Thank you sponsors!

I mentioned AOPA and HOP! in my previous posts, yet I would be remiss if I didn't thank the following French sponsors and wonderful individuals who dedicated hundreds of hours into organizing the HOP! Tour des Jeunes Pilotes.

Fédération Française Aéronautique (FFA)

Jean-Michel Ozoux, President of the FFA

Unlike the US' Federal Aviation Administration, the FFA is not a regulatory government agency, but rather a public service group that supports and defends general aviation throughout France. It includes over 600 aéro-clubs, 400 aérodromes, 40,000 pilots, and 2,000 instructors. It is the FFA that first started, and is primarily responsible for, the Tour des Jeunes Pilotes. It was also the FFA that extended the invitation to AOPA to participate in the event by sending over a qualified candidate.

The FFA's mission (ever since its creation in 1929) is:
-To assist and defend aéro-clubs
-To preserve the number and quality of French airports
-To support pilot training and formation in aéro-clubs
-To help pilots become involved in aeronautical activities
-To defend the interests of private pilots
-To organize avation-related competitions on a national and international level

Website: ffa-aero.fr

Other French sponsors:

Total: Multinational oil and gas company. According to its website, airtotal.com, the company supplies fuel to more than 250 international airport worldwide in 75 countries.

Dgac: Direction générale de l'aviation civile. This is the French civil aviation authority. To my understanding, this is France's version of the United States' FAA.

CFA des métiers de l'aérien: A company that specializes in pilot formation.


info-pilote: The official magazine of the FFA. It did a marvelous job documenting each stage of the Tour.

The HTJP team of "jaunes" and "marrons":

Eric Savattero

Jean-Luc Charron

Daniel Vacher

Jérome Coornaert

Charles Hauton

Patricia Vincent

Claire Chasle

Jean-Luc Establie

Fernando Figueiredo

Thierry Tuduri

Sébastien Chretien

Kévin Dupuch

Nadine Chomarat

Jean-Pierre Vanrenterghem

Daniel Choureaux

Bertrand Sandre

Bruno Mortet

François Roy

Niels Adde

Cyril Godeaux

Nicolas Gravez

Bastien Belgacem-Gospos

Frédéric Doazan

Arnaud Formal

Christophe Lucas

Damien Bresson

Gabriel Eveque

Jacques Lumbroso

Alain Vaillere

Phil Clarke

Véronique Clarke

Guillaume De Buttafoco