Speaking of European airspace...
I'm pondering a flightseeing trip around Europe either this summer or next year & have slowly begun the initial "airspace" planning stage.
I usually file IFR for any trip > 100nm. (& thanks Peter, for your excellent IFR trip write-ups - a major help!)
However, for this trip I thought it'd actually be more fun bimbling around VFR on certain sectors.
Only problem is that I've never actually flown intra-Schengen before!
So please pardon the naive questions!
For intra-Schengen flights, say, a flight from Poland to Austria:
Do you need to arrive (and depart?) at a customs airport? (+immigration?) Or can you literally depart a farm strip in Poland and land at a farm strip in Austria? (as long as you've filed - and opened - a flight plan)
Do you have to flight plan via a FIR boundary fix?
How about comms when crossing the FIR & remaining OCAS; usually you'd be talking to an Information unit, but do you technically need to speak to anyone when crossing from Poland into Germany or into Austria?
In the extreme case, could you in principle fly VFR all the way from Northern Sweden to Southern Spain without speaking to anyone along the way, as long as you remained OCAS?
(you'd need the Mother of all preflight briefings though!)
Note, I realise there's a lot of national exceptions to the above scenario. I gather the Greeks don't necessarily consider themselves 100% "Schengen" in a GA context. Some countries also seem to require flight plans, IFR routings & radio contact even for domestic VFR flights, overflight permits for non-EU regs etc.
Do you need to arrive (and depart?) at a customs airport? (+immigration?) Or can you literally depart a farm strip in Poland and land at a farm strip in Austria? (as long as you've filed - and opened - a flight plan)
No need for customs airports. There is the odd exception with Greece and when looking at the AIP, Denmark has the same requirement but nobody has cared for years.
Do you have to flight plan via a FIR boundary fix?
Ideally you should but it's usually not a reason for rejection. Note that between Germany/Austria and Germany/Czech Republic you do not need a flight plan.
How about comms when crossing the FIR & remaining OCAS; usually you'd be talking to an Information unit, but do you technically need to speak to anyone when crossing from Poland into Germany or into Austria?
OCAS means airspace G which in many countries only covers the first 1000-2000ft AGL. You would normally spend your time in airspace E which is CAS.
No need to be in touch with FIS, you can fly as you please (the old ATIZ stuff is gone). I talk to FIS on virtually all VFR trips. A VFR trip in France is almost impossible without FIS during a week day due to their completely crazy airspace and the fact that 80% of the country seems to be owned by the military.
In the extreme case, could you in principle fly VFR all the way from Northern Sweden to Southern Spain without speaking to anyone along the way, as long as you remained OCAS?
Yes, although again, "OCAS" is wrong because most of the European airspace is E which is CAS. Note that Spain requires flight plans for all flights, not just international.
Solid info, Achima!
Interesting, I hadn't heard about the Germany-Austria/Czech VFR no-FPL requirement...
I've actually been thinking about putting a Europe "country vs VFR airspace" table together. (domestic VFR FPL req'd, comms req'd, routings, xpdr, intl FPL exceptions etc) We'll see.
You would normally spend your time in airspace E which is CAS.
Right - let me rephrase: Flying VFR while remaining in Class E, even when crossing FIRs, comms are not mandatory, correct?
Incidentally I noticed a country like Sweden only has Class C & G. (apart from restricted areas etc) Very straightforward.
Also noticed getting around Amsterdam VFR looks pretty "sporting" on the charts.
Another little tidbit: Seems like my "home" country Denmark doesn't allow long term parking of non-OY regs, so I'll probably need to limit my N-reg stopover to a couple of months max.
Hello Hodja,
Coming VFR, Flight plans: if you want to land on an austrian controlled airport you need to file a flight plan, no need for a flight plan with uncontrolled strips
FIS: As Achimba sayd you don't have to contact them, but it is in your own interest as they (usually) keep you informed about traffic and also warn you if you accidentally enter a space you shouldn't
regards Detlev
A few observations:
I think that Norway, Switzerland, and definitely Greece are de facto NON-Schengen if you travel in a "vehicle" of any sort.
Last time I looked in their AIP (2010?) Spain requires flight plans for controlled airspace only. Worth checking... when I used to fly there VFR I was 100% OCAS, and a quick look at the Jepp VFR chart suggests it is the same today. But I don't have the chart notes so may be reading it wrong. However I did get oxygen so I could cross some of the military zones which are all over the place.
Radio comms is always needed when you cross a national frontier (VFR) and usually you call up the FIS frequency covering the part of the next country. Fairly obvious exceptions are e.g. Shoreham EGKA to Le Touquet LFAT where you just change from one airport to the other directly.
Class E may be technically "CAS" but since you don't need a clearance for VFR, the "controlled" part of the name is a bit meaningless 
Seems like my "home" country Denmark doesn't allow long term parking of non-OY regs, so I'll probably need to limit my N-reg stopover to a couple of months max.
Presumably they must stop doing that under EASA. I spoke to some pilots from there and they said the fines are very rare and usually against pilots who their CAA doesn't like.
Switzerland is Schengen, but not customs union. Therefore, you always need an airfield with customs.
Customs can be arranged at many if not most even small airfields, with some PNR (usually 2h inbound, less outbound). But only from Schengen countries, so no direct flights from the UK and Croatia for the time being, to smaller airfields in Switzerland.
Last time I looked in their AIP (2010?) Spain requires flight plans for controlled airspace only. Worth checking...
This is still true. But in practice you'll need it very usually, since as soon as you're departing/arriving to a controlled airport, which is the case for almost all the public airports in Spain with very few exceptions, you're in CAS.
Regarding FIS, there is no real FIS in Spain. You need to call the appropriate APP freq to cross TMAs/CTAs and thats all. Airspace is much 'easier' than french one, and normally nobody cares about the restricted or dangerous zones as they're enormous and with very little activity
