Hmmm....162 views and no comments. Does this mean you're all absolutely riveted, to the extent you can't utter a word, or bored stiff? Maybe let me know, then I won't waste bandwidth and time. But on my original thread asking about doing this I promised I'd do a PIREP when we got back, so I'll carry on for now.....
Wed 26th May
We've decided to get up and leave early, so we have lots of time should anything go wrong. This turned out to be a good idea; read on...
I fly us to Nancy, again in lovely weather. The forecast is CAVOK almost everywhere, so we're not too worried about the hills between us and southern Germany. B does the radio, and it's all relatively straightforward; we have to fly around a couple of restricted areas, but no real problems. We start to think we're getting the hand of this French flying. We get to Nancy before midday, plan the next bit of the route, have lunch, which is excellent as usual. Then...
B has asked how to use the Minitel to file our flight plan, mandatory since we're crossing a border. There is a military Gazelle starting up, just outside. I usually LOVE the sound of helicopters, but I have a bit of a headache from all the sun, and this is making it worse. So I close the door. B wrestles with the Minitel, which refuses to work. I give her a hand, but there's definitely something wrong with it. We look around for someone to help us, but they've all gone for lunch. We then discover we're locked in!!!! The door I closed has a combination, and we don't know it. I try a couple of other doors; they're both locked, and everyone has gone to lunch. This is absurd, but there's nothing we can do. We are stuck here for the long French lunch hour. B carries on trying to file the flight plan; I re-do our route, telling her I'm sick of flying around things, and we're going in a straight line, right through Strasbourg's zone. I'm so determined she doesn't even argue; anyway, it'll be my turn on the radio.
This all carries on for a couple of hours. We wave and yell at anyone we see through the window, to no avail. I remind B that we left early and have plenty of time, but I watch the cloud building, and decide to plan a longer route around the hills, just in case, and more diversion airfields - Strasbourg and Karlsruhe.
Eventually, we are rescued! Someone turns up, opens the door, and tries the Minitel. We were right; it doesn't work. OK, he says, file the flight plan by phone. We do this, then escape at last!!!!!
Then follows the most absurd bit of RT I've ever encountered...though those of you used to France may find it normal.
We are passed on to Nancy Approach, who very quickly pass us on to Reims. Reims give us a squawk, then very quickly, for no apparent reason, tell us to call Polygon. "Polygon?" I ask B. "Who the hell are Polygon?" I call them anyway, and get told our radio is very weak. I repeat several times where we are, get given another squawk, and eventually get asked to confirm that we're still in French airspace. I say again where we are, and an irate German voice tells me that he has to jurisdiction over us in French airspace, and to talk to Metz. I change frequencies again, get yet another squawk. Metz think about it for a bit, and say we're not in their area, and to talk to someone else. I politely ask who they suggest!!! I ask three times and get no reply; in France, if they don't want to talk to you, then they don't. At this point I realise that even though we've had three squawk codes, no-one is looking after us, and with a 20kt unforecast tailwind we're zooming along (relatively, for a C150) faster than I'm used to. In fact, we're very close to a restricted area, but this one we can climb over, and I tell B to climb 500 ft immediately. I also tell her I'm going to call Strasbourg. However, I have three frequencies for them, and don't know which is correct. So I tell B to be prepared to climb to over 5000 ft to avoid their zone if necessary. The building cloud I'd seen is all well above that; CAVOK, of course, only means no cloud below 5000 ft.
Strasbourg talk to me!!!! They clear us through their zone, and don't tell us to go away. In fact, when I tell them we're crossing the German border and leaving their zone, I get told their zone extends well into Germany, and not to leave till I'm told to. Wow! The ATCO doesn't realise just how delighted I am with this order. Meanwhile, we are thoroughly enjoying the flight. We're at nearly 5000 ft, over spectacular mountains and forests and villages - truly awesome scenery, with great visibility. A lot of NE France had been flat and relatively featureless, but this is wonderful - what flying is all about.
Eventually Strasbourg passes us on to Langen Info, and from then on radio use is easy. Germany is completely different; they have demarcated FIS areas (so does France, but they ignore this and do what they like), hardly any restricted areas, and everyone speaks English. We fly over more wonderful scenery - a plateau at between 2000 and 3000 ft with forests and lakes, but enough fields to give us a sense of security. Eventually we get to Biberach...although we're actually way ahead of our flight plan, as we still have this stonking unforecast tailwind.
Biberach is a lovely friendly little airfield, run by an ex-military pilot with tens of thousands of flying hours in absolutely every type of aircraft. He helps us with everything, books us into a hotel, and even gives us a lift into the town. Biberach itself is a pretty little town with a medieval centre and lots to see. We sit drinking good German beer outside a cafe in the town centre, watching the world go by. This is definitely what continental flying is all about. And we've been told the weather tomorrow should be OK, so we should make Salzburg with no problems.
Ah, the bestlaid plans.....
More later, IF anyone wants it....