francoflyers

Reader’s Question—French Farm Strips

Peter Waugh writes:

Dear Les,

Is there any publication in France like Lockyers Farm Strips and Private Airfield guide?
.

 

French Radio Calls re-posted

I can't believe that It's now four years since I set up Francoflyers and hope that it's been of some use in providing information which was only available in 'dribs and drabs' when I first joined a French flying club.

One of our most popular and useful articles is the one on French Radio Calls which I have re-posted as a permanent page on the sidebar of this blog so that it's easier to find.

The article is still at it's original location so no need to change any 'favourites' links.

I also intend to make some minor changes and will do so when the original 'recording artiste' gets back to the UK in a few weeks.

For the benefit of English-speaking pilots who haven't flown in France, I would emphasise that English is the principal language of Air Traffic Control but the French calls come in handy when dealing with 'uncontrolled' airfields—basically, you just use French to let any other aircraft in the area know what you are doing.

It's all fairly simple stuff, even for somebody like me whose command of French is generally limited to eating-related matters.

For Sale: French Property on Private Airfield

A very large plot of land (2.4 hectares = 5 acres = 24000 square metres) in a very secluded part of a private airfield called the Aerodrome de Gajoubert (LF8753) situated about half-way between Limoges and Poitiers. The road leading to the land is tree-lined and is only used by the owners as it is a cul-de-sac and it serves only our property.

On the land you have the following properties:

1. A hangar of 450 square metres in which one can comfortably park 5/6 PA28 or Cessna 172 aircraft. In the hangar, there is an apartment which is habitable, consisting of an en-suite bedroom, open plan lounge/diner/kitchen and another wc.

2. A house ( 225 square metres ) — recently built — The walls, roof and windows are finished as per photo, but further interior works are required to make it habitable.

3. There is a plan approved for a third property which is to be built. Electricity, water and septic tanks are in place.

Access to the runway is 24/7 and 365 days of the year. The runway is owned and maintained by Mr & Mrs Fort who live next door, and the service charge is only 70 euros per year.

The land is linked to the runway by a private taxiway which is part of the land. The runway is 700 metres in hard surface and parallel to this runway is a 1000 metres grass runway. For a pilot, apart from the asphalt runway which can be used all year round, you can take off and land as many times you wish and you have freedom of the sky. On landing, you vacate the runway by your own personal and private taxiway that leads to your hangar, and above all at no cost for parking and no landing fees.

Friends can fly in and visit you any time throughout the year, and park in your hangar or on your land in front of the hangar.

You can fly to Paris in 1.5 hours or 50 minutes to La Rochelle which is an excellent seaside resort or to Barcelona in 2.4 hours.

Guide Price c£350,000.

For further enquiries, please contact Esteban on:

Tel: +44 (0)7415735125

Email: estebandwarka@googlemail.com

The Road to Rouen

The North Weald Flying Group organise several fly-outs each year, enabling it’s members to expand their flying experience while sharing the ‘duties’ and costs of longer flights—www.northwealdflyinggroup.co.uk

The final daytime fly-out of a very successful 2011 season was planned for Rouen in Normandy, over the weekend of 15th/16th October. I'm pleased to say that the weather was amazingly kind, given the time of year, and the 24 participants in nine aircraft had an excellent time.

The NWFG aircraft, plus G-BSVB and participants, were joined by regulars Gordon Horscraft and Chris Stratford in the Robin G-GEEP. Ian Brierley and friends also came along in Ian's C172 G-BOYP. This was also the first outing for our new acquisition to the fleet, the C172 G-NWFS which was in the very capable hands of Stewart Braddon and Kieran Hardiman, who amazingly got a weekend pass from the very pregnant Mrs H. Thanks Liz for letting him come out to play.

Included in the trip was our C150, G-NWFA, which was bravely piloted over quite a long non-stop leg by Malcolm Jarvis and George Tunks. Joining the other usual NWFG trip suspects on their first fly-out were Dave Longhurst and Rob Tyler. Welcome gentlemen.

The weather forecast was extremely good in the run-up to the weekend which is not usually a good sign. However, this time it held. With all of the advance notifications sent in a few days before, it was merely a question on the Saturday morning of getting the aircraft prepared and the flight plans/General Declarations in. With clear TAFS all the way to Rouen, it looked very promising. John did a splendid job of getting all aircraft fuelled in good time and the NWFG line was a frenzy of activity as the aircraft were loaded with pilots, passengers, overnight bags, life-jackets and, probably, a kitchen sink.

FA made an early take-off to try and get to Rouen around the same time as the rest of us, especially as they intended to cross the channel at it's shortest point—Dover to Cap Gris-Nez. Most of the other aircraft, including Phil Fellows and myself, were crossing the water from Lydd to the Abbeville VOR (ABB) via 'Aleso'. This would give a slightly shorter sea crossing than the most direct route but was mainly chosen so that there was an opportunity to view some of the lovely French countryside. In VB's case, this was also designed to hopefully give Mrs Bazire something nice to look at and avoid the inevitable "Are we there yet?" after about an hours flying.

From Abbeville, it was a straight track SW to the city of Rouen nestling as it does in a valley with the River Seine winding through it. The outbound trip was a delight from take-off all the way to landing. No cloud, blue sky and great visibility. VB even had an opportunity to complete a planned air-to-air photo session with FS on the way. The only downside was quite a strong headwind which added about 20 minutes to what should have been around a 1 hour 45 min trip. The route was very straightforward in terms of a navex and the radio work was reasonably simple but great experience for our newer members. Calls to Lille Info, Paris Info and then Rouen Approach, all with their easygoing but efficient helpful controllers, underlined once again what a pleasure it is to fly in France.

With the latest info from the ATIS and a call to Rouen Approach, we were told to continue inbound and report the field in sight. Joins were to be expected to be left-hand downwind for R04. The airfield LFOP 'Rouen Valle de Seine' sits to the south of the city on a hill at 512ft asl and soon came into view from 20 miles out. Joining direct onto the downwind leg, as instructed, gave us a great view of the city out to our right-hand side before turning base leg. Given the number of our aircraft as a group, we were nicely separated and this made the circuit very straightforward With landing, our clearance received, we had a great view on the approach although we did have a reasonably brisk crosswind to contend with.

As expected, getting fuel was a bit of a faff as we had to wait for the refuelling man to come out in a van and deal with the aircraft in front first. That shouldn't have been a problem but, after dispensing fuel, he had to drive back to the terminal to do the paperwork each time. Still, there were lots of people throwing themselves out of a perfectly-good aeroplane at great height over the airfield to keep us amused.

Malcolm and George arrived in a now rather thirsty FA, quite some time after everyone else, despite having left much earlier, and joined the now rather long fuel queue. Still, this was a blessing as it allowed Malcolm time to gently unfold George and prise him out of the cabin after being in one position for so long.

With the aircraft all wrapped up and put to bed, we headed off into the terminal to pay our landing and parking charges. An outrageous 10 euros. I love flying in France! The terminal was full of people involved in parachuting that weekend and parachutes were being laid out and repacked in one corner of the building. Once through the melee, we eventually managed to get enough cabs to the airport to take us on the 20-minute journey to our IBIS hotel close to the river in Rouen. The IBIS was up to the usual standard, functional but with quite reasonably-sized clean and comfortable rooms.

After a quick freshen up, it was off to explore the city. Although parts of Rouen are quite industrial, the old part of the city is a delight with fantastic narrow streets of half timbered buildings dating back hundreds of years. The IBIS was an easy 10 minute walk from this area and the whole skyline is dominated by the city's two huge Cathedrals. Rouen has a very long and bloody history including being the place where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in 1431. In recent history, the city was heavily damaged by allied bombing in WW2 prior to and during the Normandy landings in 1944. This is still very evident on some of the Churches and public buildings where bomb shrapnel damage has been left unrepaired and is clearly visible as a lasting reminder of the conflict to this day. If you should consider visiting, it is well-worth reading about this city's long and turbulent past.

Wandering through the old streets revealed many architectural gems as well as high-range shops in lovely settings. Unbeknown to us, this was Normandy gastronomical weekend and we stumbled upon a very large open market stretching over three streets and a square with the multitude of stalls selling local produce including a lot of Calvados, Cider, Escargot, Foie Gras and delicious looking crepes.

Dinner that evening for our 24 intrepid travellers was in the appropriately named Brasserie Paul in a square next to the illuminated Notre Dame Cathedral; a great setting. A reasonably large choice from the set menu had us tucking into various starters including, I'm pleased to say, quiet a few sampling the very good Escargot. One item on the main course choice was a little suspect, quiet a few of our number tried the 'Sirloin Flap'. The origin of this was never established, despite quizzing the waitress. To Linda Winstanley and Stewart Braddon's horror, I convinced them that it was probably the loser in the 3.30 at Deauville racecourse that afternoon. Come to think of it, I was probably right. With a few little beerets and bottles of local wine taken care of, it was time to wander back through the quite streets to our hotel.

Pulling back the curtains the following morning, the view of the Cathedral spire was somewhat obscured by a thick fast moving mist. This had been forecast to clear later and we had planned for another tour around the city before departing for the airport around lunch time. Once again, the guys meandered off into the surrounding streets and the old buildings took on a strange milky glow with the mixture of heavy mist and sunlight above. The temperature was also pretty cool as we walked along the banks of the Seine.

With the mist finally lifting, we headed back to the airport by cab. With the flight plans in and the aircraft prepared, we donned our life jackets for the return leg. The forecast was for clear weather with no significant cloud over France but the possibility (Tempo 40) of a 1400ft cloudbase back in the Essex/Stansted area. As we were making our final preparations for departure, a long line of cloud could be seen approaching from the East but it was still sunny and very warm on the apron.

After listening to the ATIS, we called for start and were told to standby due to the parachuting taking place. After the last parachute was down a good 10 to 15 minutes later, we got our clearance and taxi instructions. Our lady controller was now referring to us over the radio as the 'British Squadron' which was rather sweet!

Departing from R22 with a right turnout gave us another great view over the city and we turned onto track back towards ABB. As we headed further east and changed to Paris Info, the band of cloud was above us at around 3000ft and the air underneath was on the rather murky side. As the cloud was well- broken and there was no problem with airspace, most of the group elected to climb on top into the bright sunshine. Skimming across the top still gives me a buzz, even after all these years. There we stayed until mid-channel when the cloud just melted away giving us a great view of the south coast ahead of us. With no sign of the forecast cloud, it was an easy cruise back into North Weald in near perfect conditions.

This really was a great trip, especially over a whole weekend at this time of year. Many thanks to all in our large group who made it, as usual, a very entertaining and humorous couple of days away. Excellent flying with excellent company. A special mention to Malcolm Jarvis for all his efforts in dealing with the PPR and advance customs notifications and Phil (Fish) Fellows for being our weather guru. Rouen is a very interesting City with a very helpful airport and is a relatively easy flight. It wouldn't present any problems even for quite inexperienced pilots. It's a good next step up from the cross-channel hops to Calais and Le Touquet. For those that haven't done it, give it a thought for next year.

Little England

There has been an astonishing response to the latest episode of Little England (ITV1 - 28^th November) which featured the late Sue Virr guiding one of her students towards his first landing in F-GMKT.

The program generated 2400 hits on this site between 8:30 pm and midnight, which exceeded the previous record set by our article (one of Sue's favorites) entitled The Ryanair Water-Ski Team

That article got us into a bit of bother with the Limoges Airport Manager who wanted it removed in case it upset said airline—somehow, we never go round to removing it.

If you missed the program, it can be seen on ITV Player at LIttle England 28th November Episode .

I understand that Sue is also featured in the next episode which is on Monday 5^th December at 8 pm (UTC).

 

French Airfields Highly Recommended

Les

May I mention for your Francoflyers web site a couple of airfields in France that I can highly recommend.

1. CHOLET (LFOU) in the Pays de la Loire
   
   A very large runway (see photo) right on the edge of town. English spoken on the radio and a very warm welcome.
   
   Great restaurant, no parking fees charged for my two day visit and a minimal landing fee.
   
   Fuel and hard standing available.
   
   


2. Argentan (LFAJ) in Lower Normandy.
   
   A grass strip in the middle of nowhere but a great base to visit Normandy.
   
   I have landed there on several occasions and have never been charged any landing or parking fees.
   
   No ground radio, just land and visit the open club house to book in.
   
   Here you will find a phone number to call if you require fuel, someone will arrive 15 minutes later, cash only.
   
   No English spoken.

 

Aero-Club de Chauvigny

Barbara Reed has kindly sent me the following information about the Aero-Club de Chauvigny (LFDW) which is located 14 Nautical Miles East of Poitiers (LFBI) next to the river Vienne:

We are a 1901 organisation, a non-profit club under French law.

All of our instructors and staff are volunteers, working to further light aviation.

We are not a commercial school and have no full-time staff.

We own two DR 400 aircraft, a 120 and a 180

We also own two microlights, a Skyranger for ab-initio training with a Pioneer 200 for further training and touring

Our Gliding section has a Rallye 180 tug, an Alliance two-seat trainer, with Pégase and Libelle single-seat gliders.

We often have available a Janus high-performance two seat glider.

Our instructors are Dominique Blaud, CFI who instructs on aeroplanes at weekends and does an intensive fortnight for students and low-hour PPLs every summer. Speaks basic English.

Jean-Pierre Peghaire, Gliding CFI, instructs at weekends and is also a tug pilot. He also runs an intensive course each summer. Speaks English

Barbara Reed (that's me) , Gliding instructor, tug pilot, microlight instructor, and UK FI. Available most days. Speaks English .

I will shortly have a French licence, which won't stop me teaching the UK students, but will enable me to teach our members for French licences.

I am looking into a way to be able to take UK students through to their PPL in English.

At the moment, although any hours they do with me will count towards licence issue they would have to do their exams and flight test in the UK.

This is not something I had originally intended to do as I am a volunteer instructor working for a French club.

If our club CFI and President agree, it may be possible to hve a UK agreement with the CAA, but this is not immediate.(I will update you when I have more information.)

Edouard Gadda, microlight instructor, glider pilot and tug pilot. Available most days, speaks French.

Any pilot with a PPL from any JAR-FCL country is welcome to fly with us. We are French only on the radio, so you would have to learn the circuit calls, not very hard to do!

You need to have an FFA membership, and join the club.

Temporary club membership is available for people who live in UK, otherwise full membership is 140€.

The DR 400-120 costs 111€ per hour dual, 96€ solo.

I have attached a detailed price list for info. Aircraft availability is excellent in the week and good on weekend mornings.

It is possible to take aircraft away for some days, subject to the President's approval. In practice, this requires a usage of at least two hours a day in the summer, possibly rather less in the low season.

All pilots are subject to a 90-day club currency rule on microlights or light aircraft, and will need a check ride before solo flying, usually with the CFI for the DR 400. Not too hard as he is a nice guy!

If you join now your membership is valid until 31 December 2012.

For more infomation, email acch@free.fr, visit the website at http://acch.free.fr or consult the Airfield Chart

Price List (Click on picture for larger image)

 

 

 

 

Reader's Question—English-Speaking Flying Instructors

David Beckley writes:

Hello Les,

I found your web site by chance & wonder if you can help

I had hoped to have a holiday near Limoges and do a little sightseeing/flying from there. I had already been in touch with Sue Virr earlier this year but could not go until 2012, and now, of course, Sue is no longer with us.

It is not clear from the Limoges Aero Club web site whether they have any other English speaking instructors.

Do you know of any clubs in the Limousin or the Dordogne where I could do some flying, possibly as a student, or simply as a passenger with an ex-pat?

Many thanks for any help

David

Reader's Question—French Medical Examiner

Carl Meek writes:

Hi,

I am an NPPL holder in the south of England, and want to fly in France.

In order to do this I need an ICAO class 2 medical.

Due to a mechanical heart valve replacement, I am ineligible for a JAR class 2, but believe I meet ICAO class 2 rules.

I am therefore looking for a medical examiner in the north of France, who speaks English, who could perform a full medical for me and grant me a French medical certificate.

Can you help?

 

Sue Virr

I have just heard the sad news that Sue Virr died yesterday, after several weeks in hospital.

Sue will remembered by a large population of pilots who have flown with the Aeroclub de Limoges where she was a very successful English-language flying instructor.

She also made a great contribution to the launch of this blog.

The Funeral is on Wed 19th Oct at Crematorium de la Villa de Limoges, Le Cavou, Landouge, 87100 Limoges at 0930 (changed to 0900).

 

 

 

Things looking-up at Calais

Received from Paul Bazire (North Weald Flying Group)

I was in at Calais the other day and would like to report that the airport restaurant which opened at the end of last year is actually rather good and the very pleasant owner is really trying to attract pilots into the airfield for lunch.

Calais is a nice easy cross channel hop and with a 9 euro landing fee is very reasonable. Visiting has been made that much easier as the previous 24 hour faxed Customs notice has now been reduced to 2 hours and can be filed online on the Calais Airport website .

Calais used to be a bit of a desolate hole with tumbleweeds blowing around the place but the new cafe/restaurant has made it somewhat more appealing.

There is a long running NOTAM about cross channel drones flying from Calais with a temp restricted zone. It's not that often but you need to contact the ATC Manager to check. The numbers are on the plate.

It's very late notice but Calais are night flying this evening (Saturday) . All landing/circuits are free and the cafe will be open until late.

The downside is there will be no ATC so all calls are to be made blind and in French only^**.

Hopefully, this will be a regular event.

** If you need help with this, our article on French Radio Calls should help.

Reader's Question—Restricted Airspace Notification

Denman Rooke writes:

I’ve recently bought property in Aurignac (31420). My nearest airfield is LFJH Caziers Palaminy.

This airfield is under Restricted Area LF-R0046F3 (800AGL – 3300AMSL).

Apparently, its operation is ‘INTMT’.

Any ideas how I find out the hours of operation, and whether there is any dispensation for aircraft flying into this field?

I don’t relish creeping about at 700’ so close to the mountains.

French Aeroclubs—all you needed to know...

(...but didn't like to ask)

Most FTO in France are not flight schools (which also exists in France) but non-profit associations, held under the 1901 law and often called “aeroclub” or “AC”. Fractional ownership (an aircraft syndicate) is very seldom used in France and few rental companies exist.

Some aeroclubs are more than one hundred years old, owning from one to twenty aircraft with the average being around four planes. The largest ones have permanent employees for instruction, maintenance and administration.

There are several consequences to the non-profit status:

• Flight Instructors are not paid (unless they are employed by the club) for instruction but clubs usually charge an additional fee for double command
• Maiden flights to non-members are allowed up to 8% of the total hours flown by the AC fleet without being considered a commercial activity. This is a marginal source of revenues for the AC who offers them to the open public. The pilot in command (PPL or CPL holder) should have logged at least 200 hours and 30 hours on type in the last 12 months
• Aeroclubs do not pay VAT or commercial taxes as a company does, provided that all members pay the same annual fee which grants them the right to vote in the general assembly as well as to be elected to the board
• The tax administration states that every person who does not fulfil these conditions is a client (vs. a member). It could consider the aeroclub as having a commercial activity, with major consequences regarding the tax status. Therefore, you should understand that the annual membership fee (most of the time between 150 and 300 €) is non-negotiable in regard of this tax rule
• To overcome this tax problem which has lead AC to be fined up to 150,000 €, some AC propose a very low membership fee balanced by higher hourly rates. Others are dealing with the problem by having one part of their activity declared under the commercial status for the sake of the temporary members.

If you would just like to enjoy a few hours up in the air while in France, it makes sense to fly with a Flight Instructor acting as a safety pilot (and maybe handling the radio as well).

Contact the nearest aeroclub (you can use www.navigeo.org which is available in English) and present yourself as a JAA licenced pilot. You would probably be proposed to fly with any English speaking FI available, often an ATPL licenced pilot building hours. Ask for the invoicing scheme as, most of the time, the FI will use his/her own account and you pay only the hourly rate + the additional double command fee, saving the need of a membership fee.

Should you want to fly the bird all by yourself, you may first contact commercial rental companies which offer a wide range of aircraft for hire:

www.locavions.fr

www.aveniraviation.fr

www.locationavion.fr

www.aflyingclub.com

www.aeralp.com

The following aeroclubs are non-profit associations which propose either reduced membership fee for visiting pilots or a low membership fee for all:

Lyon Bron (LFLY) www.aeroclublyoncaalb.com

This aeroclub offers a reduced membership against higher hourly rates.

Perpignan (LFMP) www.aeroclub-roussillon.com

Visiting pilot membership :60 € + 20 € /month

Corsica Ajaccio (LFKJ) www.flyingcorsica.fr

Visiting pilot membership : 100 € for 3 months

Libourne Artigues-de-Lussac (LFDI) www.libourne-aeroclub.com

Pilots holding a current (medical and BFR) european PPL should have an aircraft checkride with our instructor, and pay a reduced registration fee (80 € for 3 months) prior to solo flying

Gaillac Lisle-sur-Tarn (LFDG) aeroclubdugaillacois.fr

Annual membership fee is 50 €

Rodez Marcillac (LFCR) www.ailes-ruthenoises.fr

Temporary membership: 20 €
Hourly rate for C172: 133 €/h
Hourly rate for C150: 115 €/h
Double command fee: 10 €

Granville (LFRF) www.aeroclubgranville.fr

Temporary membership for 2 weeks: 50 €
Temporary membership for 2 months: 80 €

Abbeville (LFOI) http://aeroclub.abbeville.free.fr

Annual membership fee for those over 25 years old is 140 € but visiting pilots only pay ¼ of the fee

Pamiers Les-Pujols (LFDJ) http://acb.pamiers.pagesperso-orange.fr

Fees for visiting pilot (member of the French Aeronautical Federation) :

1 month: 25 €
6 months in a row: 65 €

Fumel-Montayral (LFDX) http:/acvl-fumel.pagesperso-orange.fr

Annual membership fee is 77 euros without temporary fees but the hourly rates are very interesting :

Jodel 112 (with double command): 82 €
Robin DR400 (with double command): 122 €

Montpellier Candillargues (LFNG) www.accamargue.fr

Temporary membership for 2 months max: 80 €

Cholet Le-Pontreau (LFOU) www.acp-cholet.fr

Annual membership fee is 20 € !!!

Cannes Mandelieu (LFMD) www.aeroclub-antibes.com

Variable fee according the time of subscription

Saint-Valery Vittefleur (LFOS) http://aeroclub.cauchois.free.fr

Annual membership fee is 80 €

Grenoble Le-Versoud (LFLG) www.aeroclub-gresivaudan.com

Annual membership fee is 60 €

Reader's Question—French IR

John Ellard writes:

I started my UK IMC rating about a year ago but stopped because of various reasons (work pressures etc).

I now see that France is introducing an IR similar to the FAA one with less theoretical knowledge requirements.

I realise that the rating will be national and in 'F' reg but the only reason I ever wanted instrument training was to improve my flying - not necessarily to routinely fly IFR.

So it seems to me that going for the new French IR makes more sense than the UK IMCR (because of the EASA changes coming along).

My questions are

1. Would I need a French PPL to train for the new French IR and if so how can I do that?

2. Are there any FTOs in France that can help me achieve this? Ideally I'd like to do the theoretical exam preparation first and then do the practical flying training in France full-time.

I'm 54 years old, and I fly for pleasure - I'm not a career pilot.

 

Spanish Practices

I recently enjoyed a great flying trip from North Weald, through France to Asturias in Spain and back to the UK via the West Coast of France and Guernsey.

This was organised by the North Weald Flying Group whom I joined in earlier in the year.

Everything went pretty-much to plan until our 7-aircraft formation stopped-off to refuel at Santander.

Despite the City's association with finance, the local fuelling company don't take credit cards which wouldn't be too bad were it not for the fact that they have a big bureaucratic problem will handing cash.

Before any fuel can flow, an extensive form needs to be completed with names, addresses, passport details, inside leg measurement and (wait for it!!) a tax or VAT number.

The last item caused some consternation as few individuals remember to take VAT numbers on holiday and nobody was quite sure what was actually meant by a tax number.

This procedure was apparently required by 'money laundering' regulations though I doubt that the 'rotters' who indulge in this practice would choose the method of buying aircraft fuel in £100 lots.

After various National Insurance Numbers were tried and rejected by the fueller's hand-held computer, a valid VAT number was obtained with a quick telephone call to the UK, and then used for all 7 aircraft.

It appears that any valid VAT number will serve the purpose as nobody seems to care whether it relates to the individual buyer.

Bureaucratic honour having been satisfied, the process of filling in the form, entering the data into the computer, fuelling the aircraft, generating the invoice and taking cash payment took the 3-man fuelling team about 30 minutes per aircraft.

Refuelling at Asturias a couple of days later was a lot easier―it was the same fuelling company but we had our trusty VAT number and a single fueller was able to accomplish the same task in about 10 minutes per aircraft.

At San Sebastian, credit cards were taken (no VAT number, etc, required) though the fueller insisted on filling all 7 aircraft before repairing to his office to prepare the bills individually.

I now have a much better understanding of the expression 'Spanish Practices'.

Castillo d'Abbadie
(photographed shortly after take-off from San Sebastian)

 

PSSST!! Anybody want to buy a VAT number.

 

Le Touquet―Ouch

Yesterday, I flew to Le Touquet for the first time in several years.

Weather was brilliant and we enjoyed a lovely lunch in this very pretty town, followed by a couple of hours lounging in a beech bar which wasn't there last time around.

My passenger was well-impressed with Le Chat Bleu and bought 4 chocolate cats for the ladies in his life―first time I bought one of those, the head didn't survive the landing at Redhill and had to be welded back on.

Return to North Weald was via Cap Griz Nez and Dover with a quick tour around Canterbury for some impressive views of the cathedral.

French air traffic (Lille/Le Touquet) operated with their usual relaxed efficiency but I was particularly impressed by the vast improvement in UK low-level radar services since I last flew here on a regular basis 5 or 6 years ago.

Only downside was Le Touquet's 25€ landing fee which is well in line with UK standards but rather more than you would normally pay in France.

By the way, another UK pilot told me that Calais have replaced their venerable vending machine with a very nice airfield restaurant.

 

Reader’s Question―French Flying Clubs

Paul Madden writes:

I like the idea of European aeroclubs and, in particular, French aeroclubs.

Nothing like that here in the States with the possible exception of a few gliding clubs here and there. I visited one when I was last in France a few years ago.

I'm in the process of winding down my work at the Lab in preparation for retirement by the end of next month. More time available then to do some flying, etc.

I also have some (American) friends living in France (Paris) who suggested that I consider joining a French aeroclub and fly there during the summer, maybe for a month or so.

Unfortunately my wife is still working at a high-power job so could probably join me in France for only a short period during any given summer. But she says: do it!

Can you suggest a club, or clubs, where I wouldn't be out of the water given that I'm not fluent in French (actually not even close)?

However, I have no problem reading French.

Also, would it be a problem conversing with airfield controllers?

I imagine they have to speak English to get such jobs but I don't know if this is the case at smaller airports. Absolutely no rush for an answer.

Best regards,

Paul

P.S. I have also considered UK aeroclubs but I'm told the weather is so freaky in the summer that I could go for a month without ever flying. Don't know if this is accurate or not.

Events―Scottish Fly-in

The Scottish Aero Club will be delighted to welcome our readers at the following event: 

The Scottish Aero Club is holding a fly-in at Perth Airport (EGPT) on 7 and 8 May for members of the Light Aircraft Association, the British Microlight Association, the British Rotorcraft Association and aero clubs from around the UK, Ireland and Europe.

It is planned that this will be the major event for the LAA north of the Border this year and the Scottish Aero Club is hoping to attract large numbers of aircraft, including groups of Europas, Vans, Pioneers etc., and a variety of vintage types.

The Airport operator, ACS Aviation, has offered half price landing fees for visiting aircraft and the Airport owner, the Morris Leslie Group, is providing an area for camping. The Skylodge Hotel, situated on the Airfield (01738 555700) has rooms available ranging from £25.95 single and £47.50 double (including continental breakfast). Pilots and passengers will also be able to use the facilities at the Scottish Aero Club.

The Club will be organising a barbeque on the evening of 7 May and other attractions are being planned. There will be prizes for the greatest distance flown and the most meritorious flight.

Perth (Scone) is ideally placed for touring Scotland with some amazing mountain scenery on its doorstep. It is also close to the city of Perth and the famous Scone Palace.

For further details please contact Graeme Hammond, Scottish Aero Club Committee, at graeme.hammond@gmail.com 

UPDATE: The Airport Operator has now offered free landing fees for aircraft uplifting 30 litres or more of fuel.

 

Reader's Question―UK to Limoges

Will Dawes writes:

I am thinking about flying to Limoges from Shoreham in the UK possibly for my CPL qualifier, in possibly a DA40 or PA28. I have seen on your blog that you’ve flown from Limoges to the UK in the DA40; can I ask how long this took and if you have any advice for preparation for such flying in France?

I’m just completing my ATPL groundschool with a few hours yet to build.

Reader's Question―French ULM Information

Paul Madden writes:

I have written to many French ULM sources trying to find information about a French ULM from the late '90s called the Caprice 21. I have attached a photo of the aircraft (from Tagazous), and following is a link to a YouTube video of the aircraft (you have to go to the end to see the aircraft from a distance):

 

I have seen " for sale" advertisements for the aircraft in various French magazines dating back to the early 2000s. I think quite a few were manufactured, some powered by the R582 and others by the R912. From the YouTube video, I know where at least one is based - in south-west France. I wrote to the aeroclub at the airfield without getting a response. The French national ULM association was of no help either.
Anybody know anything about this aircraft?