COLIN FARGHER, A NEW WORLD RECORD HOLDER

written by Yohann Million, Corentin Hautefaye, Louis Jeannin and Johan Rinaldi

   

On Friday the fourth of October, we met a microlight driver, Colin Fargher and his son Louis. The class of 2nd1, the English teacher Mrs. Brevet-Galliot, the main teacher Mrs. Nouvel, the mathematics teacher, Mrs. Revert, the principal assistant Mrs. Debranches, the wife of Colin Fargher, who is an English teacher at Lycée Belin, were present at the conference. Mr. Michoulier was there too, but at the end.

1- The exploit:

Mr. Fargher and Louis broke the world record for the longest flight in microlight. They went from Frotey-lès-Vesoul to Quimper. So the record is French, even if Mr. Fargher is British. That travel was their first long flight. They had special clothes. The distance of the flight was about 784 kilometers and it took less than eight hours. 60 liters of fuel were used, but it is less than a car. When Mr. Fargher was a child, he wanted to fly, because when he was nine, he saw the first man who walked on the moon on the TV, and that inspires him. He is fond of flying, because he wants to make something who inspire people; he wants to do the best he cans. Their aim was to make the longest flight with an electric microlight and they chose that machinery because when you drive it, you feel the wind in your hair, and you are free like a bird. And don’t forget something important, no bird were hurt during the flight.

Mr. Fargher and Louis took pictures of the land with a special camera. They said that there are two main landscapes, which are different in France. On the one hand, there are green fields, with forests, hills, and animals; it is really lively. But on the other hand, you have there are vast yellow plains; it is an arid climate. Mr. Fargher told us it is denser in England, because of buildings. They said also that they dropped a kind of paper in the sky. Sometimes, the flight was quite scary, but they didn’t encounter any kind of danger. However, they said landing can be very dangerous. At the end of the flight, they saw the ocean and it was their best moment. When they arrived to Quimper, some people were there and played bagpipes. Finally, they went back to Vesoul in microlight, but this time, it was more difficult.

2- The conference

The conference began at 4 o’clock and took place in the multipurpose room, in Lycée Belin. At the beginning, Mr. Fargher spoke about the origin of his dream, which is flying. After that, he told us how the record was set up. For example, he explained us the weight of the engine and of the driver, was limited. Next, he described the flight, and the record, like we wrote in the first part. He showed us some pictures and videos taken during the flight. Then, we could ask as many questions as we wanted; we made them in class before. At the end, we ate cakes made by some students in the class. The conference ended at 6 o’clock.

New record of distance in microlight by Colin Fargher

By Léo, Marius, Hippolyte & Constance

Colin Fargher is the recordman of distance in microlight. When he was a child, he saw the landing on moon; he wants to fly and break a record since this moment. Before the microlight, he has tried paragliding. For him, 50 years after the landing on moon was an opportunity to try to break a record. For that, he had lot of training and formation. His journey with his son Louis was in France, between the aerodrome of Frotey-lès-vesoul in Haute-Saône (Franche-Comté) to Quimper in Finistère (Britain). The distance was around 784 kms (487.15 miles) but the trip was not easy: there was no wind at the beginning of the trip to help the microlight and reduce the fuel consumption but also turbulences in Finistère (“When we saw the sea, we were really exiting”). The weight of the microlight was 433 kg (954.6 pounds) with all the equipments; the maximum to take of is 450 kg (992 pounds). The speed of the microlight was around 80 kms/h (49.7 mph / 43.2 knots). The way was not a straight line because of obstacles as forest, military zone or cities. They had to avoid these obstacles or fly at a high altitude (3.5 kms / 11482 knots) but not higher because of the shortage of oxygen. They had to wear flying suit and helmets, they could take pictures or videos with a camera and they ate snickers bar. Now hey must approved their record by the International Aeronautical Federation. After their landing, they went back to Vesoul in microlight. But Colin Fargher has already a new goal: he want to break the record of distance in electric microlight! He want to show to everybody that we can improve and stop using fuel and polluting vehicules. He has also a very interesting answer at our final question: why microlight and not an other flying device?

He said: “I love microlight because I feel like a bird”.

M. Fargher’s visit

by Gayane SARGISYAN, Hripsimé SARGISYAN, Noéline GILET & Marie-Lou VIVOT

On 4^th October, we had a chance to welcome Calin Fargher in our high-school,  » Lycée Edouard Belin  ». It was an inforgetable day because our class was the only-one, which had an interview with him and with his sun. After the interview we shared a snack with him and his sun.

Colin Fargher has the title of champion of the world of the flight with an ULM. He is British, 58 years old and he lieves in Vesoul for 15 years. M.Fargher has a french wife who works in Belin high-school. He has a son, Louis, who is 19 years old and he wants to be disigner and creater. M.Fargher has also a girl, who is 15 years old, she is in Belin high-school. Colin Fargher defeated a record at the begining of September 2019, he did a flight of 749 km with ULM from Vesoul to Quiper.

Speaking a little bit about his desice of this experience. To first Callin Fargher was inspired in 1969, when he saw in the television, Neil Armstrong, who was the first human to step on the moon. When he was 4 years old he begined to dream to fly. He said :  » I choosed ULM, because I can feel the wind and dance with the air, it’s realy an amazing moment, flying is always exiting and I dream to fly more highest  ». We were very interessed when he spook about his feelings.

Before the flight, he was exited, nervous and he had a big responsability for his sun. This was a big challenge for them, they was motiveted and it was an emotional moment for them.

During thr flight M. Fargher and Louis enjoyed being in the air and wanthed the world above the sky. We were lucky to see photos and videos that Louis took while his father was driving the ULM. When they were above Orneon they had some difficultes. When they were above the ocean, the view was mind-boggling.

At the end M. Fargher and his sun were so happy and proud. Callin Fargher has so much objectifs and want to achieve new records to make progress the world.

Who is Mr Fargher ?

by Lyah, Margaux, Noa and Marine.

Who is Mister Colin Fargher ? Mister Fargher is an amateur of aeronautic, and recently he broke a record: the record of the longest distance crossed in microlight. Since his childhood he is a found of aeronautic. He shared to us that the moment he knew that he wanted to take an interest in aeronautic was the day where he watched the first travel until the moon with humans.

At first what is the distinctive characteristic of his microlight and what did he do to break this record. His microlight is not like all the others, the motor of his is the same motor of the Peugeot 208, so it is more powerful than the banal microlight’s motor. But it’s the only distinctive characteristic.

The process to be allowed to fly as a long distance as he did is not simple. He had to control the weight of his microlight, his son and his own weight because there is a maximum weight. He had to control if the wind goes to the good sense. And he had to control if there is not a special event on his journey.

He left from Vesoul the Saturday 14^th of September with his son. Globally the journey was good, the only annoyances were he could not fly in the same level flight every time: for example, if there was a military fly zone he had to fly under or on this zone. And the other annoyance was that there were a couple of turbulences during the journey. But they arrived him and his son near Quimper in Bretagne safe and sound after eight hours of fly and 784 kilometers with the sound of the bagpipes.

Now Mister Fargher is really happy about his record. For him the fact to break record is important for the humanity, it push it into going further. And he already works on a new project, so we will see his next achievements.

Interview of 2 champions

by Noémie, Lucile, Chloé and Malhaury

The 4th of October, the class of 2nde1 had the opportunity to meet Colin Fargher and his son Louis for the first conference of the English Speaking Class about his world record with a microlight.

Mr. Fargher and Louis broke the world record of the longest flight with a microlight without landing. This is a french record. They explained their trip and showed pictures and videos of them whey they were in the air. He brought many instruments like a map, an air speed indicator, an altimeter and a talky-walky.

The flight was the 14th of September 2019. They took off in Frotez-les-Vesoul and landed near to Quimper. They flew for 784 kilometers and during 8 hours. They did calculations for the engine’s weigh which is 433kg considering their weighs, the fuel’s weigh and all of the instruments. The maximum altitude is 3.500km and when you go higher it becomes hard to breathe. They use about 60 liters fuel. They chose this engine because it is open so they felt like they were birds but you feel more the wind so it is more physical.

The previous person who broke this record is a German called Hans Dörr with a 749,8 kilometers flight.

They chose this route which link Vessel to Quimper because this route has less mountainous area so it is easier to flight through.

They had to consider the forecast like if there is a lot of wind for the choice of the day.

Mr. Fargher comes from England so it was very difficult to learn French for him. Their favorite moment of the flight was when they were arriving near the ocean.

The first trip on the moon inspired a lot Mr. Fargher when he was 4. Then, he knew that he wanted to flight. He wanted to break this record because it was a kid dreamland he loves flighing. He wanted to be inspiring and to show that you don’t need to be an extraordinary person to do what you want.

Now he would like to make the longest flight with an electric microlight because we need to reduce our petrol consumption and for the humanity progress. He would like to make the longest flight with only 10 liters fuel in Mâcon.