French Pilot Crosses Atlantic To See AirVenture 2010
By Deborah Grigsby
With sun-bleached hair and sparkling blue eyes, the smile on his
face is almost as wide as the blade span on his homebuilt
helicopter. He's funny. He's cryptic--in a Willy Wonka kinda
way.
Helicopter Belonging To Matthier De Quillacq
And he's from France.
He's 47-year-old Matthieu De Quillacq and with nothing more than
a dream in his heart and the clothes on his back, he fired up his
vibrant yellow CH-7 Kompress Charlie helicopter one morning in the
tiny mountain town of Barcelonnette, France, and flew to America.
To Oshkosh to be exact.
De Quillacq started his adventure on Sunday, July 11th and
landed on or about the 19th. He's not exactly sure. "All the
days, they are not so clear to me," said the soft-spoken Frenchman
with a sheepish, but cavalier grin. "I forget." However, according
to EAA volunteers and other curiosity seekers on Whittman Field,
Matthieu and his "machine" were indeed on site almost a full week
before AirVenture commenced.
Matthier De Quillacq
By the time the show started on Monday, July 26th, he was
already known as simply "Matt," was sporting an EAA volunteer
shirt, and looking for the Garmin exhibit. De Quillacq's machine,
the CH-7 Kompress helicopter, also known as "Charlie," is named
after the eldest of the three Italian Barbero brothers who De
Quillacq credits with the development of his aircraft.
"It's name is in honor of the man who give to me (sic) my dream
to fly," he said. "He is the one who made it possible for me to be
free." The machine is a light carbon helicopter powered by a turbo
charged Rotax 914 engine. In it's standard configuration, it
has two tandem seats, but De Quillacq said he removed the second
seat and fashioned an additional fiberglass fuel tank himself that
not only adds an additional 44 gallons of long-range fuel capacity,
but also makes a really nifty seat back.
The Kompress Charlie has a cruise speed of approximately 100 mph
and a range of 900 miles as De Quillacq has his model
configured. The standard fuel configuration has a range
closer to 300 miles, according to the companies Web site. De
Quillacq's journey began in his driveway in France, where he says
he no longer has a car, preferring to travel "par
l'hélicoptère seulement" (by the helicopter only).
Landing first in Berck, in the northern potion of his home country,
he topped off the fuel tanks in preparation to cross the English
Channel. He successfully landed in Lashenden, England, crossing the
first "big swimming pool."
By July 12th, he made his way to Wick Airport in extreme
northeast Scotland. From Scotland, via the Faroe Islands, De
Quillacq traveled to Iceland, and to Greenland. He tried to cross
the Greenland ice cap, but bitter weather conditions turned him
back to Kulusuk, a small settlement in Greenland where he camped
until conditions improved. When asked if he was concerned about
navigating across such harsh terrain De Quillacq simply smiled and
said, "If I need to land, I land on the iceberg below." By the 15th
of July, he was able to follow the coast of Greenland, arriving in
Holstein Sisimut, the country's second largest city. On July 16th,
he flew over the Davis Straits and landed at Kangiqsujuaq Airport,
somewhere near an Inuit village in Canada. He then made his way
across Canada and arrived in Michigan at the Sault Sainte Marie
airport, and eventually on Whittman Field.
While most who hear De Quillacq's story agree he is a man of
great fortitude, the well-mannered and well-tanned aviator will
insist he is not.
"I am only a man who wishes to move freely about the world," he
said in that cool European kinda tone we all sorta dig. "I have
everything I need. I have the machine, I have the ability to make
it fly, the ability to repair it. I need (sic) for nothing." Sounds
simple enough, yes?
Matthier De Quillacq
De Quillacq says it is, with the exception of international
paperwork. "It is so complicated and complex," he said. "The papers
are different from once place to another; the rules are different
and it is not so encouraging. How can a man move about?"
Any pilot who has flown internationally can only imagine what
frustration await him on his return trip as De Quillacq will return
to France via Canada and then west through Russia. Yeah, he's still
waiting on the green light from the Federal Aviation Authority of
Russia.
But in all, De Quillacq has enjoyed his
visit to Oshkosh…almost as much as Oshkosh has enjoyed him.
"So many good people I have crossed (paths with)," he says. And
true to form, they've loaded him down with more than a dozen
tee-shirts, key chains, pens and mugs. So much that he has had to
leave many things behind. "I have no room for these," he said.
"However, the one mug I will leave in Audrey's Place with my
friend. And I told him that I will come again to drink from
it." Although Oshkosh is not his first trip to the United States,
De Quillacq says intends to return next year.
Will he return in his helicopter? "Most likely."
A spaceship?
"Perhaps."