Unexpected Visitors Drop From Sky
Nappanee Municipal Airport played host to an unexpected guest Thursday night, as a private Explorer experimental aircraft landed to avoid dangerous weather. The kit plane was piloted by Canadian adventurers Louis Grenier and Nathalie Mongeau, who were in route from a three-week tour across the western United States back to their home in Montreal, Canada.
Mongeau described the plane as a “flying camper van,” as it features sleeping accommodations in the stern of the aircraft. “It allows us to tour wherever we want to go without feeling rushed or having to find a place to sleep,” she explained.
Their days do not usually have any type of schedule or structure. While most people travel by car and stop at their leisure to eat or sleep, Mongeau and Grenier do the same with their airplane; using small airports whenever they feel the need for a break or to visit a site of interest. Often times the airports they visit have a car that they loan or rent to the duo so they are able to explore the local terrain from ground level.
The plane was a project born 10 years ago and actually built five years ago. Theirs is only one of only five in existence. Grenier and Mongeau each have smaller aircraft they use for shorter trips around their home and use the Explorer, which they have owned for two years, for their larger adventures.
The uniqueness of the plane’s design is its portability. The wings and propeller are removable, allowing the fuselage to fit into one standard oceangoing shipping container while the extremities fit into another. Recently the duo did exactly that, putting the disassembled plane onto a train from Montreal to Vancouver, Canada, then onto a ship from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia. They then flew commercially to Sydney to meet the ship before reassembling the plane and embarking on a two month tour of Australia and New Zealand. Once their adventure was done, the plane was disassembled for the reverse trip back to Montreal.
Although the plane is relatively slow, topping out at 100 knots, it gets the pair where they want to go. It’s 200-gallon tank allows for 15 hours of flying time, so they can fly nearly all day if the mood strikes them.
Following their overnight stay in Nappanee, Mongeau and Grenier boarded the Explorer for the final day of this particular journey, with plans to sleep in their own Montreal homes that night.
“I’m looking forward to getting home,” said Mongeau. “Mostly because I really need a shower!”