I have been flying abroad for some time now, but whenever I talk about it, I am asked if I have English rating on my license
You’ve been lucky not to be caught. At AERO exhibition in Friedrichshafen in 2013, I was amazed by hearing pilots land without apparently understanding a word of English (or German) despite strict VFR arrival procedures, PPR etc. The pilots I heard were Italian (but I’m convinced they weren’t the only ones). German authorities however took a measure to ensure this wouldn’t happen longer: when leaving the exhibition the following day, there were 2 policemen checking each and every license for English proficiency before letting crew go back to their planes. I guess some pilots had to walk back home (and maybe got fined).
I passed the VFR test the same place you did a couple of years ago and was impressed by the thoroughness of the examiners. From what I hear about how the test is conducted in other countries, and my own experience at Athis-Mons, I get the impression that the French CAA have higher standards and 6 may be more difficult to obtain here than elsewhere.
@FredPilote I also passed my FCL055 VFR in Athis-Mons last year (and got level 6 as you did). I was impressed by the thoroughness and professionalism of the test. Two examiners were foreign controllers: one US man and one British lady. It looks as if DGAC want to transform France and give a better image of our country by not allowing pilots who don’t speak English fly abroad. However they seem to be tougher on private pilots. I say that because I know some French airline pilots (retired) who can’t handle a conversation in English, especially understanding. One such pilot attended the FCL055 test I took and was very lucky to obtain level 4.
I fly two full IFR planes with typical cruise speeds of 110 kts….
If you pass EIR/IR, you will have to use and IR rated plane
I think you over-estimate “IR rated” planes. The one I fly cruises at 135 kts. The Bonanza I used to fly cruises at 160 kts. Given you actually spend quite a bit of time on the ground, and that time does not depend on aircraft type, you may shave 15 minutes off your flight to Avignon.
Why not? France is a pretty big country with a lot to offer. Why would one need to fly outside of France? Avignon is 3 hrs from Paris. Bastia is another couple of hours.
I’m not sure : Avignon is 3 hours from Paris with an average plane. If you pass EIR/IR, you will have to use and IR rated plane, and usually have the money for it, it’s more expensive and also faster and Avignon will be around 2 hours from Paris, that’ll make Bastia 4 hours from Paris and you have to do at least 12 hours every year minimum, but those who only do 12 hours usually stay near their airfields.
I fly in Orleans, that’s 70Nm South of Paris, and most pilots I know won’t go more than 300Nm from there. Most pilots won’t stay overnight anywhere if they fly with a plane, but that’s another story, as they don’t have EIR/IR anyway and don’t bother with English as doing the radio in French is already a problem !
However I don’t understand why a French pilot would want IR or EIR if it’s just to fly in France.
Why not? France is a pretty big country with a lot to offer. Why would one need to fly outside of France? Avignon is 3 hrs from Paris. Bastia is another couple of hours. That’s 5 hours. Quite a budget for most. And you still need to get back. By then you have spent one year of flying budget.
Same in Norway.
On the other end of the scale you have countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark that are too small to satisfy most pilots. So they are “forced” to cross borders into Germany, UK or France.
However I don’t understand why a French pilot would want IR or EIR if it’s just to fly in France.
Sure, I totally agree with you and am just as astounded as you why so many so many people would not leave their home country with something as fast as an airplane.
However, look at it this way: it’s probably not so much that French pilots don’t want to go abraod and thus don’t bother with the English endorsement. In reality, it’s probably more the other way ‘round, i.e. they would sure like to go abroad, but don’t speak sufficient English to get along.
So the base of the problem is more the weak English of the French people (and their reluctance towards it). You are obviously a big exception.
I understand and agree that making rules that are contrary to actual safety in light GA should be abandonned. However I don’t understand why a French pilot would want IR or EIR if it’s just to fly in France. Flying IR or EIR is great if you go abroad as it makes things easier when flying in a different airspace, but in France only, flying is fairly easy (you don’t usually get thrown out of controlled airspace in VFR) so I’m not sure what’s the point at the moment, to take the IR/EIR without English.
With the IR and EIR for private pilots in Europe, they want to include a mandatory exam of English. The French pilot associations don’t want that as most pilots don’t speak English and don’t want to learn, but that’s currently a debate. I believe it’d be better to have an English exam for IR pilots, that would enable them to fly accross Europe straight away, but apparently most pilots don’t fly abroad, so don’t need English (why then would they need IR or EIR?
That’s exactly it. The English requirement has nothing to do with IFR really, but with going abroad. Since many French pilots (even IFR ones) don’t go abroad, and since French is OK for IFR R/T within France, French IFR pilots would not strictly need English. EASA doesn’t understand (or doesn’t want to understand) this French particularity, and want to mandate English LPE for all IFR pilots.
Sure, one can be contrary to the rule that French R/T is allowed for IFR flights in France, but as long as that is the situation, there is no point in mandating English for these pilots. It would reduce the (already) minimal number of private IFR pilots in France even further.
It is exactly this policy (making rules that are contrary to actual safety in light GA) that EASA has just promised to abandon during the conference in Rome. Let’s see if they will deliver on their promises.
In France, you get French Level 6 when you pass your written exam. Either you pass and get French Level 6 or you don’t and you just fail and have to try again. No chance to get another level.
Until now, it was simply listed French on the licence and the licence had a 5-year lifetime duration. From this year, the licence has no expiration date, and it says French Level 6 (and English Level 6 now).
With the IR and EIR for private pilots in Europe, they want to include a mandatory exam of English. The French pilot associations don’t want that as most pilots don’t speak English and don’t want to learn, but that’s currently a debate. I believe it’d be better to have an English exam for IR pilots, that would enable them to fly accross Europe straight away, but apparently most pilots don’t fly abroad, so don’t need English (why then would they need IR or EIR ?).
It’s not about how much phraseology you normally use, but about what you have to be able to use. Also, the COM exam is not only about what you say, it is also about understanding what ATC says.
