French Unicom?

[Pollyana]

Hi,
Flying to France from the UK next week, landing at Abbeville. I've done it before, used unicom and had no problems announcing my intentions in English after telling them I couldn't speak French! However a friend of ours apparently went to an airfield in northern France recently, could not speak French so announced his intentions in English. In landing he was threatened with removal of his licence and confiscation of his aircraft for contravening international law.
The friend I am flying with next week is now paniking at the thought of losing his licence! Can anyone advise us - what is the LEGAL position re language used on unicom at uncontrolled French airfields, and what procedure do you suggest we use bearing in mind we are not fluent in French. I will take a list of basic ATC calls which I can broadcast, but I will not be quick enough to translate complicated answers!!!
Any help much appreciated!
Pollyana

[bluskis]

At many airfields French is required if the tower is not manned, and sometimes even if it is, although I didn't realise it was a hanging offence to speak bad French, just a tad dangerous.

Best thing is to telephone the proposed field and ask.

Abbville is 24 hours prior notice for Customs, so perhaps that was the problem.

[Keef]

Giving prior notice for Customs is mandatory - omit that, and airborne books are a real risk.

Doing the circuit calls in French is a doddle - get the "crib" (mentioned often on here) and don't worry how bad your French is. Nobody is going to care.

If you find another aircraft at Abbeville, that will already be a major event!

[Pollyana]

Could be the customs thing certainly. I was very surprised at the reaction he got - like you say, not speaking French is hardly a hanging offence! When I first went to Abbeville it was a lovely friendly airfield, and I'm sure it hasn't changed much in 6 years.

My friend is just the sort of guy who worries about getting things correct - mainly because his licence is his livelihood - and the tale about being threatened has caused him some concern.
I'll make sure the customs get lots of notice, and go armed with the crib of words and phrases - with my best schoolgirl accent (from the Dark Ages!).

Thanks for the tips guys,

Pollyana

[BEagle]

Arrive au pret 5 minutes avant lunch. The average Grenouille will be slavering at the chops relishing 'la bouffe' and won't want to hang around arguing about things - he'll just take votre argent and leg it to dejeunner for a couple of hours. One of the few things to admire about nos Froggy amis is their ability to provide excellent scoff from seemingly nowhere! Went to Granville a couple of times - no-one answered the radio in English, French, Franglais or anything else. So we landed and found out why - everyone including ATC was in the little restaurant hut tucking into Madame's moules marinere followed by steak au poivre and apple tart with calvados cream......and so did we!!

[Aerobatic Flyer]

I will take a list of basic ATC calls which I can broadcast, but I will not be quick enough to translate complicated answers!!!

I'd be amazed if you get any answer on 123.5, let alone a complicated one! And that's at any time of day. The bigger airports shut for lunch (even some of the ones will full ATC and scheduled flights), and the smaller ones very rarely have anyone who's job it is to answer the radio.

Have fun!

[snchater]

Have just returned from a week's flying in northern France (L2K, Alencon, Abbeville, Saumur, L'Aigle, Bernay and Deauville). Only L2K and Deauville had ATC in English. At all others I used my O Level French and an aviation crib sheet. Had absolutely no problems and found the French extremely welcoming and helpful. I routinely telephone ahead for PPR and runway details as I do in England.

Abbeville are concerned that British pilots are not formally closing their flight plans and not arranging PPR for customs. Play by the rules and flying in France is delightful - I have visited 24 French airfields in the past 3 years and only the refueller at Cannes was unhelpful. For an unwelcoming flying experience take a trip through Italian air space!

[RodgerF]

Someone once said to me that the best way to handle Italian air traffic was to turn off the radio when entering their airspace and turn it on again when you leave!

[Aussie Andy]

Use the crib sheet - never had a problem: here 'tis... http://web.onetel.net.uk/~andy_hardy/France/fr_circuit.pdf (cockpit friendly format: print on A5 and laminate).

See also http://www.webvivant.com/aero-andaines/french.html

[Keef]

Andy - the crib sheet looks nice, but it shows "a drawing error occurred" when I try to download and print it. Do I have a dud Acrobat, or is the file corrupted?

I have the info in A4, but laminated A5 would be nifty.

[Aussie Andy]

Sorry Keef, prints just fine for me...

I have sometimes had difficulties printing from Acrobat under Windows in the past (but not this particular file though): sometimes trying different settings in your Acrobat print options can help (I think there is one to "print as image" which seemed to help once), or just reboot and try again.

If stuck PM Me and I can post you an A4 print (you could photocopy reduce it to A5 then laminate). But you'll have to be quick: I am leaving early tomorrow morning for a narrow-boat holiday with Janet and the kids on the Brecon canal in Wales...

Just another thought before I go: remember its important [mandatory] to remember to say "Je quitte la frequence" when leaving the circuit.

Lastly, does anyone know the French expression for "la meat bomb" (i.e. parachutists)? I was approaching an airfield in the south of France once, making all the right calls, but only able to understand others if they said something actually printed on my card... It was not until short-final that I noticed all the meat-bombs descending around me: would have loved to have understood that in advance!

If anyone knows the calls made when people are dropping parachutists please let me know and when back I will add to the crib sheet!

Andy ;)

[Keef]

Couldn't get it to "draw" but I cheated - did a screen capture and printed it from PSP. Done fine now. Just got to get daughter to laminate it for me (well, she has the laminator!).

I think the French word is parachutistes - try here: http://www.veloce-skydive.com/articles/sites.francais.html

Parachuting zones are supposed to be marked on the charts (well, there are some on my IGN charts of France, but whether they are the only zones I dunno).

[bluskis]

If they are the stay up a while paragliders they are called parapanteurs, otherwise I am sure I have heard parachutiste as Keef said. A glider is a planeur.