Peter_Mundy wrote:
The gate code for Colmar if I remember correctly is the twr frequency
Last I was there the gate code for Colmar was 1190A
I only brought up Calais because I telephoned them last month to be told I could use English on the radio. Only to be told to “Go Away, French Only” when I radioed.
To be fair the station never identified themselves so I do not know if the “friendly” reply came from Calais or if from another aircraft.
I diverted to Tourquet. The TWR there and the two Centres I spoke to on the rest of the trip were amazing and very friendly. Which I am happy about.
I now carry a translation card… for French and German just in case :)
Anyway, thread creep… I like the sound of colmar, with a small hotel there. Might have to do a weekend trip with the missus soon.
I like the sound of colmar, with a small hotel there. Might have to do a weekend trip with the missus soon.
Good idea. Trip report coming soon …
tomjnx wrote:
Absence ATS: A/A FR uniquement. Obtenir QNH local sur STAP ou QNH auprès de ATIS STRASBOURG 126.925 ou ATIS BALE 127.875
ATIS should be no problem. I’ve heard the recording in two languages so far. So that should work.
What is STAP?
boscomantico wrote:
3. IFR approaches at airfields without an active ATS are generally possible, but there is a whole set of special procedures for that case. As an example, straight-ins are normally not allowed, you have to make a circling maneuver. It’s all in the AIP.
… will read that in more detail when the time comes.
At the moment I’m more focused on the other aspects like opening times, hotel/food within walking distance, access to the airfield and to the fuel station.
Thank you all for the good information so far. All that is pretty interesting stuff for people who want to tour Europe and use a small aircraft for going places instead of burger runs.
STAP is something like AWOS.
As far as the comment on FR only goes – there are plenty of airfields who will have that. It will be marked on the VAC charts like this example for LFMA (Aix les Milles)
Absence ATS (118.750) FR seulement/ only
Best is to always check the FR VAC charts that are pretty complete here
It will also give you information on the amenities at or near the airport.
Last wednesday, the code of the gate was the 4 TWR freq digits.
Did not stay in the Novotel, but it looked decent. Several other economic options, F1 for instance, at walking distance.
You may wish to overnight in town, nice place!
I found the airport manager very helpful, and his English was very good. BP card machine works fine, but I suspect they close it down when the airport manager is not there.
11 euros for landing and one night ain’t bad either.
I came in under VMC. Seamless IFR cancelling procedure from Basel Appch: “tell me when you wish to cancel IFR”. Same thing on departure, all very professional.
Not entirely on topic but I read that after closing you can land at a French airport as if it were uncontrolled. Does this mean you can land at any time at a French uncontrolled airport (daylight/weather permitting)? Last summer I flew to an uncontrolled airport in France (LFQF) but couldn’t find any opening hours.
Yes, that’s basically the way it is. Mostly like in the US.
A few fields however do have flight restrictions in the night hours. But then even a few in the US have that.
At night, uncontrolled airports can have STAP and runway light trigger (by radio).
IFR approaches can sometimes be performed without control. In that case, I was taught you must consider the altitude of the VFR traffic pattern as your minima.
