Originally Posted by
OfficialGreenT
Hello people of PPRuNe,
Next week I have a long weekend in the Belgian Ardennes planned with two friends. We'll be flyinga P28A VFR (weather permitting) into the Charleville-Mézières airport (LFQV), just across the border in France.
I've never flown to small VFR airports in France before, and I was wondering if there are any (French) pilots on here that could share some tips and pointers. I've familiarized myself with French RT (airport chart says "FR only") and can get by in French in general. Other than that, it's all a big adventure that I'm very much looking forward to!
!
LFQV is FR Only. In France, at unmanned airfields, an overhead joins is required, and you shall always join the circuit at the beginning of the downwind leg. The pattern starts 500' overhead to observe the windsock and signals prior to joining downwind at published altitude, generally 1000' AAL.
Some airfields have prescribed tracks for the circuit, but that is not the case of LFQV where the only restriction is that the pattern should be flown to the north of the AD. Generally avoid built-up areas.
Blue skies