crossing the channel

[good finish]

hi folks
i am planning to fly my motorglider to spain.
i have never been across the channel
can anyone point me to an easy guide to the formalties eg flight plans etc and any other good tips and advice?
in addition, my direct routing would take me from bournemouth across towards the brest peninsula - cherborg. does anyone have any comments on this? should i play safe and go dover/calais and accept the diversion?
any advice greatly received
regards

[DaveW]

Try this aide memoire (http://www.atsx91.dsl.pipex.com/Going_Foreign.htm).

It's much easier than you think it'll be - honestly. :ok: (And I don't just mean crossing the Channel - so is flying in France. Don't let the apparent complexity of the airspace put you off.)

[BackPacker]

Flight plan is required for all international flight. Brake out the books and find out how to fill one in and how to submit it. Search for a few recent threads on here: the Heathrow FBU apparently closed.

You are flying into the Schengen area. Your first port of call should be a customs airfield. Some smaller fields have customs O/R or PPR. Check to make sure. When departing the UK you don't have to use a customs field but that requires you to fill in the GAR form and fax it to a few relevant authorities. Again, search for GAR form and everything will be clear. Once within the Schengen area (which includes France and Spain), no more border crossing formalities except for the flightplan. On your way back, last port of call on the continent should be a customs airport again. When your first port of call in the UK is a non-customs airfield, you'll have to do the GAR form thing again.

For your first cross-channel flight, I'd advise you to use the Dover-Calais crossing. Less time you are out of gliding distance from the coast (in a motor glider you may well be within gliding distance all the time). But another consideration is that perfect VMC weather (no clouds, unlimited viz) over the channel may well be IMC for all practical purposes: the grey-blue of the sea will blend seamlessly with the blue-grey of the sky, leaving you without any discernable horizon. You will have to look directly below for shipping to check if you're still right side up. Or go on instruments. Taking the shortest crossing will expose you to this effect for the shortest duration.

Other things to check:
- France and a lot of other European countries require an ELT to be fitted to certain aircraft. Not all countries allow a PLB as a substitute. Don't expect your MG will be exempt: check to be sure.
- Without mode-S, life is very complicated as more and more airspace will be closed to you.
- Legally you need every bit of paperwork that's required in the UK, plus a list of interception signals. Usually somewhere in your flight guide, but check to make sure.
- Check your insurance.
- Read up on circuit calls in French and maybe Spanish. Major airports will use English throughout, but that's not necessarily true for small fields.
- In France, lunch is taken seriously with airfields being closed for up to two hours early afternoon.

I suggest you print out the GEN and ENR parts of the French and Spanish AIP (available from EUROCONTROL - The European AIS Database: Introduction to EAD Basic - Home (http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int)) and give them a good read. There may be more requirements that I have not listed here.

[172driver]

For the Spanish part of your trip:

Flightplan is, to all intents and purposes, mandatory for every flight (exception would be to remain OCAS, not an option for any x-country flight). Strongly recommend taking out a homebriefing (https://www.homebriefing.com/aes/login.jsp) sub, helps a lot.

Small fields usually do radio in Spanish, read up on the radio calls.

Download the various airport diagrams and app charts from the AENA site (http://www.aena.es)(free registration) and make sure you also know and understand the NAMES of the VRPs. Local (i.e. Spanish pilots will typically use those, rather than, say, 'Echo One'. Big help in situational awareness.

Read the NOTAMS, some Spanish airports have VFR flight restrictions in place at certain times of the year, especially in summer. Also check for possible mandatory handling (e.g. Valencia - give these people a big miss!)

Fuel: if possible, refuel where you can taxi the a/c to the pump (e.g. Girona, Cordoba, Axarqia) rather than where the bowser has to drive to you (Alicante, Malaga, Seville, etc). Reason being, that CLH (which supply most airports) charge something like EUR 40.- flat fee 'callout' for the truck - no matter how much you uplift ! :=

Most importantly - have fun :ok:

[MCR01]

One advantage of the 2 hour (1200 - 1400) lunch break in France is that most French pilots will be on the ground at that time and (at smaller airfields) the tower will be closed too; this actually simplifies matters for the less than fluent French speaking Brit. Just make the standard calls, in French, and land - you will not be faced with the sometimes near impossible task of understanding what on earth French pilots are saying/doing.
Alternatively stick to larger airfields with full ATC and call in English; these bigger French airfields are normally within Class D airspace and look, from the chart, as if they are going to be very busy/important; in UK terms they are near deserted except for those few minutes when the daily RyanAir/EasyJet etc arrive.
Note that the "standard overhead join" is not practised in France; if you do fly overhead make sure that the parachute club is not active! Parachuting is very big in France; it's not uncommon to see 3 cars parked at the Aerocub and 20+ at the Parachute club.
The usual French radio call is to give A/C type, position, height and departure and destination airfields only - if ATC need more they will ask.
The most important thing to remember is to land only at airfields with a good restaurant; in SW France I can recommend:
Sable D'Olonne; Cahors, Auch, (and depending on your motorglider, Mont Pezat D'Agenais; LF4724). Auch is especially good value, a crazy French cook and excellent food for the price - the last time we visited we got: soup (as much as you could eat); starter buffet (15+ dishes); main course (no choice); fois gras (as much as you could eat!); Sweet (7+ dishes) buffet; as much wine as you can drink - really tough on the pilot; coffee - 13 euros per head!
I'd avoid Bergerac, La Rochelle (unless you are keen on seeing the U-boat pens); Agen; Nogarro; Marmande, Aurillac and Rodez as lunch is either uninspiring or absent.
Read the "VFR Rules in France" booklet.
Enjoy France.

[Fly Stimulator]

Just to add to the list of online resources, here are a couple of mine. First is a general guide to flying to France (http://arthurandarthur.co.uk/flying/flying_to_france.htm), but I have also set up a web page that plots French airfields (and ULM strips) onto a Google maps view of the country. Just click on the symbols to get links to Nav2000, the SIA plates, the airfield web site (where I could find one), and thumbnail sketches of those fields that I've been to.

The map page is here (http://arthurandarthur.co.uk/flying/French_airfields.htm).

I set it up as an exercise to teach myself the Google maps API and I can't guarantee it to be free of errors, but it does give quite a useful overview of where airfields are when you're planning a trip.

[007helicopter]

FS That is a very impressive site you have set up and inspired me to plan a trip to:D:D

St Cyr l'Ecole (LFPZ)
Saint Cyr is a small grass airfield literally at the bottom of the formal gardens of the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris. Base leg for runway 29 takes you right past the palace - a spectacular view that not many approaches can match. There is plenty of parking on the grass and a big plus is that you can walk (in about 20 minutes) to the RER station and travel straight into the heart of the city. You need to take care with the defined access routes and airspace since Paris Class A is close both laterally and vertically.

[good finish]

thank you all for your extremely helpful and useful postings - much appreciated.
best regards