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Flying into French Language Only (FR-only) airfields (and French ATC ELP)

I understand that you can do a test in France, and get a certifcate proving you’re level 4 (or greater) at French. It doesn’t get added to your licence, but the French are happy to accept that as proof.

But if you need to do it every 3 years (level 4) and need to travel to France to get it done, then you need to be making good use of it to justify the cost.

If you live close to France then perhaps it’s worth it to you.

Don’t be put off by the bigger fields in France. They are easy to oeprate in and out of, and are very cheap (well most of them anyway) and have English speaking ATC.

EIWT Weston, Ireland

Don’t be put off by the bigger fields in France. They are easy to oeprate in and out of, and are very cheap (well most of them anyway) and have English speaking ATC.

That’s also my experience. I think, the solution for the problem is to boycot the local-language-only airfields (in France and Germany for example, there aren’t many anywhere else in central Europe) until they send their radio-man to an English language radiotelephony course….

EDDS - Stuttgart

I think, the solution for the problem is to boycot the local-language-only airfields

My opinion is the opposite. Don’t let them rob our privileges to fly. Do business as usual and go there, in the thousands if possible. Only then will they notice that it doesn’t make sense. If it’s only a few poor souls a year, they might indeed get fined because they did something “out of the ordinary”. (I recommend that only people go there if they have a decent command of the French language).

BTW, most small airfields in France don’t have any radio operator.

To be honest, this issue keeps me from flying to Belgium/France at the Moment.

Belgium is different, though. All public GA airfields in Belgium (even in the francophone parts) are – officially at least – FR / EN (even though nobody uses English).

Last Edited by boscomantico at 13 Mar 16:21
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Anyone know where one can find a listing of French airfields where they speak English? For planning purposes?

Great Oakley, U.K. & KTKI, USA

Do business as usual and go there…

With the risk of being held on the ground until someone with a French R/T license accompanies me on the way out? Certainly not. I have landing fees for 8,5 tons to offer for every landing. They will get collected by those airfield operators who allow me the visit them offically and not by violating regulations at my risk and expense.

Last Edited by what_next at 13 Mar 16:45
EDDS - Stuttgart

An interesting thread…

Clearly, as with so much in aviation, there are two potentially totally divorced aspects: legal and practical.

I can’t get my head around the legal stuff but practically I would not want to fly into a busy circuit, with loads of French on the radio, and either start making calls in English, or go non-radio.

I would think perhaps 90% of the ordinary under-50 population in France and Germany speaks English pretty well (whether they want to is an entirely different matter) but that is probably not the pilot population distribution.

The only easy way to get a list of English speaking airport towers is to go for Customs (“international”) airports. Flying to/from the UK, one has to anyway. The only other way, for the non-Customs ones, is to ask a local pilot whether the tower can speak it and whether the specific person will be on duty when you turn up. When I flew into Libourne last year, I checked with a local pilot (Jojo here) who did the radio herself, very competently I would not have flown in there otherwise, because I have had some nasty experiences with this stuff over the years.

Last Edited by Peter at 13 Mar 16:51
Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Anyone know where one can find a listing of French airfields where they speak English? For planning purposes?

JJ the French AIP is the place to look. You can’t get a list, but for any given airport you can see if they accept English or not.

Have a look here Link

You’ll see some of them are marked “FR seulement /only”. These ones you need to speak French. Many are also English when ATC/AFIS is active and French A/A (air to air) at other times.

Funnily enough I see some that do not mention French only but only have A/A. So presumably here it’s ok to use English even though there is no ATC/AFIS.

I can’t get my head around the legal stuff but practically I would not want to fly into a busy circuit, with loads of French on the radio, and either start making calls in English, or go non-radio.

The thing about the FR only airfields, is that in my experience (admittedly limited) these airfields then to be virtually deserted with little going on. I’m sure there are exceptions, but generally you’ll be the only one there…particularly on a weekday. So no-radio vs French vs English has no practical difference. But if could have a significant legal difference if you pick the wrong time and the police happen to be there!

Last Edited by dublinpilot at 13 Mar 17:18
EIWT Weston, Ireland

To be honest, this issue keeps me from flying to Belgium/France at the Moment.

About Belgium, Peter is right: in the Northern part, ALL radio is in English. In the South, only the smallest or most provincial fields will use French only.
Even if it is funny, talking a foreign language to a chap that you discussed with at the bar in local dialect just an hour earlier – as happened to me today.

This thread has been interesting, but frankly it has made even me hesitate about flying into France! My French is as good as my English (and thanks to a kind gentleman that shall go nameless I have level 6 English Language Proficiency written on my license) but if a random control by French police could fine me for not having a written confirmation of my French fluency, then I’ll think twice. Has anybody actually lived through such a scenario? It seems hard to imagine, given the French sense for pragmatism and auto-regulation – as long as all goes well then all is well; but if one does bugger up something or other then the hand of law can be heavy. Not the worst approach, in my eyes.

Last Edited by at 13 Mar 18:45
EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

This thread has been interesting, but frankly it has made even me hesitate about flying into France!

The only airports you have to avoid without proof of French LP are those marked FR-seulement….there are plenty of others to choose from, so don’t let anything put you off a French adventure

Bordeaux

So much for the concept of freedom of movement in Europe!

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