LFAC Calais-Dunkirk <--> LFAT Le Touquet
 

As I can't afford to fly right now, but absolutely wanted a sniff of fresh air nonetheless, I drove two hours two Calais-Dunkirk aerodrome today, spent an hour hanging around and watching traffic (including a helo of our Belgian national pride) and had a nice chat (in French) with an aerodrome employee.
As I remember:
-) though in controlled airspace, the a/d DOES accept ultralights, at a more than bearable fee of 4,50 €
-) the employee claimed LFAC is less prone to sea fog than Le Touquet, being "round the corner" of the Caps - Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Griz Nez
-) the nice thing about Le Touquet a/d is the proximity to the city centre - at LFAC one is more or less out in the middle of nowhere, with only the village of Marck within walking distance.
-) there is a bar /restaurant at the LFAC a/d, but as I gathered they only do salads and sandwiches, no real solid hot food. And, very unusual for France, a handwritten note warned for a temporary unability to handle credit card payments. The a/d administration accepts them cheerfully though, both for fuel and for landing fees.
-) though the SIA docs say French R/T only, I heard quite acceptable English from the tower, even if the accent was, err, shall we say, "marked" ...

My conclusions, as yet:
-) LFAC will be my preferred place to clear Schengen customs if I ever cross the English channel in the ULM; but I'll not count on it for lunch, even less for dinner.
-) strange that Le Touquet is THE ubiquitous destination for an English PPL'ers lunch abroad, but Calais-Dunkirk is scarcely mentioned. Have I missed any shortcomings?

I do not recall a cafe at LFAC but it is great for ILS practice as no charge, shame there is not more facilities

LFAC - cafe....
 

007 - your recollection is quite recent.....
There always WAS a cafe there and very good it was too -- when I did my twin rating, but it closed a while ago.

IT'S OPEN AGAIN NOW!

And what's more there are electric cars to rent to get into town....

Go and try it!

rgsaero

1. Calais is class D and the cat A aircraft price is only a few Euros more,
2. Yes, in my experience it is less prone,
3. Yes, although a taxi is not hugely expensive and readily avialable, usually the same gentlemen who often brings his wife with him,
4. I had heard the resteraunt had very recently re-opened, good news indeed,
5. Never known French only all the times I have visited,
6. Yes, but strictly you need to give advanced notice for Customs (it is PNR) and you will get a good dinner in town if you are prepared to take a taxi,
7. No, Calais is great. I was a freqquent visitor to Eastenders for fairly priced wine before the Euro became less attractive and while of no interest to you it is a super place to fly a few approaches for diddly all. L2K on the other hand offers a very pleasant walk into town, the towns and beach are great, as are the resteraunts, you can walk or hire a bike and the place has an elegance that makes it attractive. Thats why people keep on returning. IMHO they have got it spot on. Calais on the other hand just has a lot less to offer.

RGSaero - electric cars - really, this sounds a very welcome development.

Please do tell how this works.

Ah, too bad! There were flyers (or is it "fliers"?) around on the subject, but I never cared to pick one up. Sincere apologies!

I think you're misreading the AIP entry. It says that it's ATC. It then goes on to say in the absence of ATC it's Air to Air in French Only.

WICKED. :ok:

I'm gonna have to give those a try next time in Calais, cheers for the heads up!

Electric cars at Calais .....I haven't sampled these - yet - but have the information from Andre (Member of the Grumpy Gang) -

details from him...

"Also new is the rent out of electric cars, very convenient for a ride to
Calais town centre (15 Km)!

Max speed 40 km/h
Endurance 50 km
Capacity 2 persons
Load volume approx. 0.6 m3 (max 200 Kg) (sufficient for 30 boxes of Chablis!!!)
At very reasonable cost: 1 hour=10.00 EUR 1/2 day=20.00EUR Whole day=30.00 EUR"

Also from Andre - more details of the cafe - etc

The name is "Brasserie de l'aéroport" Tel: +33 3 21 17 36 88 Mob +33 6 21 41 58 74
The bistrot is now serving snacks/sandwiches and a good selection of
(Belgian) beers while the restaurant section will be ready for a lavish dinner in a couple of weeks.

Calais airfield is now managed by the "Cap Calaisis Terre d'Opale", luckily for us they did not raised the charges.
Landing fee less then 1.5 Ton = 9.00 EUR.
100LL, I paid 1.75 EUR/L today.

On the day we transited (about 2 weeks ago) they had over 21 aircraft doing the same thing. The firemen seemed highly delighted with the level of activity and their relative cheapness versus L2K.

Hi guys !

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