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Old 15th Jun 2006, 09:12
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IO540
 
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That is the same product; the 1:1M charts are the official SIA charts.

They come in a folder, comprising of three charts (N, S and Paris) and a handbook listing the vertical extents and other details for the huge number of restricted and prohibited areas that cover France. For the price you also get 1 or 2 updates mailed to you during the course of the following year.

The other option for France are the 1:500k IGN charts. These are a lot more pretty and usable (no separate booklet needed) than the SIA charts, but only go up to 5000ft (in general) and that removes the really easy routes for getting about France: the "airways", most of which have a base of FL065 or so.

These routes avoid most of the restricted airspace and make flight planning and flying a cinch. Some bits pass through Class D but clearances through that are usually granted without question.

Flying low level in France is easy enough too but one spends ages with the SIA handbook, working out which bits of restricted airspace are active and at what levels, and the route can become quite complicated and navigable only with a GPS which shows the relevant airspace. I guess most French pilots do very short local flights only. If UK airspace was like that, the current UK infringement picture would be much much worse.
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