The presentation of the Aeronautical Initiation Certificate (BIA) on the Ventoux Provence aerodrome platform in Carpentras took on the air of a miniaturized air show at the start of the week.
To mark their entry into the great aeronautical family, students and guests had the privilege of a visit from a “Fennec” from the 1/65 Alpilles helicopter squadron, which came especially. Captain Sébastien, from the Air and Space Army aerobatic team, performed a stunning 20-minute demonstration.
The BIA 2024 rewards 76 winners from eight schools in Vaucluse and two local missions.
Growing in number, the young girls confirm their openness to these promising sectors, which Captain Sophie, head of technical services of the French Patrol and new sponsor of the BIA, illustrates perfectly.
A flight on “Fennec” as a reward
The Hugo trophy (named after the young pilot Hugo Girod) accompanied by a flight on “Fennec”, rewards the two best results of the BIA, a high school student in general, another in professional. The Aéro Formation Ventoux association offers a flight at the controls to all major winners of the class of 2024.
As a preamble to the ceremony and in the cordial presence of Colonel Guillaume Deschamps, commander of the Orange air base (BA 115), Alexis Mayer, president of the Carri’Air association, looked back in images at 10 years of BIA at the Carpentras airfield. The opportunity for him to present a “coin” (a coin of very old military tradition, symbolizing the spirit of cohesion) to the civilians, military personnel, sponsors and unwavering supporters of the project since the first edition.
The quote from Saint-Exupéry, “Make your life a dream and a dream a reality”, and “Carri’Air creator of passion”, engraved on each side of the “coin”, affirm the desire to multiply for young people from all backgrounds the training actions of the aeronautical professions in their social and professional components.
In response to this ambition, two young adults in integration and an advisor from the local Mission Comtat Venaissin took and obtained their BIA with honors.
104 candidates from Vaucluse
8 middle and high schools in the department presented 104 candidates, a figure that has been constantly increasing since the first editions, organized by Carri’Air: Victor-Hugo, Jean-Henri-Fabre (general and professional), Marie-Pila in Carpentras, Ismaël- Dauphin in Cavaillon, Victor-Schoelcher in Ste-Cécile-les-Vignes, Montesquieu in Sorgue, Jean-Giono and St-Louis in Orange and the local Missions Comtat-Ventoux and Pays Salonais.
