5 juillet 2014
Flying in France, hints & tips for English speaking pilots.
You may notice that this post is written in English.
Why?
I received some emails from English speaking pilots asking me for support in order to fly to France. So I decided to give some hints on how to prepare a flight to France for non-French speaking pilots.
- First of all, you must have a map of the country. I recommend the “IGN VFR Chart France”. It is actually a set of four 1/500.000 maps each one covering ¼ of the country. You only have to buy the one you need. It is available for sale on http://www.pilotshop.biz/indexus.cfm website.
- Then you need some airport charts. Good news these are available for download without any charge on the SIA website: https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/html/frameset_aip_uk.htm
Just type in the name of you destination airport to get a bilingual French/English PDF file containing all information you need. - Check the NOTAM using the OLIVIA website: http://olivia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/index.php?lang=en&ref=olivia
This website seems to be the work of a student Webmaster 15 years ago but, despite the old fashioned look & feel, it is a good tool. You can create an account for free if you provide your pilot license number.
The NOTAM “Narrow route” feature is really useful. - Don’t forget to check the AZBA charts to avoid unwanted collision with a military aircraft! Once again, this info is available on the SIA website: https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/asp/frameset_uk.asp?m=39
The AZBA network consists of low-altitude areas that may be activated for military low flying training. - I recommend the Orbifly website for quick access to weather information of European countries: http://www.orbifly.com/member/metmap.php?mode=metar&icao_choose=®ion_choose=FRA¶m=367/827/1298/1753/0.7626/region&lang=ENG
- Minimum overflight heights in France for single piston engine aircrafts are:
Please note that “IGN VFR Chart France” use special colour codes to easily identify allowed overflight heights of cities.
- Do not forget to submit a flight plan if required (e.g. border crossing) and to close it. If closure by radio is not possible, please call 0810 437 837 (24h/24, English spoken).
Have a safe flight.
C'est cela ... oui, Cessna oui !
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