when flying back to the UK from Deux Sevres. All I can say is that I hope and pray every day that all airports around the world would one day be able to serve food that matches the superb food I had there, and all at a reasonable price. Hell would freeze over before then.

Back in the day, the airport building resembled a large garden shed , then it progressed to a tent, and then to the modern terminal it is now. I too have had the very pleasant experience of eating “upstairs” there :yum:

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There’s certainly a thing about restaurants associated with airfields in France (and Belgium).
They are generally exceptional!
Not only flyers use them but the local community too. That was certainly my experience flying regularly into the likes of Le Touquet, Calais, Charleroi and Ostend to name but a few.
One of my favourites was Abbeville - an old wartime airfield where the officers accomodation had been turned into a splendid motel - right on the airfield!
We could fly in, park the plane virtually in front of our room for the night and eat very well in the restaurant - steak tartare was my favourite - and escargot as a starter! delicious…

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Good story Mark. I guess the military in France regarde eating with the same respect and enthusiasm as the civilian population.

There’s an airfield in Fayance which has a nice little resto for lunch which we pop over to every now and then. The airfield is mostly used for gliding so the most one generally sees at lunchtime is the odd planeur being tugged aloft. On one occasion however a whacking great camouflaged helicopter came thundering out of nowhere and plonked down on the grass. The crew, about five of them If I remember correctly, emerged, looking somewhat like Neil Armstrong descending from the Lunar Module, and wandered over to the resto. They had an excellent lunch (don’t know if it included wine) and then off they went. The staff didn’t seem surprised to see them so perhaps it’s a regular occurrence.

We get what I would call exciting noise from the occasional military jet. Never had it at night thank goodness! Flights from UK airports to Barcelona and the Balearics provide a more annoying background noise. There have been less than usual this year though.

the maxim is 8 hours between throttle and bottle but 24 hours is best.

image

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At my flying club the guidance was throttle to bottle: 10 minutes. Bottle to throttle: 24 hours :wink::grin:

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assuming of course, that you weren’t P1 flying the return sector :wink: :slightly_smiling_face:

Well that was the CFI’s approach :upside_down_face:

aye… but then the CFI would be free to visit the bar whilst the student is putting the aircraft to bed and tying it down :wink:

My eyes were only halfway along your text sentence before they were drawn to the picture below. It was some minutes before I could complete the reading of the sentences. So funny. :rofl:

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It’s the way I tell 'em :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I was in Abbeville visiting friends 3 weeks ago and we ate in the restaurant. Absolutely exceptional food and company. Also as a flyer, there are transit routes for military aircraft which run over the charente. The transit height is from 300 ft upwards to 6000 ft. The pilots rarely go below 1000 ft agl . They vary from 5 miles to 10 miles wide. As has been said “Jet noise is the noise of freedom” if all else fails wear earplugs.

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You nicked my first solo piccy

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Two mirages just scraped the roof as i write this.

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And for a flyer, a wonderful view of the field both from inside and the terrace outside… just love the place.

we got them a few seconds later :wink:

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Their cousins were out here in the Clunysois, never seen them so low and right over our roof.