Re: The IGN charts. That was the question really. They tell you they are only for flight below 5000 and do not show the airways that come below FL65, so if there is an airway at FL45 and you are using the IGN chart then there are a few (admittedly only a few) places where you could be crossing these lower airways without knowing it. It just seemed strange to me that the IGN charts show airspace up to 5000 feet but *NOT* those lowest airways which come below that!
The reason I came across this was that I was having a look to see why we were being told that FL85 was the highest FL we could use. I can't see why FL105 would not be available by looking at the 1:1000000 chart which shows airspace up to FL195. I didn't want to go any higher.... just confused as to why we were told on more than one occasion that FL85 was the maximum FL when there seemed to be nothing on the chart saying so!
Good point though about why we would want to fly that high! I was with somebody else who was technically P1 for the flight although I was flying most of it. If I was on my own I would be considerably lower!!
To clarify something for me here.... if for some reason I am flying above 5000 feet in France should I always at that point be flying along one of the airways marked on the 1:1000000 charts? We were doing so yesterday apart from the very first leg (PAS-ATN) where we sort of wiggled our way past the mountains and then got on track talking to Reims Info who were happy for us to fly to FL65.
I plan to do this trip on my own next month and am trying to make sure I fully understand the system!!