N-reg in Germany - is a German radio license required?

You can of course fly in German even without a German radio license (otherwise, international flying would be de fact impossible).

But you won’t be able to use airfields which are "german only) on the radio. These are essentially all the very small aeroclub-type airfields. The exact information is derived from the VAC of the airfield concerned.

I have merged Edoardo’s multiple posts into this thread.

Please, if you want to get good replies, be specific in your question, and if (and only if) a search doesn’t turn up an existing thread, make the new thread title very specific too.

But you won’t be able to use airfields which are "german only) on the radio.

Although this is true, it isn’t handled that strict as the law reads. Many of the german only airfields are operated by clubs and have few non german speaking visitors. In Germany a Flugleiter is mandatory and if you operate an airfield DE/EN you need to ensure every Flugleiter is proficient in both languages. Especially old folks are often not that current in english to fulfill the requirements and thus these airfields tend to stay legally “german only”. You can always call them if in doubt.I have never heard of any conviction for someone not speaking german flying to a german only airfield, especially as NORDO is completely legal, too. More often than not the only apology for maintaining the mandatory Flugleiter is to initiate emergency procedures in case of a crash and even many officials don’t see any necessity to use the radio…

BTW as it is german style there is an official comprehension of rt phrases in german and english. They are “displayed” at any airfield. Or just drop me a PM with your Email.

boscomantico wrote:

You can of course fly in German even without a German radio license (otherwise, international flying would be de fact impossible).
But you won’t be able to use airfields which are "german only) on the radio.

By German radio license, do you mean German language rating?

So Germany is different from France. then? In all the discussions about Fr-only airfields, I believe we reached a consensus that you only need to be able to speak French. A French language rating is not required.

Is a German language rating (or even RTF license) really required and what is the legal basis in that case?

mh wrote:

I have never heard of any conviction for someone not speaking german flying to a german only airfield, especially as NORDO is completely legal, too. More often than not the only apology for maintaining the mandatory Flugleiter is to initiate emergency procedures in case of a crash and even many officials don’t see any necessity to use the radio…

True but there is always the first time for everything – in France, I have taken to avoiding airfields with FR seuillement on the plates after the threat of legal action after I used English whilst landing at Sarrebourg, hence it wouldn’t surprise me that, sooner or later, an near miss or, heaven forbid, an accident happens due to differing languages (Paris CDG, for example) will start having languages enforced.

In addition to that, I also felt a little anxious when multiple aircraft were also on the frequency speaking french because if I need to use a crib sheet to plot where I am in the circuit, then by the same token I’m hardly likely to immediately grasp what a fluent speaker has said in order to plot where he is in the circuit. And let’s be honest, that is brainpower being used which should be used for flying the aircraft – en route we might have little to do, but in a busy circuit you don’t want to be trying to second guess other pilots because you don’t really understand the language…..

Finally, I also don’t see the benefits of calling for PPR unless it’s shortly before arrival in case a different Flugleiter is working – the duty Flugleiter might not feel comfortable about using english. And then there’s the Bezirksregierung…. They were parked up at my base yesterday, listening to the Radio…. If the AIP says DE/GE and someone uses english…. What happens if they’re bored and decide to investigate….

Steve6443 wrote:

heaven forbid, an accident happens due to differing languages (Paris CDG, for example) will start having languages enforced.

Hopefully no such things is going to happen as we will have to use “English only” on tower frequency per SERA part-C requirements later this year.

Airborne,

No I was merely referring to radio privileges/licenses.

Language proficiency is a different story.

True but there is always the first time for everything – in France, I have taken to avoiding airfields with FR seuillement on the plates after the threat of legal action after I used English whilst landing at Sarrebourg.

Steve, please shar more details. Who exactly threatened you? And how did he/she threaten you? Some uninformed bloke just yelling around is one thing. A written letter by some official authority is something different.

Sarrebourg is NOT french-only according to the ATLAS VAC.