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Welcome to Arc en Ciel home page
Arc en Ciel (rainbow in English) is named after the
Couzinet aircraft which, with famous French pioneer Mermoz at the controls, opened the
South-Atlantic air mail service in 1934. We chose to name ourselves after that peculiar
but highly successful aircraft because we do love pilots and airplanes, especially the
kind that flies far and away. That's why Arc en Ciel has been organizing long haul air
raids since 1984, all over our tiny planet. Fellow pilots with good charts and a full
tank, this is your home page.
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 Arc en Ciel air races are not leisurely cruises for wealthy
aircraft owners. The rules are very strict, and speed is the essence. The handicapping
formula offers equal chances to all aircraft, either small and slow homebuilt two seaters
or powerful twin turbines corporate airplanes : each aircraft competes against its own
so-called reference speed
as defined in the technical data issued by the manufacturer.
- Arc en Ciel has stood for world class air racing for more than
fifteen years. Our reputation is well known among European and American pilots. Competing
crews have collectively flown more than 3,700,000 miles in 31,500 flight hours. We have
registered 2,060 landings in 64 countries. We are very proud of our spotless 100% safety
record, despite adverse weather and sometimes extremely difficult flight conditions.
- The South American continent was about the only one we did not
wholly visited yet although we grazed the Brazilian coast during the 1985 Courrier
Sud air race, after a South Atlantic crossing. This deficiency was corrected on
March 31, 1996 when the Race of the Americas started from New-York. The
competitors flew over the East coast down to the Cape Horn, then back to New-York over the
West coast. They got the opportunity to confront all the challenges a pilot might
encounter : heavy air traffic in the NY area, a long overwater leg off Central America
then long stretches over the rain forest and Patagonia. This is without counting varying
weather conditions including the passage through the inter-tropical convergence zone where
menacing storm clouds were usually part of the game.
- The Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI) has organized the first World Air Games in
September, 1997. Turkey hosted the games, and all recreational flight disciplines were
represented, from ultralights and hot air ballooning to precision flying. As a key
component of this major event, the FAI General Aviation Commission planned a race from
Iceland to Turkey. Arc en Ciel provided organizational and technical support.
- The men and women behind Arc en Ciel, a French non-profit
association, and the way they work before and during the races.
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