Van`s club de France

12th private French fly-in of Van’s Aircraft RVs builders and pilots
« VAN’S »
1st announcement
The 12th private French fly-in of builders and pilots of Van’s Aircraft RVs
Organized by the Van’s Club de France
will be held
June 3-5 - 2016
At the NIORT Marais poitevin airfield
A return to the heartlands of France : After Bordeaux, Colmar, La Baule, Nuits Saint Georges, St.
Brieuc, Mende, Moulins, Nuits Saint Georges, Vannes, Amboise and Sarlat-Domme, it’s going to be
Niort-Marais-poitevin.
The Aéro-club des Deux-Sèvres located on the Niort-Marais-poitevin airfield will be our host We should
be in good company since its president is a VCF member and builder of an RV6A; as for the vice
president, he is an AFIS and manager of the airfield, which lets us presuppose that we should benefit
from a most enthusiastic welcome. What’s more, the nearby Marais-poitevin offer originals stunning
tourist possibilities.
Arrivals/Departures : You may arrive as early as Friday morning and depart at your liking. We
anticipate no restrictions. You should however, as usual, consult pertinent Niort NOTAMs. Plesase note
however that the airfield is under the military R49A1 zone managed by the Cognac APP (Cognac
training zone : 3000ft – FL195 often active weekdays) and inside the Potiers SIV (Flight information
service).
Please observe standard joining procedures when flying in, air-to air radio should be in French however
the AFIS can communicate in English, but this is not official. If at all possibly try to communicate in
French for the benefit of others in the pattern whose English may be lacking. Please note that the Niort
airfield plate specifies French A/A. Furthermore :
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The Niort airfield hosts several aeronautical activities – gliding, parachuting, airplanes, ultralights…
so be very observant and please contact the AFIS 5 to 10 minutes before joining so that you may
assess activity at the airfield.
The hard topped runway can be accessed via one taxiway only, at the 25 hold point, so please try
to space out your arrivals. So be particularly attentive to the possibility that an aircraft may be
taxiing down the runway as you approach on final.
The organizers decline all responsibility relating to any air rule infringements.
Customs : Niort does not provide customs clearance which means that if your departure point is
outside Schengen you should stop first in a customs airfield (Cherbourg, Le Touquet, Abbeville…).
Runways : Hard topped runway 07/25, 1783m x 30m plus a parallel grass runway 680m x 80m with
exit A, on the north side near the runway 25 hold point towards the aeroclub parking area. Marshalls
should assist you in parking your airplane.
Van’s Club de France - Association loi 1901 N°2/32025 déclarée le 26/01/2004 à la préfecture de Gironde
Siège social : 14, rue Albert Einstein 22000 SAINT-BRIEUC
12th private French fly-in of Van’s Aircraft RVs builders and pilots
« VAN’S »
Fuel : 100LL available via a Total automated station (Total card or credit card via the airfield office).
Please refuel on arrival. Payment via the Total card or a credit card with an attendant in the terminal
building main hall.
Airplane parking: There is plenty of space, so we should not encounter any problems on this score.
RVs will be parked in the hard topped apron in front of the aeroclub and in the grass area west of the
fuel station. Please note that there are no tie-downs in the hard topped parking zone.
For those arriving in airplanes which are not RVs you may park them along the side of the taxiway
which leads from the terminal building to the old hangars.
Pilots will park their airplanes at their own risk and will endeavor to tie them down properly. Marshalls
will assist pilots upon arrival. We strongly recommend that you should wear yellow vests while
in airplane traffic zones.
Car park : There is a large car park in front of the terminal building which you may use day time as
well as overnight. An additional grass area is also available if attendance were to require it.
Registration : Upon arrival, pilots and passengers are requested to register in the main hall of the
terminal building. Tickets and badges will be delivered.
Payment for meals can be effected in cash (Euros only) or check (French bank in Euros). Please
anticipate this requirement by procuring Euros before arrival. There is no ATM at the airfield. Credit
Cards will be accepted only for payment of gazoline. Luggage can be stored temporarily in one of the
terminal rooms while waiting for transfer to the hotels.
Landing and Parking Fees : Good news – none. The Niort airport manager decided to make this a
free event as a token of good will.
Registration fee : We request a token 10€ registration fee to offset part of the cost of services
provided – shuttles, supplies…
WIFI – Wifi shall be available in the terminal main hall.
Weather : You can access your favorite weather sites via Internet from the main hall. Weather
bulletins will be posted Sunday morning.
Meals : All meals will be taken in a hangar at the field, except for the Saturday night one which will be
taken in a beautiful setting 20 minutes from the field. Shuttles and cars will serve to get you there and
back.
Friday night dinner (cold dish)
14,00€
Saturday night gala diner
50,00€
Saturday lunch – hot buffet
Sunday lunch bag
22,00€
10,00€
Lodging : Please book your hotel ASAP – partial list below.
Camping : Camping at the airfield is allowed however not besides your airplane. An area has been
reserved to this effect. Toilets and showers will be available to campers.
Airport shuttle : We shall provide a shuttle which will service hotels below signaled with an ‘*’. We
request that participants who come in by car assist us in transporting those arriving by airplane.
Campers shall be taken back to the airfield after the Saturday night gala dinner.
Tourism : please click on the following link for more info as to what to see in the area
http://www.niortmaraispoitevin.com/
Van’s Club de France - Association loi 1901 N°2/32025 déclarée le 26/01/2004 à la préfecture de Gironde
Siège social : 14, rue Albert Einstein 22000 SAINT-BRIEUC
12th private French fly-in of Van’s Aircraft RVs builders and pilots
« VAN’S »
Le Marais poitevin, Parc Naturel Régional
A setting carved by human hands
A bit of history – approximately 10000 years ago, sea levels rose and filled a depression which was
named the Gulf of the Pictons (the Pictons was a gallo-roman settlement). With time, due to the
slow meanderings of small waterways, this depression was filled with sediments, the result being a
vast area of marsh lands.
XIIIth century – Throughout ancient times up to the middle ages, these marsh lands remained
unsalutary areas. In the the local lords donated these lands to five Benedictine abbeys. This marked
the golden age of the ancient Gulf of the Pictons. The monks created channels which drained most of
the water out to form what is now referred to today as the Marais poitevin. The area is today the
largest wet zone in the western part of France.
1599 - The dutch engineer, Humphrey Bradley, raised in 1599 by Henri IV to the rank of Grand
Master of the Kingdom’s Dikes and Channels, improved on the monks’ works, pursued later by
Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Saddly, the two Louis kings thereafter did nothing for the area. It was
abandoned and left to decay.
1808 - Napoléon 1st dredges and enlarges the Sèvre Niortaise, back bone of the marshes, to reduce
inundations and to facilitate transit of barges between the city of Niort and the Atlantic. This marks the
revival of the Marais-poitevin.
Today - The inheritors of this man-made natural monument have taken on the challenge of
safeguarding and rendering accessible the natural beauty and specificity of this environment made of
quiet streams and channels lined with a luxuriant vegetation.
Van’s Club de France - Association loi 1901 N°2/32025 déclarée le 26/01/2004 à la préfecture de Gironde
Siège social : 14, rue Albert Einstein 22000 SAINT-BRIEUC
12th private French fly-in of Van’s Aircraft RVs builders and pilots
« VAN’S »
Niort, citadel of the Marais
City center
The heart of the city’s center is a collection of districts which now includes :
 The old town with its citadel, long ago surrounded by city walls, is a small part of the city’s center.:
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On the left bank of the Sèvre river: a very busy commercial sector which extends all the way to the
Brèche river; the Saint-André hill, its small streets and its ancient fair ground (today the Chanzy
square) and there is of course the Notre-Dame sector;
On the right bank of the Sèvre river, the Bessac district where the first Niort inhabitants of the
gallo-roman period are deemed to have settled.
During the XIXth and XXth centuries, Niort modernizes. New districts appear, the docks in
particular, where the green gulch (Coulée verte) which serves as an a pedestrian and cylists
entrance into the green Venice.
The city’s center houses numerous cultural establishments : the media center, the Roc Mill (which has
often served as movie settings), Camji (the current music hall), the Bernard d'Agesci museum…
Lodgings
You will find bellow hotels for the budget minded as well as for those who cherish a bit of luxury.
BEWARE : We stress the fact that Niort is touristy whose hotels are in high demand so please book
ASAP. Please note that we provide VCF shuttle service to hotels marked with an ‘*’, the first
three in the list bellow.
Van’s Club de France - Association loi 1901 N°2/32025 déclarée le 26/01/2004 à la préfecture de Gironde
Siège social : 14, rue Albert Einstein 22000 SAINT-BRIEUC
12th private French fly-in of Van’s Aircraft RVs builders and pilots
« VAN’S »
Hôtel Mercure Niort Marais Poitevin
27, rue de la Térraudière / 80bis Av de Paris
79000 NIORT
(+33)5 49 24 29 29
E-mail : [email protected]
www.accorhotels.com/fr/hotel-1269-hotelmercure-niort-marais-poitevin/index.shtml
VCF MINIBUS SHUTTLE
Inter Hôtel Solana
144 rue Copernic 79180 NIORT
(+33)5 49 33 33 33
E-mail : [email protected]
www.hotel-solana.com
VCF MINIBUS SHUTTLE
Reservations may be modified or cancelled up to
18h00 prior to the scheduled arrival date.
Hôtel ATOLL
447 avenue de Paris
79000 NIORT
(+33)5 49 33 33 22
E-mail : [email protected]
www.atollhotel.com
VCF MINIBUS SHUTTLE
IBIS styles Niort Centre Grand Hôtel
32-34 Avenue de Paris
79000 NIORT
(+33)5 49 24 22 21
Hôtel de Paris
12 avenue de Paris
79000 NIORT
(+33)5 49 24 93 78
BRIT HOTEL du Parc
96 avenue de Paris
79000 NIORT - (+33)5 49 24 36 21
[email protected]
B&B Hôtel Niort Marais Poitevin
4 rue Jean Baptiste Berlier
79000 NIORT - 08 92 70 18 22
www.hotel-bb.com/fr/hotels/niort-maraispoitevin.htm
Hôtel KYRIAD Niort
25 rue Condorcet
79000 NIORT - 0892 23 48 13
E-mail : [email protected]
4 stars - Wifi free – air cond.
Parking privé extérieur free.
Parking privé couvert payant.
Room simple Bkfst inl.: 78€
Room double Bkfst inl.: 88€
Specify Van’s Club when booking.
Réservations modifiables ou annulables jusqu'à la veille de l’arrivée
18h00.
3 stars – Wifi free – air cond.
Free car park
Room 1 person Bkfst inl.:
59€
Room 2 persons Bkfst inl.: 69€
Room 3 persons Bkfst inl.: 79€
Room 4 persons(*) Bkfst inl.: 95€
(*) communicates.
Specify Van’s Club when booking.
2 stars – Wifi free – air cond.
Free car park
Room 1 person Bkfst inl.: 46€
Room 2 persons Bkfst inl.: 55€
Specify Van’s Club when booking.
Reservations may be modified or cancelled up to 18h00 prior to the
scheduled arrival date.
3 stars - Wifi free – air cond.
Private carpark pay.
(near hôtel Mercure)
2 stars
Private carpark pay
(near hôtel Mercure)
www.hotelparis79.com
2 stars - Wifi free
Private carpark free
(near hôtel Mercure)
2 stars - Wifi free
Free car park
(near hôtel Atoll)
3 stars – Wifi free – air con.
Free car park
(neae hôtel Solana)
There are 25 other hotels and more. Go to booking.com or other.
Beware, Niort is filling up – please book ASAP
Van’s Club de France - Association loi 1901 N°2/32025 déclarée le 26/01/2004 à la préfecture de Gironde
Siège social : 14, rue Albert Einstein 22000 SAINT-BRIEUC