Following an excellent lunch in the restaurant at Abbeville in today's wonderful flying weather, I was bimbling back home when I heard an interesting exchange on the Lille Info frequency.
An Auster on his way to L2K called in at mid channel and was asked to sqawk but replied that he was not transponder equipped. Lille told him that in that case Le Touquet would not accept him.
Ever since the zone at Le Touquet became Class D, it has been a requirement that an aircraft had to be transponder equipped but this was the first time I have heard it being enforced. A sign of the times, perhaps?
Lesson to be learned is probably that if you are going there and do not have a transponder is to telephone the tower and ask for special permission. I know that they have the authority to make exceptions to the rule.
Transponders & French Class D Airspace
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