I now remember I did a post a while back listing the differences that I noted between flying (on a PPL level) in the US vs. Europe. Very useful for when you get back:
Flight Preparation
In the US, there is a wonderful service generally known as "WX-BRIEF", after the telephone number you dial: 1-800-WX-BRIEF. This number connects you to an FSS (Flight Service Specialist?) who is specially trained to help you with almost everything related to flight preparation: weather, notams, filing of flight plans and so forth. There is generally no such service in Europe, although larger airports usually have a crew briefing office where all the information can be obtained in one location.
For private flying, there is a lot of things possible on the internet. Not just obtaining information, but also submitting information. To the point where it becomes worthwhile taking your laptop with you in your flightbag on a longer trip - a lot of smaller airfields might even offer wireless internet.
For
weather, there are tons of public sites that give you weather charts and such, and a lot of sites that give you access to METARs and TAFs. But the best source of official information is your local, official, meteorological service. Most of them have a special section for aviation weather. This usually requires registration, and sometimes a small usage fee. You also might need to identify yourselves as a pilot, by faxing a copy of your license over.
For
NOTAMs, your best option is to go to the Eurocontrol website. This allows you to select your route and performs a bit of pre-filtering. It does NOT, however, display NOTAMs in a graphical format, but there are several sites on the internet who do.
The Eurocontrol server, by the way, also gives you access to most, if not all, parts of the
Aeronautical Information Publications (AIPs) of most countries in Europe. This publication (in three parts) contains local regulations, en-route information and aerodrome information. You can print the airfield information off the website, but it will not be in a convenient format for use in the cockpit. Also, there is no government-produced AFD (little green book), so you will have to resort to commercial flight guides like the Bottlang or a country-specific flight guide for airport information.
Flight Plans need to be send to your local air traffic control unit. Depending on the unit involved, this may be done using fax, phone or via a web interface. There is a world of difference between the US and Europe with regards to flight plans. First, there is the format: the US uses their own format called the FAA flight plan, while Europe uses the ICAO form. But secondly, there is the requirement for filing a flight plan. I never did one in the US (using Flight Following instead), but in Europe, flight plans, depending on local regulations, might or will be required:
- When flying to or from a controlled airport, or through controlled airspace en-route.
- When flying across an international border (or internal FIR boundary)
- Always
After submitting a flight plan, the plan is distributed to all the units that need it. They are expecting you and it is therefore important to update your flight plan as you take-off time changes, or cancel it when you cancel the flight. Except for the UK, it is also very important to
close your flightplan upon arrival, either by asking the last ATC unit you're talking to, before landing, to close it, or by calling the appropriate telephone number within 30 minutes after landing.
Airports, in Europe, are generally privately owned, although the owning company might, in turn, be owned by the government. Depending on the airport involved, this might mean the following:
- The airport might be PPR, meaning Prior Permission Required. PPR can sometimes be obtained over the radio, but it is more common to give them a call well before departure, or even while doing your flight preparation.
This PPR telephone call will usually involve a short briefing as well on how to approach, specific circuit, taxi and parking procedures and so forth.
Don't dread a PPR call. Most airfields are very happy for you to come, as long as you abide by their rules. After all, it's their way of making a living!
- Most airports will charge a landing fee.
- Usually the owner of the field is also the one which does your "handling". You normally don't have a choice in FBOs like you do in the US.
- On larger airports there is usually a choice in handling agents, and in most cases it will be a requirement that you have confirmed handling with one of them before you're allowed to land.
- Most smaller airports are closed at night, and therefore have no lighting systems installed whatsoever. Flying at night is therefore, from a practical point of view, only possible between larger, controlled airports, if it is possible at all. (The Netherlands, for instance, forbids Night VFR altogether.)
Airspace differences
The airspace in Europe is generally more crowded than in the US. To accomodate this, the European airspace is more "layered" than in the US and uses the different classes A-G differently. Spend some time looking at a map of your local area before you go flying there. And there are a few other differences:
- Class D airspace requires an explicit clearance to enter, whereas in the US you only need two-way radio contact to enter
- The transition altitude in Europe is generally much lower than in the US (3000 feet is very common) and is also variable: some CTRs or TMAs have a different transition altitude than the airspace surrounding it.
- Military training areas, danger areas, prohibited areas and so forth have numbers instead of names. Look in the AIP for their activation periods, which may be H24, specific times or by NOTAM.
En-Route
In Europe, there is no central "Flight Watch" service. Instead, you can ask for
flight information (weather updates, changes to flight plans) from the ATC service you are talking to. Outside controlled airspace there will be an "INFO" frequency which you can use. As said, they only provide flight information (and an alerting service) but NO traffic information by default.
Also, there is no such concept as "Flight Following". Sometimes the INFO frequency will not be busy and will be radar equipped so they can give you
traffic information, but don't count on it. In the UK, you can get a LARS (Lower Altitude Radar Service) from units that participate in that program, which means that they use their radar to give you traffic information outside their "own" controlled airspace. However, a LARS service is mostly provided by military units as secondary duty, and they might be closed on weekends, during holidays and so forth, when no military flying is going on.
In the US,
air pressure (and therefore your altimeter setting) is always measured in Inches of Mercury ("altimeter 2992"), re-calculated to the air pressure at sea level. In Europe, air pressure is measured in millibars (the old name) or hectopascals (the new name, but they are the same). Most of the times you will receive the QNH (pressure at sea level), but some places, most notably military fields in the UK, will give you QFE (pressure at airfield elevation). If you get the wrong one, you can always ask for the other though.
There are some differences in
R/T:
- In the US, the term "position and hold" is used, where in Europe they use "line up and wait".
- In the US, you can get a "conditional" landing clearance: "You are number 2 behind the Piper on final. Cleared to land." In Europe, this is generally not done: as soon as you are "cleared to land", the runway is unconditionally yours.
- In the US, an airfield is controlled, meaning you talk to "tower" or it is uncontrolled, so you broadcast your intentions on the "traffic" frequency. In Europe, there is an in-between form very common as well, called the AFIS or A/G service. Depending on the exact type this means you are talking to "radio" or "information". Both can give you arrival/departing information, taxi and parking instructions but they will NOT give you a landing or take-off clearance. It is up to you to provide separation from landing aircraft.
- In the US, if an airfield does not have an ATIS, there's a good chance it will have an AWOS (Automatic Weather Observation System). In Europe it's normally an ATIS or nothing. AWOSes are very rare, if they exist at all.