Possible Fly-in

No, I think ATS at Colmar is available at the weekends...

Visual Approach Chart

Keep in mind that outside of ATS hours, Colmar is French only. Not having an endorsement for French in your license is a violation of the regulation. Typically ATS is closed during the weekend.

To the best of my knowledge the only requirement is to be able to make RT calls in French - not to have a French language endorsement.

IME, it is very normal to hear calls to/from local pilots in the local language - in France this will be close to 100% and in Germany perhaps 50-70%.

It's not good... TWICE at Le Touquet I was cleared for a base join in English at the same time as a French pilot was cleared for a join (in one case, the opposite base join, and in the other case, for the same base join) in French. In the former case a collision was avoided by about 20m, and in the latter case I inferred where the other one might be and got out of there quick.

But then we are lucky to be English speakers Imagine the outcry in the UK if the standard European aviation lingo was French or German For starters, almost no Brits would be able to fly abroad.

There is indeed a strong correlation between European nations whose GA pilots do international flights, and European nations whose people are comfortable with English as a 2nd language.

I cannot speak a word of French and thus always fly to an "international" (meaning Customs) airport when flying within France. I would be suprised however if there was an airfield in Germany where they cannot speak English if you call them up in English.

Anyway, in the context of this thread, this is moot since I cannot legally fly to any airport which does not have Customs, and all those must have English speaking ATC.

Boy with all this toing and froing from this airport to that, and does it have an ILS, and will they speak English on the weekend, I think I will wait to see which place is the final pick then land in a farmer’s field across the fence from the aerodrome !!!

Colmar seems to tick all boxes so far... And if more than one forum user ends up coming, we can consider it to be a fly-in!

Peter, perhaps EuroGA admins could now choose the location and we could focus on getting there?

Views have been well and truly canvassed.

If your company does not have an authorization granted by a main customs office which exempts you from using a customs airport (German: Zollflugplatz), you - coming from Switzerland - have to land on a customs airport or on a specially authorized airport (German: besonderer Landeplatz), article 38 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92, article 2 of the German Zollverwaltungsgesetz and article 3 and 2 of the German Zollverordnung.
Non-compliance results in a customs debt and tax debt according to article 202 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92 (unlawful introduction into the customs territory of the Community) and article 21 of the German Umsatzsteuergesetz. Nevertheless article 212a of same regulation has to be considered: exemptions from duty may be granted (i.e. for returned goods), provided that the unlawful introduction was not made deliberately or strongly negliently.
In addition -at least- a fine for an administrative office may be taken, article 31 paragraph 1 No. 1 of the German Zollverwaltungsgesetz.

OK; I don't dispute any of the above. It all concerns arriving at a non-Customs airport in Germany, in a situation where one is clearly required in Germany (a non EU departure).

As I think we have established, Switzerland being in Schengen is nonsense - possibly unless crossing the border on foot.

You would get the same problem flying Switzerland - Slovenia, I reckon.

What I still haven't seen is an example of my earlier Q:

Let's say you depart Country A for Country B. Both A and B require "Customs" airports to be used. For a case where the departure was from a non-Customs airport in A, is anyone aware of any case where B was interested?

What I read somewhere was a suggestion that a departure from a non-Customs Swiss airport and a landing at a Customs airport in Germany or Austria would result in a fine upon landing.

Peter, perhaps EuroGA admins could now choose the location and we could focus on getting there?

Let me see if we can set up a poll. I recall seeing a website which offered quite a neat one.

Unfortunately, with the geographical spread of members here, it won't be possible to please everybody, because the average distance to travel will be substantial.

Let me see if we can set up a poll. I recall seeing a website which offered quite a neat one.

www.doodle.com should offer all we need - one poll for the location, another for the date. Green= "Preferred", Yellow="Acceptable", Red="Not for me"

Let's say you depart Country A for Country B. Both A and B require "Customs" airports to be used. For a case where the departure was from a non-Customs airport in A, is anyone aware of any case where B was interested?

Legally, an airfield is required to keep records of all arrivals and departures and this has to include the start and landing aerodrome. That's the law in Germany (introduced by Adolf H.), don't know about others. So the information is there and available to officials.

Now about the "is B interested" question. From a legal perspective, when landing at B, you have to look at the immigration law of country B. It will require certain things depending on where you arrived from. When in doubt, you will have to prove where you came from (i.e. if you want to be exempted from certain immigration formalities). As to not having left country A through a customs airport, this has no relevance for country B. You might have violated the laws of country A but that is not relevant to country B. Depending on the laws of country B, you will have to truthfully state where you departed but I don't see how not stating the truth could get you punished in country B.