Am I the only one to find all the national differences in airspace and air law exhausting? And I haven't even flown abroad yet. Would I find it less daunting if I had? Is it any easier from this perspective to fly IFR with an instrument rating?
Well, airspace structure can be daunting. Have a look at the VFR map of Belgium. Half of the country is Class C airspace. I know Dutch pilots who reroute via Germany on their way to France, because they find it too hard to cross the Brussels area. VFR if you plan to cross controlled airspace (Class D or up), you need to be prepared for the situation where you don't get a clearance (have a plan B OCAS available).
IFR on Airways is the hidden secret in GA flying. It's dead easy. You have no idea of the airspace classes you are crossing. You will be separated from other traffic. Before you depart you'll get a clearance to fly your route as filed. You can fly as high as you want. You can fly through clouds. You won't be bothered with things like para dropping or restricted areas. For serious "going places" in Europe, IR is the way to go...
I don't think foreign trips are hard. Anybody with the IQ to get through the PPL exams can read the map and read the controlled airspace (CAS) labels, etc. There is no rocket science. You buy the charts and draw the route on them. It's really basic!
The UK PPL training establishment likes to pretend there is some quantum leap in complexity, but that's because they (mostly) teach only the most basic flying skills.
Look at my VFR Europe presentation here.
I think the most basic point I make there is that international flight is not really different to domestic flight, but you do actually have to do the stuff which you should be doing domestically but most people don't.
IFR is certainly much simpler in terms of planning, and other stuff, but getting an IR is a fair bit of work and the majority of European pilots will never be interested in doing that. Also an IR has very little meaning unless you own your own plane and it is quite a capable one. IFR also exposes you to various flight hazards e.g. icing is a potential hazard on practically every flight in Europe even in the summer.
When I called up Scottish info the other week while returning home, I was at VFR in the Auster at FL85. The controller at the other end sniggered slightly when he asked me to confirm this altitude.
Unfortunately I never think of witicisms on the spur of the moment (it always occurs to me about 10 minutes later) but I wanted to say "It's because I'm afraid of water" (about to coast out at St Bees Head for the Isle of Man. From FL85, I'm out of gliding range of land for only a trivially short amount of time. When going over water I want as much altitude as possible! Even if it doesn't keep me within gliding range it gives me a LOT more time to make mayday calls and prepare for a ditching and try for an engine restart. It really surprises me how many people fly across the sea at 2000 feet even when there's no airspace reason stopping you from going higher).
Am I the only one to find all the national differences in airspace and air law exhausting?
I dont think so. I have only flown in the UK and France (VFR), but certainly for my recent trip to La Rochelle, I spent many hours researching the differences so there were no 'surprises' mid-air. As much as I would love the challenge of flying to Spain or something, I can well imagine the research time would exceed the flight time (though of course the 'research time' diminishes as one gets more experienced at these things)
Am I the only one to find all the national differences in airspace and air law exhausting? And I haven't even flown abroad yet. Would I find it less daunting if I had? Is it any easier from this perspective to fly IFR with an instrument rating?
I've flown VFR throughout many countries in Europe during the summer months the last 7-8 years and it is certainly doable. Some countries are harder than others though due to their airspace.
The planning is more demanding in regards to find a route that will work VFR, due to airspace restrictions, R- and D-areas etc. If you are flying in a congested areas then the work load during flight with getting clearances and information regarding active R/D-areas can be high.
It is very dependent on the country you fly in though, Scandinavia is easy and also Germany. The hardest VFR flights for me has been southern France. Cannes->Dijon and Mallorca -> Chambery were both a challenge.
Regarding the differences, get an account to EAD Basic and check the relevant parts of the AIP (such as ENR 1.1, 1.2, 1.8).
