it’s been six years since I got my PPL and five since my IRR but forums like this had led me to always bottle out of the cross channel flight.
not today.
flight plans (two, one for each trip) and gar (return only) taken care of through runway HD, two simple emails (one to Le Touquet customs, the other to uk border control for the return trip) radio work not at all challenging (I’ve had tougher days flying along the south coast). Timings bothered me, the GAR is four hours notice so filed that this morning before departing, flight plan is one hour notice so filed the return as soon as I landed
glad I’m current on instruments as the first stretch of water for me was the bit from Clacton to Kent and there certainly wasn’t any land ahead in sight nor a horizon.
Le Touquet ATIS as easy to follow as any others I’ve heard, a short taxi journey €10 from the airport to the lovely town centre. Lunch on the beach
Le Touquet reasonably busy but no more than- for example - Shoreham.
I know there is a risk of the donkey stopping at some point but let’s face it, if we didn’t take calculated risks we wouldn’t hold PPL’s. Altitude was 5,000 feet which meant I was only out of glide range for a few minutes. Wearing a life jacket and worked on the basis that it’s a busy shipping lane...
the first of many trips I’m sure