I am planning a trip (VFR - at least in France) down to Aix-en-Provence at the beginning of April. The route looks quite straightforward and can be flown low level or in the French 'airways' below where O2 is required.
The only part which looks 'interesting' is the area around Marseilles and the Provence TMA which is littered with restricted areas. From my last visit on a commercial flight, it can also get more than a little windy with the Mistral, but we'll ignore that for now...
The route I have planned so far is to follow the A6 'airway' into the Provence TMA and then route towards the Aix CTR skirting the restricted areas.
Provence looks to be a busy piece of airspace with arrivals and departures to Marseilles, helicopter activity and a handful of GA airfields. Does anyone have any experience flying in this area that can offer any other suggestions? A French colleague suggested to me that in France, Provence are known to be notoriously un-helpful, I heard the same about Bordeaux but had no issues there.
Any input gratefully received.
I have a house out to the Northeast of Aix, and base my aircraft at Vinon when I'm down there, so I pop into Les Milles quite often for fuel.
Les Milles itelf is easy - the miltary run the ATC during operating hours; outside of those it's A/A on the Tower frequency. If there is no one in the office to take the landing fee, fill in a slip and post it in the box before you leave and you'll get an invoice for a ridiculously small amount from the DGAC a few months later. Fuel is Total self-service; if you don't have a card (I do) you'll need the man to help you out. At one time this was a bit of a pain, as you had to call him at home during certain hours. I don't know if that is still the case. It might be worth a phone call to the CCI before you go to check out the current situation.
The CTRs and restricted areas around there can be a bit daunting. There are 'recommended' (i.e. they like you to use them) transit routes which are given in ENR 1.2 (1.2.15 and 1.2.16) and marked on the official charts. I would advise planning to use those, and if you get a 'direct' treat it as a bonus.
I have never found Provence ATC a pain at all. Marseille FIS will generally also bend over backwards to help if you ask.
Much appreciated - I'll go and take a look at those transit routes. We are going to stay in the area for a few days, so we should have plenty of time to sort that out.
Restricted zones are mainly due to military activities. Salon de provence is the training facility of the airforce for junior officers. Istres is the homebase of the national center for test-flights.... Make sure which zones are active before you set off. You can update this info enroute. The Mistral can make for challenging landings indeed and a bumpy flight. But usually the runways are built northwards. That's where the Mistral comes from in this area. And it does not blow every day.
