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Top 5 things that could knacker you up VFR touring in Europe?

The accent and being conservative with radio time!!

I should be fine there, I spent 1/2 my life living in Santa Monica, and i suppose I have what could be described as a mongrel accent, most of my flying was done under LAX class B a few miles away with my home field SMO being very busy in itself and surrounded by Van Nuys (busiest GA field in the world at that time), Burbank, Long Beach, John Wayne and hundreds of class D all concentrated in Southern California, so I am pretty much use to keeping it short, sweet and in a format that is universally understood. One of the things i used to do to keep my RT sharp was to do touch and go's at string of nearby fields jumping from ground,tower,ATIS in rapid fire in some cases getting the atis for the next field while taxiing back for take of due to its location being only few miles away with barely time to get the flaps up, take a look at the terminal chart for LA and imagine TO out of SMO, T&G Van Nuys, T&G Whiteman, Full Stop Burbank, T&G El Monte, T&G Fullerton, T&G Long beach, T&G Compton, T&G Hawthorne then up over the Special Flight Rules to land back at SMO in under an hour in,around or under class B,C and D. There is no time for discussing the family holiday or not being clear.

However that being said, my home field now involves no radios at all, in fact, I dial up Scottish Info so don't feel left out, but for the most part the only communications on most of my flights is running a little wide on downwind so the girlfriend hears the plane and knows to get the tea on.

Farm strip in Angus Scotland

Just tell them who you are, where (if not assigned a squawk) and what you want.

What would be an example initial call exchange? What do you request in the ICAO world (I've been winging it asking for a radar service - seems to give me something useful).

EGEO

Cool! My current home field is none other than KSMO (that's when I'm in L.A., as I am at the moment), so you'll be fine! In fact, doing that little 'tour' of L.A. you describe is definitely a great way to stay sharp - would recommend it to anyone. Flying on the continent is, IMHO, more like the US than the UK.

@jwoolard: it's called flight information service (FIS), same as flight following in the US. It is a request which the controller may or may not approve, depending on workload. I don't ever recall being refused.

What would be an example initial call exchange?

What I was taught:

  1. WAIT for a few seconds of silence
  2. "Brussels information, Oscar Oscar Alfa Bravo Charlie" AND NOT A SYLLABLE MORE
  3. "....... go ahead" (though this seems to have become unofficial, the new norm being "Oscar Oscar Alfa Bravo Charlie, Brussels Info"

which will initiate an exchange of information: you tell them where you are and what you mean to do next, mention flight plan if any, they tell you some meteo info like QNH and the like.

After these initial formalities ("Mrs Smith Howdedoo Mr Jones Howdedoo") it always comes back to

WHO WHERE WHY

i.e. you give your identity and whereabouts, and communicate either a request or an intention, or report as requested.

"Brussels Information, Oscar Oscar .... two minutes Londi, niner hundred, switching to Grimbergen Radio"

but things may be different in IFR land.

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

What would be an example initial call exchange?

The ICAO RT definations are here click here

I've looked through it to find an example of a request for flight information but I can't find one.

But as Jan said it's You: Brussels information, Oscar Oscar Alfa Bravo Charlie" AND NOT A SYLLABLE MORE ATC: "Oscar Oscar Alfa Bravo Charlie, Brussels Info go ahead" (or some other request).

After that it seems to be that you're on your own without guidance for what to say. I just state what I'm flying, where I'm going, where I am currently and what I want from them. If they need any further info they'll ask for it.

Colm

EIWT Weston, Ireland

Try doing that with an iPad!

Nobody obliged you to apply a smart-looker. };-)

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

I'm sure something could be brewed from spelt ;-)) And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find it and report back!

Amen to that! And here's some inspiration from nl.wikipedia:

Een aantal bieren hebben spelt als belangrijkste graansoort. Onder andere De Mulder van brouwerij Den Tseut uit Oosteeklo (België), Spelt Wit van de Bierfirma Guldenboot uit Opwijk (België), een aantal bieren van Brasserie de Silenrieux (België) en Korenwolf van de Gulpener Bierbrouwerij uit Gulpen (Nederland).

Welcome to the low countries! Mind your MTOW though, more especially the latter part of W&B

EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

I've looked through it to find an example of a request for flight information but I can't find one.

Like in the US - it depends a bit on how busy the frequency is. I either include it in the initial call (if frequency is quiet) or when the controller calls back (busy frequency, let the controller decide when to talk to you).

I might have missed something, but here in The Netherlands flight information services is just that. You call Dutchmil and they give you information on the QNH and possibly traffic (but not guaranteed). It is a minimal service.

IFR RT is different from VFR RT.

EDLE, Netherlands
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