we have a light rail stop at the transient ramp of my US base
Lucky you! I didn’t say EVERYWHERE is like it. But there are lots of little airfields where you are truly in the middle of nowhere. New Jerusalem (1Q4) comes to mind – it;’s not THAT far from Stockton or Tracy, but way too far to do anything without a car. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat…
As far as cars and FBOs go, we used to go often to San Luis Obispo (KSBP). We would rent a car through the FBO, at exactly the same price as in the passenger terminal. Sometimes they’d drive it out to us, sometimes they’d take us on a golf cart to the car. Once or twice we even had to walk 100 feet or so (shock horror).
Uber too works in France, but for some remote airport this could be an issue.
@johnh, we have a light rail stop at the transient ramp of my US base 
@Frans, we have a very high density of airports in the US, on a recent local flight I flew over at least a dozen where I could have landed. Some have big, fancy FBOs, some have literally nothing, no people, no buildings. So you pick one to suit your needs.
I’ve yet to pay a high rate to have a rental car delivered to a US GA airport – its been the same rate as if they didn’t deliver it. Some FBOs will drive the car to the plane for you as a fun dramatic gesture (I’ve had that experience at Paso Robles KPRB) but at most the rental car company leaves it in the parking lot. Yes, Enterprise is more helpful than most.
Uber also works if the destination is populated. I’ve never used an FBO crew car, but I guess I might some day. At one of our favorite local places for fly-out lunch we call a resort nearby and they send an SUV to get us (for the price of a tip only), returning us to the airport when we’re finished. The climate there is completely different to where we live, so its nice in winter.
Our recent pilot visitor from Germany (who left yesterday) apparently enjoyed his visit and some local flying with me. We had a great time in absolutely perfect weather, our good luck. He walked on the beach in warm weather and flew to see snow in the same day, and he surely wasn’t bored. He’s now thinking of flying his Mooney Bravo over via the Oshkosh Fly-In and leaving it for a while, returning periodically by non-stop commercial flights to do his own GA flights with family around the western US. At 180 kts they could cover some ground and see a lot. He’s meanwhile developing business locally and I suspect he’s thinking he can write off the aircraft expenses if he opens a small office here. I’ll be looking for a hangar and we’ve already got a guy who could maintain the plane and make sure its ready to go. Creativity is good
The reason I initially started on EuroGA was that at the time I had two planes and thought I’d ship my Luscombe to Italy for a year in a container, not unlike my friend’s plan with his Mooney but in reverse and with a smaller radius of operation. In retrospect and with more knowledge, I know it would not have gone well for me. I like travelling in Europe on a motorcycle, have made more trips than I could count but the previously unimagined hassles with aircraft maintenance, airspace, airports and bureaucracy would be a lot more than I’d enjoy and I think the distances are usually not far enough to justify me traveling by GA unless I were based on an island as the OP is.
For one, many US pilots never leave the airport. At least as many as here. Reason being: there is usuallly nothing interesting to see in the vicinity. For the most part, the US are just dull.
Then some pilots are „money no object“ and get a shiny rental car delivered right to aircraft by the FBO. Think $$$ per day.
And yes, in some cases, pilots benefit from crew cars. But usually, these are limited to a few hours a time, so not good for „travelling“, but only good to get lunch somewhere. Usually something from a fast food chain.
The two continents can hardly be compared.
johnh wrote:
One occasion where I’ll rush to Europe’s defence, because this is equally true in the US. Except in the USI’ve no doubt your statement is true, but I get always the impression from YT and pilot reports, that US airfields often have courtesy cars. Not only on the bigger airports with FBOs, but also the midsized ones. At least it seems a less deal to get to your final destination, but maybe the US-YouTubers have fooled me.
Most European GA airfields are in the middle of nowhere
One occasion where I’ll rush to Europe’s defence, because this is equally true in the US. Except in the US, you can be 100% sure there will be no public transport and even taxis are scarce outside major cities. Sometimes there is an Enterprise nearby who will drop off at the airport, or come and get you. But if not, you need a folding bike.
I would say to the OP: search « VFR in france » in Youtube, watch a few videos, plan a first trip to English speaking fields (ATC or AFIS) and launch.
Those rural french fields, no matter how much I and others love them, might not look very interesting for a first trip to France (in terms of sightseeing).
Plan something like LFAT then Reims/Troyes/Colmar/Pontoise (Uber to Paris)/Rouen and enjoy a lovely city visit. Use calais for the return trip for a change and that’s it.
Peter_G organizes trip to France occasionaly, that anyone can join IIRC.
Peter wrote:
In France, speaking French opens most doors. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on whether you are French
Well there are two scenarios,
Scenario 1, is specific to GA flying, you are coming out of nowhere and you land in empty place, the easy fix is to 1/ have Total/BP cards and learn how to use them and 2/ have folding bike or scooter (or walk and pre-arrange taxi, car rental or bus timing)
Scenario 2, nothing to do with GA flying, every tourist have this struggle, challenge, adventure…I don’t think it has an easy fix, except going to big hotels, big airports, big restaurants…
Actually, when looking at typical GA airfields (not big airline airports), and comparing with Germany, UK, and Italy, I would say that of the bunch, France actually has the best public transport links. Surprisingly many French GA airfields do have a bus (or sometimes: train/tram) stop at the airfield or within a couple hundred meteres walk. Just some examples of (GA) airfields where I have successfully used this: Thise, Belfort, Essey, Neuhof, Colmar, Mulhouse, Calais, Cannes, Aix, Annecy, Courbessac, plus probably a few more. Lognes and St. Cyr are a bit further to walk, but those connections are still useful.
But yes, this does not tend to work at all on Sundays, and only “so so” on Saturdays. Even on weekdays, some of the bus lines serving airfields have very limited schedules. So you need to do your homework before you go.
Taxis can be really difficult in France, especially on Sundays and during any sort of lunch break. Even if (thanks to the internet, you have a list of local taxi drivers’ telephone numbers and are fluent in French). The more rural the airfield is, the worse. Also, invariably, most taxi drivers you come across are grumpy and seem annoyed that you give them your business. That’s France. Uber tends to work well enough in areas which are covered.
Nowadays, I usually have my folding bike with me when touring France, and it adds a whole deal of independence and flexibility, plus it keeps me moving.
For longer stays and bigger distances, ouicar and getaround also work well, much better than traditional care hire companies.
That is true anywhere. Most European GA airfields are in the middle of nowhere. This is a major reason for the suppressed value of GA here, relative to the US. The main difference for a UK visitor is
In France, speaking French opens most doors. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on whether you are French But pilots flying internationally have grown accustomed to being able to use English. That idea doesn’t work too great where it should work (in the air; French ATC ELP tends to be quite poor, with reasons already much discussed and sometimes leading to fireworks) and it even more doesn’t work elsewhere Start with the avgas pump…
