Great organisation Jim. Thanks
Low ceiling and rain for arrival but nice weather over all.
Hi Russ! Back in business with DTR, would be great to offer you and Rob a flight next time you’re down here! 
Jenny
Hi Everyone.
I had a blast!
Jim,thanks for setting it all up.
It was great to meet everyone and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Russell
Few photos from the weekend :
Arrivals on Friday. Nine out of the planned 20 aircraft made it, mainly due to dodgy weather in northern France on the Friday.
Saturday night drinks and banquet:
Lunch at the famous Auch restaurant, complete with eccentric singing chef.
Conditions in northern France looking a bit grubby this morning.
Tomorrow and Sunday look much better.
We’re currently VFR in Saucats with a few CBs dotted around.
Don’t forget to modify your hotel booking before you get charged
If Saucats (LFCS) could get a policeman there to look at passports, they would get more people in from the UK.
I would dearly love to do this, however, with most police tied up on anti-terror operations (don’t forget France is still in a state of emergency) and the nearest international field (Merignac) overrun with holiday traffic, there’s not really any realistic chance of that happening :-(
FIS services can and do co-ordinate military transits depending on traffic levels. Sometimes you need to switch to the relevant military control frequencies.
The only one on the way down to Bordeaux is Cognac, but is quite easy to stay out of.
VFR flight plans within France are optional, however if you do file one, and you’re heading to an unmanned airfield (i.e. Saucats) don’t forget to close it! 
or you will set off a whole string of search and rescue operations (which you have to pay for). I have more than once had the police on the phone asking me if X aircract has landed safely.
You can close it on the radio or by phone once on the ground.
If you land at an airfield with an AFIS (like Laval), nothing to do because they close the FPL for you.
If you mean Friday 1st Sep, I should be in Greece, otherwise I am always happy to meet up with someone (I live/work 20 mins away)
French ATC usually allows transits of controlled airspace (some of which, unlike the UK’s, cannot be practically deciphered from the map anyway, so this is just as well) and they tend to let you through danger areas (D), but the rest which are R or P they usually won’t. I always avoided all these in VFR flying there, as one does in the UK. But others here will know more about it. Be really careful with the nuclear power station ones. People sometimes plan to overfly them, which is OK (they are about 1000m AGL high) but then forget when forced down due to low cloud, and bust them.
If Saucats (LFCS) could get a policeman there to look at passports, they would get more people in from the UK.
Hi everyone
A couple more questions if I may…
If we are working the FIS do you know if they co-ordinate Military transits etc?
We’ve filed a VFR flight plan from EGKA to LFOV Laval, is it recommended to file one from LFOV to LFCS?
We’re planning on departing Friday morning with a lunch stop at EGKA Shoreham (Pete are you going to be around?) as LFOV Laval won’t allow us in during lunch – midday to 14:100 local, so we won’t make it there before they shut from North Weald!
Arrival planned into LFCS Bordeaux for 17:00 Local.
