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They only use it internally, when communicating to passengers, they still use metres (because nobody has any idea what a foot looks like in France).
by realusername 9y ago
They only use it internally, when communicating to passengers, they still use metres (because nobody has any idea what a foot looks like in France).
- meredydd 9y agoNot actually true; French pilots and ATC use feet too (whichever language you're speaking). French influence on aviation has been strong since the beginning (hence all the French words - aileron, fuselage, décalage, etc), but the unit of height/altitude is one where the Americans set the standard. (Source: I fly an American-designed, French-built aeroplane to/through France semi-regularly.)
- clamprecht 9y agoIt's true about French influence. Even the weather observation reports used worldwide, METARS, use abbreviations like "BR" for fog, because the French word for fog is "brouillard".
- lloeki 9y agoInterestingly enough, as a French and although I flew very little as a pilot, I can't seem to internally make sense of the metric system unit for altitude and as a passenger on those planes I always convert to feet.