The Mystery of the Yellow Table – Part 3

With the information we have already gathered and that which we still hope to receive, we can once again consider completing the rear cabin of the SA with a copy as realistic as possible of a "yellow table".

We first made contact in 2020 with Fabrice Chouard, a teacher at the Boulle school, regarding a personal project involving a « wood and fabric aircraft », a project linked to our founding president, Nicolas Roland Payen.

Nous avons eu un premier contact en 2020 avec Fabrice CHOUARD, enseignant à l’école Boulle pour un projet personnel d’un « aviation bois et toile » et lié a notre président fondateur Nicolas Roland PAYEN.

On that occasion, he suggested that we one day consider having his students create a Concorde-inspired project.

This is how the idea of ​​presenting the "yellow table" project at the Boulle school was born in 2023.

But the deeper reason for proposing this project to the school is particularly linked to the life of the SA and especially to one of its test pilots:

Pierre Dudal was a student at the Boulle School before World War II. He left to enlist and was sent to the USA for fighter pilot training.

Upon his return to France, he achieved three confirmed victories.

At the end of the war, he was accepted by Air France, climbed the ranks to become an instructor, and wrote several training manuals.

In 1967, Air France decided to send him to EPNER to become a test pilot.

As a test pilot with the CEV (Flight Test Center), between July 28, 1969, and August 4, 1975, he completed 147 Concorde test flights in 336 hours and 30 minutes, including 31 flights on our SA (Service Aircraft) as well as Concordes F-WTSS, SB, SC, and British aircraft: G-BSST, G-AXDN, G-BBDG.

During the 31 flights with the SA, he flew to the following airports: Anchorage, Bogota, Boston, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Caracas, Dakar, Fairford, Fairbanks, Las Palmas, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Roissy-en-France, and Toulouse, performing:

- 19 test flights,

- 5 demonstration flights,

- 4 endurance flights,

- 3 ferry flights

Returning to Air France between November 29, 1975, and his last flight on December 1, 1977, he completed 144 flights in 378 hours and 48 minutes: test flights, certification flights, acceptance flights, training flights, ferry flights for scheduled services, and presidential flights

.

With André Rouayroux, he modestly recounted his distinguished career in this book.

At the end of his career, retired in the south of France, he set up a small carpentry and cabinetmaking workshop in his garage, proving that you never forget your first love…

Here is the "yellow table" project:

Once the table will be finished, we could install and display it in the rear cabin of the SA.

What a wonderful way to pay tribute not only to Pierre Dudal who piloted our aircraft, but also to the Boulle school and the students who would participate in this project.

Time has passed and here we are now in 2026.

Between the time we started preparing this research on the yellow table we were invited to visit the Boulle school during the open days.

A brief reminder: founded in 1886, the Boulle school is a public institution of higher education in applied arts and a high school for the arts of interior architecture and design.

Just a few steps from Place de la Nation, like the many visitors enjoying this open day, we discover this group of buildings dedicated to art, design and learning.

In the cabinetmaking workshop we are welcomed by Fabrice CHOUARD the cabinetmaking teacher and Mrs. Anissa LOUMI the deputy director of training.

With Françoise PAYEN, our president, we are taking advantage of this great opportunity to explain our project at length, to present the museum and of course SA.

Despite the time that has passed since our first contact, the idea still generates great interest among the teachers and students who came to join the presentation.

Mrs. LOUMI suggests that we present the project to Mr. Laurent Scordino-Mazanec, the school's director, at the management council meeting, and study the possibility of an agreement with the museum for the creation of the "yellow table" by the students, of course with our financial participation in the purchase of materials and the manufacture of the constituent elements of the table.

At the end of our visit we were introduced to Baptiste and Jules, who could be the future project managers once it is accepted by the school management.

Delighted by this wonderful encounter, we left without having had time to visit the other sections of the school.

But we will certainly have other opportunities to return and perhaps discover another workshop where we could offer students the chance to carry out a new project.

Now let's return to our "yellow table":

We now know that our original SA table is not in the SB.

While we have the detailed plans thanks to the Aerotheque and Laurent's photos in the SB, it's clear that we shouldn't be making a copy of it, but rather a new "yellow table" that will best evoke the SA table.

We will therefore propose to the school that they no longer simply make a copy but leave it to the initiative of the designated team to build their "masterpiece" as was done in the past by the skilled workers, drawing inspiration from the photos of the "yellow table of the SA" and using materials as close as possible to those of the original.

As Formica products were very popular in the seventies, it is obvious that they were also used for the creation of the SA's "yellow table".

In the various photos we have, depending on the lighting or the angle of the shot, the color of the Formica tabletop can vary from yellow to grey or orange.

The problem that will now arise is finding the true shade of Formica.

To make some progress in our research, we sought the help of the regional representative of the Formica company,

who promised to send us samples and see if the 1973 Formica reference still exists.

While waiting for these Formica samples, a page of the currently produced color chart is shown below.

Our color choice is between the following references:

F1485 Chrome Yellow

F7940 Spectrum Yellow

F4155 Sun

Let's wait for the samples to make the best decision.

As we have already said previously, this new "yellow table" will not be an exact copy but a creation based on images for future artists that AI will never be able to replace.

The "yellow table" idea is underway…

The school administration is organizing a visit to the SA very soon for principals, teachers, and students.

This will be an opportunity to prepare a convention and officially launch

The "yellow table" project.

To be continued…