I got something surprising yesterday, but after this should not have been surprised. But this one was slightly different.
I flew to Cherbourg LFRC. Really hazy, so flew the ILS28 and a circle to land. This is the FR24 track and the arrow is where the LOC lies
Having got the usual hand washing at the UK end (London Control refusing the flight because it was filed at FL040, well obviously; anything below about FL070, etc, gets binned) I checked the Portsmouth D areas were dead, flew across the Channel and at the FIR boundary changed myself to Deauville 120.35 as per the LFRC approach chart
and asked for vectors to the ILS. They gave me 1777 and then 5104 which was presumably the Eurocontrol squawk I should have got from LC.
They cleared me to DIKRO
and obviously I would have intercepted the LOC before reaching DIKRO. I can’t see any instructions on how to get to the ILS from DIKRO, from the north, other than by intercepting the LOC on the way to DIKRO 
There is no hold or procedure turn charted.
They said I was outside controlled airspace.
I was expecting a “cleared for the ILS” but nothing came. So, instead of flying through the LOC (which you must do in the absence of an explicit “cleared for the approach”) I intercepted it and told them so. Radio was busy (in French) and there was some other IFR traffic around, on the radio, but not clear where, and there was some stuff on TCAS around the LFRC area. I could have turned away quickly if this was a problem.
Deauville told me to change to Tower 119.625
One Q is whether I actually was OCAS when they said I was. I flew at 5300ft, and at some point was told to descend to 3000ft (the ILS platform).
The 2018 French IGN chart (which in the past didn’t show any detail above 5000ft, or above 5000ft AGL, but I thought that was changed years ago) is this
The 2018 UK version is
Current-database EasyVFR, with the altitude filter set to 10,000, shows nothing
Current Flitestar shows nothing
One Q might be whether I was below FL045 (if the Class E is still there) at the relevant point. I would assume Deauville made sure I was below FL045 when they said I was OCAS, and obviously – regardless of which of the charts you pick – the entire ILS does lie in Class G.
I can see the reasoning perfectly but (like the above-linked LFOV case) this is going to confuse the hell out of any “normally trained” pilot.
I am also pretty sure I didn’t get this last time at LFRC (some months ago) because I would have remembered it. Has the airspace changed?
As usual I now expect one former poster here to lampoon this thread as “another useless confused Brit pilot getting into a mess in our country” on his domestic forum but it is worth others being aware of it. Intercepting an ILS without any word of a clearance (especially knowing there is other traffic around, and seeing it on TCAS in the proximity of the approach) goes really strongly against pilot training.
Peter wrote:
I can see the reasoning perfectly but (like the above-linked LFOV case) this is going to confuse the hell out of any “normally trained” pilot.Intercepting an ILS without any word of a clearance (especially knowing there is other traffic around, and seeing it on TCAS in the proximity of the approach) goes really strongly against pilot training.
In the UK at least, it seems to me an ILS OCAS works well without much confusion when one calls for “procedural service” instead of “vectors/clearance to ILS”…
In the other hand flying a “free flight path” OCAS while telling your position & height is a good airmanship 
Yes, but in the UK you get “cleared for the approach”, for any IAP type, in Class G.
BTW, I am told Cambridge will kick you off the airport if they see your track “apparently following their ILS” when they are supposedly “VFR only” at weekends…
I think you did right to tell them you were intercepting. They could have told you « intercept at your discretion, no traffic… change to Cherbourg AFIS… » maybe they were just too busy.
Probably the « by the book » way to do this approach is to get into the hold, descend in it, and catch the GS on the inbound leg.
Yes the “classical IFR” way is to fly to the holding fix, but in this case I was sent to DIKRO.
With a moving map GPS it is of course obvious how to hack this situation, but it is a bit strange. Somebody is still supposed to be separating traffic on the IAP – especially as two languages are being spoken.
An FIS cannot give you a clearance, only an ATC can give you a clearance. A FIS can get a clearance for you but in this case you were OCAS all the way to a landing and therefore there was no ATC to get a clearance from. You are therefore under your own separation and discretion. The FIS and the AFIS will give you the information you require to make your decisions. It is the same as at say Exeter. It is the way I learned.
Deauville Approach is ATC
So how does the traffic on the IAP get separated?
At Exeter you would be “cleared for the ILS” (last time I went there, anyway).
“BTW, I am told Cambridge will kick you off the airport if they see your track “apparently following their ILS” when they are supposedly “VFR only” at weekends…”
They don’t have to kick you: any ATS, even Radio/AFIS, have on/off buttons on their switch board for runway light, localizer, glide slop…
I am just calling to make sure those buttons are switched ON and no one is already there doing the same, sort of comon sense rather than separation/clearance OCAS, even then you may get “coordinated” with other IFR traffic outside ATZ, usually that is the sign of future controlled airspace ;)
“cleared for ILS” OCAS is the same as “you are number 1” in a AG airfield ;)
Peter, at Cherbourg you always get routed to DIKRO, as you can see its perfectly placed if arriving from France but not from the UK
What they should do is to move DIKRO further to the north to a position on the runway extended centreline at say D15
You can always ask for a RNAV approach via NOSDU if arriving from the north
Peter wrote:
Intercepting an ILS without any word of a clearance (especially knowing there is other traffic around, and seeing it on TCAS in the proximity of the approach) goes really strongly against pilot training.
At least if they are trained in areas where all (official) instrument approaches require a clearance. If you are trained in areas with AFIS airports with approaches entirely in class G then it would not seem strange at all.
I recall once hearing a foreign bizjet on approach to an AFIS airport in Sweden repeatedly asking “confirm I’m cleared to land” to which the AFISO every time (correctly) replied “runway free”. Eventually the exasperated AFISO said “runway free means clear to land” – which of course it does not, but that reply was probably the best under the circumstances. :-)
The UK is a bit peculiar in that approaches in class G apparently requires a clearance. Probably this is because traffic “in the vicinity” of a towered airport needs a clearance even if the airport is in class G.
