Definitive France VFR Charts?

[Timothy]

Please will someone tell me what charts to buy that will tell me accurately, definitively and legibly, the airspace affecting VFR flight in France up to F095, and are available today from Transair Fairoaks.

Thank you,

Timothy

[bluskis]

SIA VFR docoment pack.

1 million scale charts, together with VFR booklets giving vertical limits, contact frequencies, and active times of all restricted and danger areas

[IO540]

I think either the Jepp "VFR/GPS" ones, or the SIA ones, are suitable for this requirement.

I've had the SIA 1M-scale ones for a year but on balance prefer the Jepp 500k ones because the SIA ones don't show the prohibited (military) airspace vertical boundaries. France is full of that stuff, esp in the SW, and I like to have the chart on my lap, constantly checking my altitude against the chart and against the same airspace boundaries shown on the GPS MFD display. (Obviously the MFD map database must be up to date also).

While one would normally plan altitudes fully on the ground, this sort of stuff is hard to plan entirely on the ground, unless one makes a waypoint at each prohibited airspace boundary, which would be silly.

The alternative is to always fly in the "airways" and other controlled airspace, but if one doesn't get a clearance, or there is no reply on the radio (often happens in France), one can't go in there.

The big thing to watch for in France is the TRAs around the power stations!!

[Fly Stimulator]

I think that the problem revolves around the word 'definitively.'

I end up with one of everything:
- The SIA pack
- The IGN charts (2004 ones out this week)
- The Jepps
- The Cartabossy 1 mil, excellent for at-a-glance planning

Luckily I've always liked maps.

The financial pain of this approach is greatly reduced by buying them online from France where the price can be less in euros than they are in pounds in the UK. A couple of suppliers are here and here.

[Timothy]

Thank you. My experience is that having more sources of information is worse rather than better, because they disagree so much with each other!

[Fly Stimulator]

On the other hand, in the event of being accused of doing something wrong you always have two or three charts which suggest that you were in the clear!

[TangoZulu]

I flew to Germany last year and had a similar dilemma over charts - ended up buying the SIA VFR "pack" direct from SIA. Service was excellent - within about two days for I think 35 euros (which included the 9 euros postage) I had both France North and South at 1M and my chosen half mil, along with two or three handbooks (in a mixture of French and English - but enough to be useful) all in a plastic folder.

Now tell me somewhere in the UK which would do all of this for about £25 including postage - CAA anyone??

Personally I also found the SIA VFR chart better than the Jepp - although I believe the new Jepp VFR charts are better.

TZ