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Air Zero-G flight September 2022

Since the restrictions lasat year had somehow killed the fun, I now wanted to experience this again in the way it is supposed to be.

Arcachon

This time as well my travel planning included some days in Arcachon, because I like the area so much. Sadly due to the September travel date the touristic offerings were not as abundant as in August. But then it was more quiet.


Stunt kite at the beach of Arcachon


On the northern end of the bay suddenly smoke was coming up...


...another hour later this is already a massive forest fire!


A traditional sand castle


...only half an hour later...

At this time I was on a way to a boat trip. In July there already had been massive forest fires in the area. But more later.

Sailing tour with the catamaran Tip Top One

Like last year I wanted to go sailing a bit.


On the way out into the bay of Arcachon, everything is obscured in smoke


For a short time we could set all sails, but generally wind speed was low


Close to the beach of Bélisaire with the oyster banks and passing the lighthose of Cap Ferret


On the way back, the fire is still raging


In the evening the sunset was very red, the smoke in the sky is clearly spread all over


The fire has spread rapidly and is now menacing the town of Arès, it is now going on for 2 1/2 hours. Frequently the fire planes - the Canadairs and a Dash - can be seen approaching the fire.


The Dune du Pilat, from this distance the desaster from July cannot even be guessed


Even from close by it is barely visible that the forest has burned down up to the beach


The whale fluke still exists

Bird sanctuary Le Teich

This time I also wanted to visit the bird sanctuary I never managed to visit.


With the train to Le Teich, unfamiliar design of the overhead line


Lakes in the bird sanctuary


Wild boar


A view across the landscape, nothing reminds of yesterdays forest fire


A european spoonbill


An avocet


Black-tailed godwits


A little egret


A moorhen

The mandatory visit on the Dune du Pilat

As usual, a visit to the dune was a must. But this time this was a devastating sight, because in July of this year most of the forest east of the dune was consumed by the forest fire. Also the campsites next to the dune burned down in this fire. Access to the dune was possible again in September, but anything else was still closed.


Sign with instructions (due to restrictions relating to the forest fire)


The access to the dune, on the left side the massive fire damages are visible


The shoreline on the northern end of the dune


Fishermen try their luck


A picturesque view of the sea


And a catastrophic towards the forest


The line of shops is currently undergoing refurbishment, the owners were lucky and had a good fire brigade, as the forest fire stopped right behind the work site


The first green appears already


Slipped bunkers from 2nd World War


Thorny beach plants


At the stairs

The zero-g flight

Again something was changed: Now they revived the dinner evening, but now directly on the premises of Novespace, where they also gave out the flight suits, socks and patches. Like last year I was in the team Moon, but this time with Jeremy Saget as instructor. Besides that there were two other astronauts on the flight besides Jean-Francois Clervoy: André Kuipers and Thomas Pesquet, with Thomas Pesquet as one of the pilots of the A310 Zero-G. Also important: This year no masks were needed and also all other Covid restrictions were lifted.


The first encounter with our instructor in the morning before the flight


Safety briefing with Jean-Francois Clervoy and André Kuipers


Splits backflip in Moon gravity


Finally back in weightlessness


The usual chaos


Always a favorite: water games


Ring with a surprise: Suddenly Thomas Pesquet came floating through


A last dance in weightlessness

The following video shows the best scenes of me from the flight. Like usual, 16 parabolas were flown: 1 time Mars gravity, 2 times Moon gravity and 13 times zero-g. The first scene is in Mars gravity (up to minute 00:15), followed by some clips from the Moon gravity parabolas (minute 00:16 - 00:59) and the rest was in zero-g (from minute 01:00). Normally I would not do acrobatics in such a confined space ;-)


The flight video


Team Moon with astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy (front middle in the blue flight suit) in front of the aircraft


After the last briefing in the aircraft


Backflip at Mars gravity


Jumping around at Moon gravity


I have come up with something new: The dance with the silk scarf


Hanging around a bit during the water games


The mandatory human chain


Collapsing ring with Thomas Pesquet on the ceiling


Final picture in the aircraft, this never happened on my previous flights

The wine village St. Emilion

At the end of the trip I went on a detour to the wine village St. Emilion, which is easily reachable by bus from Bordeaux.


Steep street from the center to the higher part of the village


Street with wine shops


This must be the smallest vineyard in town

I hope there will be a next time!


View to the market square


A nice well


Dark clouds over the cathedral