Bosco, thanks. It is certainly a relief to learn that I committed no sin on my two bimbles into your country…
The big Q is what can one do about it.
The training industry isn’t likely to do anything about it because (as a risk of sounding cynical) they have no business incentive to train pilots.
If you were running a business whose job is to train pilots to deliver say 100kg of white powder from Bournemouth to Athens, and you were allowed to kill only say 0.1% of them per flight, you would have a very differently structured course.
But what we have is a pilot training business where there is essentially zero reward for anything beyond the PPL skills test. Only the night qualification and – in the UK – the IMC Rating are additional ways of getting income beyond that. There is self fly hire but that population is quite transient and anyway they will hire from whoever else around offers them a package they like.
Going abroad is no rocket science. The amount of planning etc is a miniscule fraction of the work one had to put into passing the 7 PPL exams – especially stuff like Air Law which is largely divorced from reality. So while I totally agree that pilots regard stuff like flight plans as an extra complication, they all had to do far worse stuff to get their PPL. And nowadays these things can be done online so are really easy.
The exception here are “old” pilots who do not use the internet at all and who got their PPLs say 40-50 years ago and they probably do have real problems. Unfortunately the world around them has moved on…
Silvaire,
I operate from an ATC controlled airport with traffic volume unheard of in Europe.
Out of curiosity and slightly off-topic: Is that KSEE?
The reason I don’t move to an uncontrolled airport is because of the local infrastructure of people and aviation businesses, a great benefit that outweighs the hassle of dealing with ATC for several minutes at the beginning and end of every flight.
If your answer to the above is yes, I second that – and if only for the good food and atmosphere at the Gillespie Field Café.
Back on topic:
I really don’t see how FIS contact upon border crossing is a problem. Border checks for ground-based transport are a real hassle and I’m happy they’re long gone here, so I can drive in and out of Holland (few minutes from where I live) anytime I want without being bothered. In the air, it really is just a matter of saying “Hello” to the new FIS, isn’t it, and I actually like the thought of “greeting” the new country upon arrival, listening in to the local radio chatter, realizing you are, in fact, in another country… No hassle there.
I’m with Silvaire on this one: VFR without mandatory flight plans or ATC contact outside class A-D is the way to go. Free flight is one of the best features when flying VFR in the US.
Flying an aircraft VFR shouldn’t really imply a flight plan or ATC, any less than driving a car should require you to pop down to the local traffic police station with a copy of your driving itinerary.
In South East Asia every VFR flight requires a flight plan & specific routings & constant control+contact with ATC. Takes the whole spontaneity out of the equation.
It’s a huge sky up there & enroute mid-airs are extremely rare. (Even more so with a TAS device onboard) I reckon it’d be even more rare with people flying off-airway.
In fact, I’m not even sure why ATC contact with a FIS unit is required when crossing (some) Schengen borders in an aircraft. In fact, do you require an actual clearance to cross the border?
In fact, do you require an actual clearance to cross the border?
No, of course not. It’s merely a report.
This is an extract from the French AIP, for example:
Is really nobody having at least a cursory look through the AIPs before heading for a new country for the first time?
Is really nobody having at least a cursory look through the AIPs before heading for a new country for the first time?
If a cursory look were any good, I certainly would.
Your average AIP does not encourage cursory consultation, though.
and, by the way, thanks for the copy from the French AIP. It clearly states that a radio call is mandatory when entering French FIR, then goes on to describe the exception. Typically French.
Well yes, I guess I am a bit of an “AIP fetishist”. 
However, once one has “done” a few of them, one tends to know which are crucial parts to look at and then it will take much less time to prepare for a new country.
But still, my experience is that most new PPLs know absolutely nothing about AIPs, their content and their structure. PPL training doesn’t even mention that, sadly (which takes us back to the question “why don’t people fly abroad”…), even though the AIP is actually our “bible”.
Instead, people just tend to open up a new thread and ask “what do I need to know to fly to xy?” While that may make sense as an additional element, it doesn’t replace some study. It’s all out there (granted, not in a brilliant format). And it’s free!
PPL training doesn’t even mention that, sadly…
Where did you get your training from? In every flying school that I was involved with (both as student and instructor), there is an AIP in every class room. Its contents are discussed both in the radiotelephony course and in air law. I even remember the aide-memoire regarding it’s structure from 25 years ago: ”General Aga kommt mit Raketen und Fallschirmen" 
No, there is an AIP VFR!
And most people never get to see much of it beyond the famous Sichtanflugkarten.
And then the problems start once somebody starts flying in other countries and notices that there is no such thing as an AIP VFR. And no Sichtanflugkarten for most uncontrolled aerodromes!! Huhhhhh!
BTW: where I got my german PPL (a few years ago…) there were no theory classes at all…
