La Ferté Alais 2007

In France, the Whitsun week-end is synonimous with an aeronautical event. Indeed, at this time of year you can find an airshow at the airport of Cerny La Férté Alais. 2007 was also the 35^th edition of this event, wich, through the years, became one of the biggest of its kind throughout the world and very much appreciated by 'old airplane' lovers.

Besides a well-stocked static park, through the airplanes in the program as well as through the visiting pilots who brought along their jewels, the main attraction was as always, the flight demo's split up in various themes :

- patrol at dawn, representing various aircraft from the early days of sport and tourism flying, like the famous Jodel or Piper Cub

- Rescue at Ho-Chi-Minh, which without contradiction, was the highlight of the morning show and predicted very nice demonstrations for the afternoon. Indeed, the scenario included
special effects (explosions, smoke,...) and some prestigious planes used during the south-east asian conflict. To rescue a downed pilot, Skyraiders and T-28 Trojan (Fennec) were called upon to
secure the zone, all under the watchful eye of a Cessna Bird Dog. Once the zone secured, a Bell Huey ran in to extract the pilot. Twenty minutes of real suspense...

After the midday break, the afternoon show started with the commemoration of 100 years of helicopter flight, but it also began to rain, which would change quite a lot in the programming.

Some beautiful aircraft from the second world war, like the Curtiss H75, Yak 3, Fi156, DC3, B17, Ju52-3M and P51D, were presented after a dog fight involving some biplanes simulating an air battle of the first war.

Due to the intensity of the rainshowers and the degrading visibility, the organisers had to cancel further flights. Safety first !
This was a pity for the thousands of visitors, which like us, were soaking wet... But La Ferté Alais is always a magical place to be and we can only hope that future shows will still attract this variety of fantastic airplanes suffused with a beautiful sunshine.

Our thanks go to the Editions Larivière, organisers of this event, grating us our accredition and for their help and obligingness.

		Caudron III
The image of La Ferté Alais and Amicale Salis is certainly the Bleriot XI


Bleriot XI painted as the one of the well known pilot - Pegoud		The most popular fighter of the German during WW I, was the Fokker DR 1


Fokker D VII		Spad XIII C1 in French colours from SPA 83 "Griffon Noir"


SE5A of the Royal Air Corps		Morane-Saulnier A1 with the emblem of SPA 160 "Diable chevauchant un balai" - 'Devil on a broom'


Morane-Saulnier A1 wearing the personnal emblem of the ace Charles Nungesser		Morane-Saulnier MS138


Fokker DR 1		Morane-Saulnier, type H


Boeing PT-17 Stearman from the Wing Walker Peggy Team		Beechcraft Staggerwing


Boeing PT-17 Stearman		Douglas C-47 Dakota in USAF colours

The wonderful Messerschmitt BF-109 G5, restored by EADS. The engine is an original Daimler Benz DB-605 !
		Lots of vehicles also on exhibit. A Willis jeep as used on airfields during the war


Supermarine Spitfire MkLF V b		Piper L4 Cub