VIVE LA DIFFERENCE! Flying in France

By Derek Melton, Sustaining Member

At the end of 2008 my wife Carol and I moved to France, for what would be an eighteen month stay. I was to concentrate on ecological studies in Francophone Africa, with a main client based in Paris. My base was to be an office in Lyon, but we decided to rent a gîcte 30km to the west in the Coteaux du Lyonnais wine region, just south of Beaujolais. Needless to say, as soon as I had time I researched what I would need to do to be able to fly in France and who was renting planes nearby.

My first dual flight was in March 2009. During May the club helped me complete and send in the required application forms, fees and various photocopies. Then, somewhat to my surprise, my French licence arrived in the post mid-June. I highly recommend flying in France and especially in a Robin DR-400 through the Aéroclub du Beaujolais; although I am sure many other good clubs exist with the usual mix of excellent instructors and interesting members. If you do not have the time to obtain a French licence, why not break up a wine tasting trip with a couple of dual flights in a sporty French plane? As recreational pilots it’s easy to be conservative and stick to familiar routes in one type of plane, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, there is always a rewarding sense of accomplishment after successfully completing something new, whether that’s heading to a new airport, gaining an additional rating, flying a different plane, or even flying in a different country. Bon vol!

My first visit was to L’aéroclubdu Rhône et du sud-est at Le Bron (LFLY) aerodrome close to St. Exupéry (LFLL), Lyon’s main international airport. Le Bron had a single paved runway 1820m in length and was busy with commercial and private traffic. The club was also busy, with a fleet of quite new Cessna 152s and C-172 s-models and several welcoming staff. They explained that I should be able to receive a French licence based on my Canadian ppl. I would need to be checked out on a C-172, including undertaking a dual cross country. I would also need to study “La pratique des communications aéronautiques (à l’usage des ppl)”, culminating in a French language test.

The licence would be issued by La Direction générale de l’aviation civile through the Fédération Française Aéronautique and would reference the aéroclub where I was a member. At the time, most small airstrips in France were French language only for communications. My French was “intermediate” at best so radio use would require some practice. I was tempted to sign up there and then since the plane would be familiar, which would give me more room to concentrate on radio and airspace procedures. However, commuting from the west side of Lyon to Le Bronin the east was not a pleasant prospect, so I headed to the second nearby club, L’aéroclub du Beaujolaisat Villefranche-Tarare airport (Tarare LFHV). Tarare was an uncontrolled airport with only French for communications and a single paved 1040m strip used for helicopter and glider training as well as fixed wing flights.

It was a cool but sunny winter morning when the CFI Gilles showed me their fleet and club facilities. Carol had already been won over during the 30 minute rural drive north from where we were staying, through small villages and by many vineyards being cleaned up ahead of spring. I was also quickly sure that this would be the club to join, and not just because the restaurant had an excellent menu, plus a bar and a fine terrace next to the ramp. For many reasons flying out of Tarare airport promised to be more of a real French experience compared to flying C172s out of an airport in the suburbs of Lyon. The club had six French-built low-wing planes that included: four Robin DR- 400 four-seaters, a Rallye fourseater, and a two-seater Jodel tail dragger with wheels and skis for mountain flight training (including glacier landings and take-offs in the nearby alps). I was quite taken with the DR-400; with its upturned wing tips, stick controls, and a sliding canopy, it looked very sporty and like nothing I had flown before. With a 160hp Lycoming engine, 220km/hr cruise and a gross weight of 1,000 kg, this plane serves the same functions that a C-172 does in Canada. I thanked Gilles for the friendly welcome, joined the club by paying a Euro 240 annual fee, booked a first lesson (Euro 176 dual, Euro 131 solo), and we were still in time for lunch, with Beaujolais wine of course.

My logbook shows four initial dual flights, the first for familiarization with the plane, orientation to the region and local procedures, a second for upper air work, and then a short cross country to Saint Yan (LFLN), an aerodrome with a tower, but also French only for communications. Of course ahead of all this I had my homework to do!

The Manuel de vol was a poor photocopy and was, of course, in French. However the layout was familiar so I soon worked through emergency procedures such as nemoteur immédiatement a prèsle décollage, and on to all the procédures normales. Speeds were given in km/hr, but with knots as back-up, which was the same in the cockpit. Weights were in kilograms, fuel was in litres. I had taken photos of an instrument panel, so I went through the French checklists at home while seeing what was where on my laptop screen. I made up a small crib-sheet of basic French aviation phraseology and had that plus the French checklists on a small kneeboard with a map; there was not space for anything on one’s lap with the stick control.

So I was ready—or I hoped I was!

My instructor was Gérard, a retired Air France Airbus A330 captain. His English was therefore good, which aided me in the transition to a new plane and procedures. He was also easy going and tried not to laugh too much as I read through the normal checklists on the intercom: miseen route, avantdé collage, etc. He was also forgiving with my radio communications such as Tarare de F-HBEG on sort de circuit 2100’, on quite la fréquence during departure, or F-HBEG en vent arrière droit trente-six when returning.

However, it was necessary to stay focused with French communications, especially in uncontrolled airspace and when flying solo. On more than one occasion, after I had broadcast my circuit joining intentions on traffic frequency coming back into Tarare, I heard a “quoi?” over the headset, prompting me to repeat my transmission, which usually clarified things for both of us. One time though the “quoi?” was quickly followed by another club member I knew who was flying nearby and transmitted, "Oh c’est le Canadien!" before helpfully repeating my call for the other pilot just to be sure! At this time there were new rules in the works that would require all French private pilots to have a basic understanding of English, with an expected increased use of English at more airports in France, beyond just the major ones. If anyone reading this article is tempted to fly in France, they may now find less of a focus on the French language, which might ease their transition.

The Robin DR-400 is a great plane to fly, comfortable with excellent all round visibility, including being able to look down ahead of the wing. I had hardly flown low wing aircraft before, but quickly adapted and enjoyed its responsiveness to the stick and sprightly performance for a normally aspirated 160hp engine. However, being light to the touch meant that it was best not to dwell too long on items inside the cockpit, as a wing would invariably start to drop. The good performance is probably partly linked to having a wooden airframe and an empty weight of only 580kg which is about 200 lbs less than an N model C-172.

My first dual flight was in March 2009. During May the club helped me complete and send in the required application forms, fees and various photocopies. Then, somewhat to my surprise, my French licence arrived in the post mid-June. I highly recommend flying in France and especially in a Robin DR-400 through the Aéroclub du Beaujolais; although I am sure many other good clubs exist with the usual mix of excellent instructors and interesting members. If you do not have the time to obtain a French licence, why not break up a wine tasting trip with a couple of dual flights in a sporty French plane? As recreational pilots it’s easy to be conservative and stick to familiar routes in one type of plane, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, there is always a rewarding sense of accomplishment after successfully completing something new, whether that’s heading to a new airport, gaining an additional rating, flying a different plane, or even flying in a different country. Bon vol!

Derek moved to BC after returning from France and joined the VFC in 2012. Derek has flown in Botswana, South Africa and the USA, in addition to Canada and France.