Novelist Hugh MacLennan referred to the English and French in Canada as Two Solitudes, but that’s not a great working model for aviation. In eastern Canada, we do have to deal with both languages on the radio; I’ve developed an marginal passive understanding of aviation French from a few years of flying out of Ottawa, and I thought it might be worth collecting some of the most common terms I happen to remember — these are important words you may need to understand on the radio, not a complete French-English aviation glossary. Please let me know if I get any wrong — and does anyone know the French word for “FBO“? (It’s “exploitant d’aérodrome privé” according to Nav Canada, but “le FBO” in real life — see comments for more info.)
- à destination de
- heading for …
- l’aérogare (m)
- terminal (building)
- l’aéroport (m)
- airport
- l’aire de stationnement (f)
- apron (parking)
- l’amerrissage (m)
- water landing (c.f. “l’aterrissage”)
- l’approche (f)
- approach
- l’approche finale (f)
- final (leg); “en approche finale” on final
- l’approche interrompue (f)
- overshoot/go-around; “en approche interrompue” on the overshoot/going around
- l’approche manquée (f)
- missed approach
- attendre à l’écart
- (to) hold short
- l’atterrissage (m)
- landing (c.f. “l’amerrissage”)
- l’atterrissage complet
- full stop (landing)
- l’avion (m)
- aircraft
- le calage altimétrique
- altimeter setting
- le cap
- heading
- le circuit
- (traffic) circuit/pattern
- le contrôle sol
- ground control
- le côté inactif
- inactive/upwind side of the runway (in Canada, pilots usually approach an uncontrolled airport from the upwind side “du côté inactif” and cross overhead the field to join the mid downwind)
- le décollage
- takeoff; “décoller” to take off
- l’étape de base (f)
- base (leg); “en étape de base” on base
- les installations (f)
- airport buildings; more generally, the airport/field (e.g. “cinq milles des installations” five miles from the field)
- le mille (marin)
- (nautical) mile
- le pilote
- pilot
- la piste
- runway; “la piste en service” active runway
- le posé-décollé
touché-décollé - touch-and-go (landing)
- remonter (la piste)
- backtrack (on the runway)
- le seuil (de piste)
- (runway) threshold
- le tour (de contrôle)
- (control) tower
- le vent arrière
- downwind, tailwind; “en vent arrière” on (the) downwind (leg)
- le vent debout
- upwind, headwind; “côté vent debout” the upwind side
- le vent traversier
- crosswind; “en vent traversier” on (the) crosswind (leg)
- verticale de
- above/over; (e.g. “à vingt-cinq mille pieds verticale de Lachute” over Lachute at 2,500 feet)
- le virage
- turn (change in direction); e.g. “virage à droit”
- la voie de circulation
- taxiway
- le vol
- flight; “en vol” in the air
There’s a much more complete glossary here (also from English to French), but these are the terms you’re most likely to hear on the radio.
Land and Hold Short 
I’m fluent in French, but I don’t know any of the aviation terms in French. The Nav Canada bilingual terminology database came in handy.
You can search it here: http://www.navcanada.ca/logiterm/addon/terminav/termino.php
Thanks, Blake. That link didn’t work for me, but this one does:
http://www.navcanada.ca/logiterm/termino.php
And according to it, FBO is “exploitant d’aérodrome privé”, though I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the term in use.
That’s a great list. My favourite French aviation term is amerrissage. It has beautiful symmetry with atterrissage and underscores the stupidity of the English term “water landing.”
Thanks, Aviatrix. I hadn’t heard of “amerrissage” — it is nicely symmetrical, as you say, and has the added benefit that it’s easy to make a pun on a bad water landing by changing the second ‘r’ to a ‘d’.
The quebecois term for an FBO is “le FBO”, or more commonly “le esso”, or “le shell”, etc.
Changing the second “r” of amerrissage to a “d” is brilliant! It’s my language and I’m pissed that I didn’t think of it first. Will now be on my list of useful terms when a float student goofs it up.
For touch and go, “touché-décollé” isn’t used much – we use “posé-décollé” which is literally “set down-take off”.
Other ones you will hear often is “en vent traversier” for the crosswind leg in the circuit, “du côté inactif” for the inactive side of the circuit, and “les installations” when referring to the field or the airport building, as in “verticale des installations” when above the field, or “5 milles des installations” when reporting the distance.
Thanks everyone, and especially Philippe. I’ve made the additions and changes you suggested, and would be grateful for more French/Quebecois aviation terms commonly heard on the radio.
And while we’re at it: “upwind side” is “côté vent debout”. Glad to be of help!