Sat Jul 30, 2016 10:53 pm
#1473714
A London to Paris trip seemed iconic to me and also I was interested to see Versailles as it features in the current BBC series, I knew that there is an airfield right next to it Saint Cyr L’ecole.
However, I was very apprehensive about the complexities of the Paris airspace and deterred slightly by the bother of needing customs stops.
Well I finally got up the ‘bottle’ and planed a route including Le Touquet as its familiar to me and they are helpful. The rest was actually quite easy.
I filed flight plans and GAR using skydemon the evening before and emailed customs at Le Touquet with aircraft Reg, Names and Passport Numbers to the email address
‘douane-aeroportletouquet@douane.finances.gouv.fr’
No further flight plan is required once in the Schengen community. I fixed my times bearing in mind UTC is an hour behind UK time and French time an hour ahead.
Le Touquet gave us a fast turn-around (15E landing , 10E later?).
On departing Le Touquet they passed me to Lille, from there to Beauvis to clear their zone and then to Paris and then onto St Cyr L’ecole; all spoke a lot of French to other pilots but good English to me.
The weather wasn’t actually that good, not in the UK, not over the channel or northern France; low cloud, patches of poor vis and occasional fine rain. I should have taken more notice of the weak occluded front hanging across my path. We were mostly at around 1700ft. The expected improvements were slow in coming but eventually it did improve to the south and was clear for the more complicated maneuvers.
I joined the St Cyr circuit from the north, there was traffic ahead which I followed to a base leg over the Versailles lakes for a final on a left hand 29. I was asked to park in front of the restaurant.
The booking in was on the radio and the landing fee (6E) is due to be sent on to us.
We tried to find a way into Versailles from opposite the airfield but failed, it looks like there may be one, but we ended up walking along the main road to a side entrance about half way towards the palace. There was no fee to enter at that point but later a 9E free to get into the main gardens. In retrospect, we should have taken the push bikes. Next time I’ll hop on the RER at St Cyr (zone C 7), and explore Paris but it’s quite a way out.
St Cyr L’ecole seemed busy (a Saturday) but relaxed, there were ground and tower frequencies.
The home journey was uneventful with generally better weather. All in all a great trip and recommended interesting destination. It looked like there was a good restaurant on the airfield.
Image4 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
Image3 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
DSC08601 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
The channel, low cloud seen from 2000ft.
DSC08665 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
The Seine
DSC08650 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
DSC08645 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
DSC08652 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
DSC08629 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
DSC08674 by Graeme Bird, on Flickr
Leaving Le Touquet
Mono Europa 100 HP, each leg just over an hour at an average speed of 115knt, used 88 litres, 18ltrs per hour, 470nm
However, I was very apprehensive about the complexities of the Paris airspace and deterred slightly by the bother of needing customs stops.
Well I finally got up the ‘bottle’ and planed a route including Le Touquet as its familiar to me and they are helpful. The rest was actually quite easy.
I filed flight plans and GAR using skydemon the evening before and emailed customs at Le Touquet with aircraft Reg, Names and Passport Numbers to the email address
‘douane-aeroportletouquet@douane.finances.gouv.fr’
No further flight plan is required once in the Schengen community. I fixed my times bearing in mind UTC is an hour behind UK time and French time an hour ahead.
Le Touquet gave us a fast turn-around (15E landing , 10E later?).
On departing Le Touquet they passed me to Lille, from there to Beauvis to clear their zone and then to Paris and then onto St Cyr L’ecole; all spoke a lot of French to other pilots but good English to me.
The weather wasn’t actually that good, not in the UK, not over the channel or northern France; low cloud, patches of poor vis and occasional fine rain. I should have taken more notice of the weak occluded front hanging across my path. We were mostly at around 1700ft. The expected improvements were slow in coming but eventually it did improve to the south and was clear for the more complicated maneuvers.
I joined the St Cyr circuit from the north, there was traffic ahead which I followed to a base leg over the Versailles lakes for a final on a left hand 29. I was asked to park in front of the restaurant.
The booking in was on the radio and the landing fee (6E) is due to be sent on to us.
We tried to find a way into Versailles from opposite the airfield but failed, it looks like there may be one, but we ended up walking along the main road to a side entrance about half way towards the palace. There was no fee to enter at that point but later a 9E free to get into the main gardens. In retrospect, we should have taken the push bikes. Next time I’ll hop on the RER at St Cyr (zone C 7), and explore Paris but it’s quite a way out.
St Cyr L’ecole seemed busy (a Saturday) but relaxed, there were ground and tower frequencies.
The home journey was uneventful with generally better weather. All in all a great trip and recommended interesting destination. It looked like there was a good restaurant on the airfield.
Image4 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrImage3 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrDSC08601 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrThe channel, low cloud seen from 2000ft.
DSC08665 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrThe Seine
DSC08650 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrDSC08645 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrDSC08652 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrDSC08629 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrDSC08674 by Graeme Bird, on FlickrLeaving Le Touquet
Mono Europa 100 HP, each leg just over an hour at an average speed of 115knt, used 88 litres, 18ltrs per hour, 470nm
Last edited by Birdyboy1 on Sun Jul 31, 2016 7:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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