Frans wrote:
That is not quite true, you need German LP (at least level 4), if you don’t have any English LP, plus the BZF in any case
I am not sure what you mean by plus BZF in any case? I speak German with English on my CAA PPL + CAA radio FRTOL + CAA PPL in German only airfields, no need for BZF for me 
I used to do the same in FR Only airfields in France on CAA papers, no need to get some ‘PTT paper’
The NAA has to accept it, just like they accept G-reg in their airspace
Frans wrote:
France doesn’t have a separate radio operation certificate
That is true France does not have a separate ‘RT Operator paper’ but many other countries have these: like FCC Operator paper for FAA holders and CAA FRTOL for CAA holders but the distinction is moot: standalone paper or in license is the same AFAIK: all ICAO countries hand radio operator privileges to their pilots which is attached to their aircraft reg which has a bit of country soil attached irrespective of airspace flown, people with ELP can broadcast on that on any language, this logic holds otherwise no one can speak on radios and lot of aircraft will fall out of the sky…
What some NAA X does for their pilots on X-PPL flying X-reg who can’t speak English is irrelevant and it’s not required for someone on ICAO worldwide privilege: RT+ELP on Y-PPL with Y-reg, you can fly and speak any language worldwide
I think most has already been said about the legality several times.
Practically speaking most Fr only airfields are small and radio use is to auto announce air to air. If you announce in English some 99% of other pilots in the circuit (and we are only really talking of the circuit because the SIV will speak English and will warn you of other traffic) will not understand you. And your accent will be the give away not to start a chat with you.
I have heard some pretty poor French and a lot of Franglais whilst flying circuits. Many of these types of airfields are also on the same frequency and so it is very important to give the name of the airfield whose circuit you are in or about to join. An interesting thing is that with the EASA ELP rules many French pilots, although still a small minority of the overall numbers, have taken their ELP courses and tests. The problem is that much of the training and the DGAC tests are based on internet ATC calls from the USA. This means that the station being called is now transmitted both at the beginning and end of the call as in the USA. Also as the VAC often only shows one circuit we rarely used the “main gauche/droit” (Left or right hand circuit which many have now started to do.)
But yes there are some AFIS fields which are Fr. Only and at these it is helpful to know what they are saying although it will normally be standard phraseology and they will rarely try to complicate matters. However, one thing it might be useful to remember is that most numbers given in French are given 2 at a time and not as in English number by number. So runway (piste) 23 would be vingt trois (twenty three) rather than two three. Transponder codes will be 2 sets of 2 numbers and if saying one you are more likely to hear “unity” instead of “un or une”.
I prefer the anglo saxon system but some claim the two numbers at a time is better because your short term memory only holds a maximum of 7 things at a time so a transponder code in French is only 2 of those 7 rather than 4.🙂
lionel wrote:
I always want to say “incapable” (straight translation from English), but it is is “impossible”.
DeepL translates the french “incapable” as “unable” in English.
gallois wrote:
This means that the station being called is now transmitted both at the beginning and end of the call as in the USA.
I consider that to be good radio practice as far as the airfield identifier is concerned. Surprisingly, it has happened to me in Europe while approaching an airfield with another within radio range on the same frequency. It was quite confusing for a moment until I realized that one of the aircraft was announcing for another airfield. As a minimum, one should include the airfield identification, either ICAO or name, in every transmission. I prefer at the end, because that is most likely to be noticed and confirms the field in question for the activity just announced….. but that’s off-subject.
chflyer wrote:
DeepL translates the french “incapable” as “unable” in English.
Yes, precisely, “incapable” is the best translation of “unable”. But French aircraft phraseology doesn’t say “unable” but “impossible” (which is the exact same string of letters in both French and English, with a bit different pronunciation).
lionel wrote:
But French aircraft phraseology doesn’t say “unable” but “impossible”
On frequency I tend to hear ‘pas possible’
ATC: ‘can you taxi forward?’ PIC: ‘not impossible’
On frequency I tend to hear ‘pas possible’
ATC: ‘can you taxi forward?’ PIC: ‘not
impossible’
Whilst I have heard "pas possible’ I’m not sure about the “not impossible” one would normally simply reply “affirm”.
“not impossible” was a joke about somone really lazy to say “affirm”
Ibra wrote:
I speak German with English on my CAA PPL + CAA radio FRTOL + CAA PPL in German only airfields, no need for BZF for meThere is no other paper, except for the German BZF, Austrian BFZ or “German” entry under section XII “radio privileges” in EASA licenses, that allows a pilot to operate radios in German inside Germany or Austria. So yes, you do need a BZF, BFZ or “German” under section XII, in order to be legal for making German radio calls, which is required on German-only airfields. Got this even confirmed by the German CAA. Again, this has nothing to do with language proficiency, which is a completely different thing.
Of course you can, German LBA has literally zero say on G-reg aircraft & pilot papers if they are ICAO compliant (means pilot has CAA FRTOL radio licence, has English Language Proficiency, Aircraft has Ofcom radio station), the LBA has only a say on which airfields are German only and which airfields have English
If you are ICAO compliant,
- If the airfield is German-only you speak German
- If the airfield is German or English, you speak German or English
PS: every country on earth has this problem of “big international airport” (e.g. English rated ATC) and “tiny small airfield” (e.g. local flughlighter), every pilot in the “tiny flying airfield” tend to swear by gods that ICAO radio & language rights in ICAO aircraft do not apply and other pilot & aircraft need local endorsements (which we all know only apply to those on local NAA papers, fly local regs and who can’t speak ICAO English)
