Dear All,
I’m a 200+ hour PPL/ IMC pilot with experience almost solely in the UK, and I want to extend my flights into the Continent. I have a trip planned in two weeks’ time to meet some friends 100 miles or so into France and don’t feel ready to make the trip : I have recently planned and then cancelled due to the weather, two trips into France with an instructor, to familiarise myself with the regulations and procedures and radio calls…and now my planned trip to meet friends looms without having undertaken these tutorial flights. I’m happy now with the planning and form filling, but have no clue as to what replaces Basic, Traffic or other UK ATC services in France.
Could someone please direct me to a useful resource for VFR radio procedures in France?
Many thanks
Howard
The ICAO documents are probably a good guide.
However, if you do what you do in the UK, with the following exceptions, you’ll be fine:
1. Replace Basic, Traffic & Proceedural services with “Flight Information Service”.
2. Fly Semi-circular headings above 3000ft (I think this is in the UK now too). Basically, headings between 0-179 fly odd thousand +500 (for VFR), and headings 180-359 fly even thousands +500.
Obviously you can’t use your IMCR in France.
The other thing to do is contact a regional Flight Info service. They are a massive help generally, and will probably sort out clearances for you (but obviously you should check!) and keep you advised of activated airspaces.
At a more general level – not just radio procedures – the FFA (Fédération Française Aéronautique) publishes a very nice, concise guide to flying VFR in France:
As far as I can see, it’s in French only, but may be useful to you, Howard, and perhaps some others.
Here’s an overview of the contents:
Enjoy your flight, I think you’ll be surprised how easy it is 
Ah yes, that’s the Guide to French Radiotelephony Phrases which I put together – it might be useful… but I don’t think there’s much procedural info in there.
Thank you so much! What helpful place this is. I will read all the resources tonight, and in relation to the French document I will put it in front of my wife who sets one of the UK’s GCSE French exams…. but who refuses to fly with me, even to France.
Thanks again. Very much appreciated.
Howard
OK; yes, that is relevant only if going to French-only airfields, which one cannot do direct from the UK anyway. I believe there are some odd exceptions to that where an airfield can have Customs but no ATC and thus be accessible from the UK but be FR-only; Le Touquet was like that on one particular day of the week IIRC, in 2013.
What is your destination, Howard?
OK; yes, that is relevant only if going to French-only airfields
For clarification: the information given in the FFA leaflet is relevant across France, at any airfield, when flying under VFR
You need French just for two cases:
1. for A/A comunication at airfields without ATS (TWR or AFIS) or where the the ATS is temporarily not active (lunch-break, on some fields on weekends, etc)
2. there are two handfuls of airfields in France which, despite having AFIS, allow only French (e.g. Amiens, Ile d’Yeu, Le Puy)
There are a lot of so called “crib sheets” out on the web. Thing is: they are all subtly different and each of its authors claims that his is the right one.
Also, to do it really safely, you would have to understand also what others say and be able to give basic replies. Happened to me at Annemasse on Monday this week, where I had to coordinate with another traffic. Worked fine, but your French needs to be better than “crib sheet level”.
Thanks again.
Peter, I’m off to Charlesville Mezier on 11th June, to meet up with the Intrepid Aviators for whom it will be their last stop on their way back to the UK – they are about to set off (today?) on a grand tour taking in Croatia and other places too far complex for me to consider at this time.
