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Southern Belgium

In the beginning of may, i intend to do a small tour of northwestern France and southern Belgium, with possibly a short venture over to the southeast of England.

This will be VFR, low and slow, in a C152. Departure is Mannheim (EDFM), just south of Frankfurt.

So far, I haven't been to southern Belgium a lot (except for a jaunt to Spa some years ago), but the scenery of the Ardennes does look interesting on google.

Question: has anyone of you (Jan in particular) ever been to one of the following small airfields or otherwise have any useful information on them?

-Tournai EBTY

-Namur EBNM

-St. Ghislain EBSG

-Cerfontaine EBCF

-Froidchapelle (no ICAO code)

-(St. Hubert has already been covered to some extent in a recent thread)

This is more of a pure "flying trip" rather than a "vacation trip by small airplane". Therefore I am really not looking for e.g. interesting cities/towns to visit etc. (as I won't really have the time anyway). I am more looking for interesting info about the actual airfields, such as interesting flying activities, scenic airfields or places that you just "need to have your logbook". Of course, infos about decent on-field restaurants or even accomodation would be helpful, as well.

Also, any similar tips about small airfields in the very northeast of France? And: has anyone ever been to the small GA airfields in Luxemburg (Useldange and Noertrange)?

Thanks,

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

How to resist such a challenge? Tired as I am from getting my 912's carbs to run and work as equally as they can manage, here goes, straight from the top of my old head:

EBFR Froidchapelle: closed since EBCF reopened. I can't exclude a few unofficial glider flights though. It never was more than a glider field anyway. Very beautifully located on the artificial lake "Lac d'Heure".

EBCF Cerfontaine: a stone's throw from Froidchapelle, sharing the same beautiful scenery. Has been through a lot of political turmoil, now working hard to earn a place on the map. Some acro flying, some parajumping. There seems to be a restaurant but I haven't tried it yet. Check their website.

ELUS Useldange: glider only AFAIK

ELNT Noertrange: dead end in the middle of nowhere. Nice wooded hillsides around, like all of the Ardennes.

EBTY Tournay: seems a rather closed place, I never heard of anyone flying there for a day trip. Queer location on the BE/FR border, near to a canal, lots of trees around.

EBSG Saint Ghislain: nice asphalt runway, nice restaurant. Some interesting industrial archeology around, like old mine sites (one is now being converted into a Google data centre) and the ships' elevators on the Canal du Centre (really worth a visit if one is into that kind of thing). There was and maybe still is a big radial-powered warbird, Skyraider or such.

EBNM Namur Suarlée: used to have a good restaurant but it has been closed for many years, don't know the actual status. Much glider and parajumping on good days. Very good atmosphere of recreational flying. Used to host a couple of SV4's.

Some that you did not mention:

EBTX Theux is a personal favourite of mine, never very busy, always friendly, good cuisine and all kinds of fuel available. Bring cash, though. I might well be flying there tomorrow. Interesting moorland scenery of the Hautes Fagnes/Hohes Venn, including a military shooting range.

EBAW Antwerp: busy and expensive, with lots of training, both VFR and IFR. Very nice Stampe museum makes it worth its while. Close to the city centre, with frequent buses.

EBKT has a very good restaurant (the "Biggles"), you do need to book in advance. Some bizjet activity, factory of Lambert microlights (not particularly active).

EBFN Koksijde: a military airbase, but available to a flying club in the weekend, and visitors are welcome thought there seems to be a peculiar fee mechanism. This is the home of our famous SAR Seaking helicopters, soon to be replaced. Search the www for "west aviation"

EBSP Spa seems to have reopened last Saturday! EBSH Saint Hubert now seems to suffer from closure threats also, both fields merit all our sympathy.

General notes:

-) all airspace above 4500' AMSL is controlled, and I recommend flying there whenever possible. If you want to fly uncontrolled, get lower, carefully check airspace before even thinking of taking off, and do talk to Brussels Info on 126,900.

-) the country is speckled with military zones, restricted, forbidden, you name it. Most of these are inactive in the weekend, but do be careful on weekdays. Brussels Information will happily sort you out, they are helpful by nature and on weekdays there are not very busy. Be particularly careful about EBKB Kleine Brogel and EBFS Florennes, where our F16 interceptors are on standby for scrambling.

-) I have not flown to any of the fields you mentioned, but have visited most driving, but not all, and not all recently.

-) I am not aware of any airfield in Belgium or the Grand Duchy with a hotel on the premises. Have some memory of EBSH Saint hubert, though, in this respect.

-) if you know when you'll fly where, feel free to let me know ( karlchen 9 at sky net dot be) and who knows what comes next...

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

Thank you Jan.

Re the belgian airspace: yes, I intend to fly low level (1000-2000 feet) and yes, I want to cross the entire south and west of Belgium on a weekday. This is somewhat of an experiment, and I will gladly report my findings.

I still have to study the charts though, so I don't really how much of the country is covered with restricted areas that go all the way down (or almost) to the ground...

Does belgian ATC really expect the VFR pilot to study in advance the activity status of all those areas and expect the pilot to plan his flight outside of those areas?

I sure wouldn't like to approach a huge restricted area and then be told, at short notice, that I have to avoid it, causing a major detour...on the other hand, I don't want to have to study pages over pages of the belgian AIP and then cross-check that with hundreds of NOTAMs...

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Cerfontaine EBCF about a year ago got planning permission for a residential airpark at the airfield. Not sure if they have started building. Their website is

I can give you a contact there if you want to email me ([email protected])

EGBJ, EGBP, EGTW, EGVN, EGBS

I intend to fly low level (1000-2000 feet)

Hope that goes for 1000-2000' AGL - EBSH Saint Hubert resides at 1847' AMSL..! Don't make things harder than you must.

I want to cross the entire south and west of Belgium on a weekday.

Well, that's up to you but don't come complaining. It is a daring venture and will require careful planning. I suggest you begin by looking up the military zones and their activity schemes in the AIP (http://www.belgocontrol.be/website/eaip/eAIP_Main/html/index-en-GB.html, dry but workable), you will find which are active by NOTAM (which is rare) vs. which are normally active. Mind you, some have extra zones attached, like EBBE has EBD37 attached, and following the same activity calendar.

You might wish to plan a route that normally can't be refused to planes suitably equipped - i.e. only class G or civilian controlled zones like at EBLG or EBCI - next you can ask Brussels information about possible shortcuts.

On the bright side: many military zones are only rarely activated (EBCV only for US'an visitors of state...) and Belgian controllers are generally very good, and relaxed enough to spend some time on a helpless foreigner. Do begin by showing you did your homework, and did it well.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

OK, I'm back from my three and a half-day flight through Belgium (as well as northern France and southeast England).

What a fantastic small trip it was. Windy, but very sunny, cold-frontal type weather with unlimited visibilities. Just what flying in May makes so special. Maybe I'll write a trip report.

Flying VFR in Beglium turned out to be quite enjoyable. Many thanks go to the AFIS operators of St. Hubert airfield, who went out of their way to give me all conceivable tipps and support re "flying in Belgium".

Some notes concerning Belgium:

-Brussels Information is of very little use; not much more than a "basic service". During the week (when many military areas are active) it is much better to call Belga Radar, which are accomodating to civil GA aircraft as well. They have more resources than Brussels Information and give you a sort of traffic service. Most importantly, they tell you where you can and where you cannot go in case of military activity.

-Cerfontaine airfield is a little gem. Very beautiful surroundings and a good grass runway.

-Froidchapelle airfield is definitely history.

-The infamous Chaleroi GA ban NOTAMs are no more! Apparanently, the NOTAMs were indeed the result of Ryanair putting pressure on the airfield operator to do away with the nasty GA. However, after the NOTAM had been out for a couple of times, the Beglian CAA intervened and informed the airport that such a restriction was illegal for a public use airport. Hats off! Proves that, very often, in the end, the cooler heads prevail. (Problem is...if Charleroi airport wants to get rid of GA, they will do it, either by means of handling fees or other "regulations"...).

-Most small airfields in Belgium are PPR, but - much like in the UK - it really is just an unnecessary administrative formality. PPR calls are mostly like "hi there, can I come and land at your airfield? - Yes, sure, no problem! - Thanks, see ya'."

-However, many small airfields in southern Beglium do require french over the radio (exceptions are St. Ghislain and St. Hubert).

-The southwest of Belgium is quite beautiful from the air.

Thumbs up!

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Brussels Information is of very little use; more of a "basic service" only. During the week (when many military areas can be active) it is much better to call Belga Radar, which serve civil GA as well.

Yes, that is a peculiarity in Belgium. They don't seem to coordinate and not even like each other. I once switched from Brussels Information to Belga Radar expecting to continue as Brussels told me and I got a response from Belga Radar like "Brussels Information have no clue, don't bother calling them".

Another funny thing was a weekday trip where I wanted to cross the Ardennes which turned out to be pretty much impossible due to military activity. I ended up calling the commander of the Belgian Air Force on the telephone to ask for permission. He was very friendly, noted down my registration, time and itinerary and then concluded with "The Belgian Air Force will be waiting for your German plane to enter our airspace!" The Belgians have a lot of money for flying their jets. Our Air Force focuses on cleaning its jets and the rest is done in MS Flight Simulator...

Thanks for the report, it largely agrees with my experience. Except for Belga Radar: I have never been sure why one would ever need or want to call them, and have never done so as yet - but will definitely give them a try at the next occasion.

As I may have stated before, I am under the impression that Brussels Info is often operated by newcomers to the job - some of them are very good.

As for the local radio operators speaking English: in Southern Belgium I think it is a matter of luck, it just depends on the actual person operating the radio. At non-controlled fields, that is.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

Nice write up.

Jan, do you carry a transponder on your aircraft?

EGTK Oxford

I do, Jason, and there have even been occasions when I actually switched it on For example, Brussels Info seems to utterly disregard me when the transponder is not operative. There are pros and cons to that...

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium
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