Great Content. I used to work the Ramp at Harv’s air Steinbach 15 yrs ago. While training I wanted to push myself to get new experiences so I did my commercial Xcountry into the US. It took me a lot of reading to figure out all the steps I needed to cross the border. After I did it successfully I became the go to guy when other students wanted to cross. It’s about time the streamline the cross boarder process. Thanks again!
I've set up customs for years in private aviation. The frustrating thing is alot of ports have their own rules and oddities. Those airport sheets have been great.
We used to go through Canada for years. It was enjoyable, but we’ve done all the routes and seen enough. Now we route KCLM-PAKT to eliminate customs, CBP aircraft sticker, EAPIS, phone calls, firearm registration and fees, credit card international transaction fees and needing a passport. File a flight plan, get a border crossing xponder code and don’t have to talk to anybody enroute unless IFR is necessary. Life is good again.
It looks scary at first. Then you do it and you wonder what all the fuss was about. When I flew out of Langley CYNJ I always cleared Customs at my first opportunity, Bellingham KBLI (they go over the plane with geiger counters too). On my last cross-border flight the briefer was covering somebody else's shift and was familiar with the Texas Gulf Coast but hazy on the Pacific Northwest. I filed KFHR-KORS-CZBB, knowing I'd be talking to Victoria Terminal most of the way anyway.
@@CanardBoulevard Yes - my buddy Dave fly our museum's T6/Harvard across from Windsor to KDET one time and the guard really perked up when the thing went off 20 feet away from the airplane. It was apparently the first time he'd ever seen it happen - the radium in the WWII era cockpit was enough to be detected.
I've been on an email string for the past month and a half regarding exactly this (pretty sure the event you're speaking of came up actually). Very glad to get some guidance on this as it will be me doing this in the new year. I do NOT have time to be fighting over a $5K fine.
wow, lock haven . . . i thought that piper plant was closed. my whole family is from there. i used to love sitting on my aunts porch and watch planes take off and land. it is what started my interest in aviation.
I still don't understand why the US makes everything so difficult when flying across the border to Canada. I show up at the border in a car and I'm across no issue. I show up in a boat, tie up at the customs dock, make a phone call to customs and it's no issue. If I want to do the 10 minute flight from Friday Harbor to Victoria in my RV it's like I'm trying to smuggle people out (or in the reverse way) of the US on a 747 to North Korea and require all sorts of advance notice things.
Yeah... It is what it is. I think it got a lot harder after 9/11. We didn't even need a passport to drive across before. And didn't TFRs first become a thing after 2001?
I, too, frequently fly to Canada from the States in my RV and agree with the absurdity of the process (mainly the US). AND, it would be great if the US did a reciprocal agreement on Basic Med with Canada, so we don't have to keep doing a 3rd class medical.
Every CBP office is different, and do things in slightly different ways. An important message you didn't mention is that many of the CBP offices are NOT staffed on weekends - so if you are planning to land in the US on a weekend, you need to call the Friday before to obtain your prior permission to land - they will then call out an agent to meet you on the weekend at your scheduled time. They will also give you a special number to call if your landing plans change due to weather or any other reason, so they don't send an officer out when you're no longer going to be arriving. I went over this and other aspects of cross-border flying from a US-based pilot's perspective in my how-to video: ruclips.net/video/WCFmOzq5Wok/видео.html I too use a checklist like shown here, to make sure I don't miss a step.
Thanks, yeah - I didn't get specific about weekends (and several other things that could have easily diverted the into the weeds) because I was trying to make less than 20 minute long video :P. That said, I'll add this clarification to the ~8,000+ character blog post on the website when I edit that later. But my point about making the "initial call" MORE than 24 hours prior kinda covers this issue... If you try to call on a Saturday for a Sunday arrival at a CBP office that isn't staffed on weekends, you're probably not going to get an answer at all; and if you call on Friday for the same request, you'll get "not gonna happen" for the answer - but at least in both cases you'll know.
@@FlightChops I get it! I tried to cover everything in my video, and that video ended up almost an hour long! I've been told when calling more than a couple days in advance for a non-weekend trip; "call back closer to the trip." I've not been denied for a weekend trip, but again - it depends on the CBP office. As you mentioned in the video - every office is different. I've once had to go WAY out of my way on a trip home that got changed at the last minute, because my usual port of entry isn't staffed on weekends and I had to go to one that was (Port Huron). Extra bonus: Port Huron has no landing fees!
I've absolutely been denied for a weekend trip. I had one officer just cut me off mid sentence when I said my trip was aiming for a Saturday arrival - he just said "Not gonna happen!" and ended the call fairly abruptly with out even discussing options... But anyway... I'm curious as to what sort of retention you got on an hour long video covering this topic - you can email if you'd rather stay private regarding back end stats. fligthchops at gmail dot com.
The first couple of times is stressful. Then it becomes easy. I highly recommend you use a checklist like shown here - I've done the same thing for some time now.
@ Lol I live here and usually end up driving 200 extra miles to go visit family rather than cutting through Ontario just to save the headache of dealing with the US border. Never had issues with the Canadian border, just getting back into the US.
Great Content. I used to work the Ramp at Harv’s air Steinbach 15 yrs ago. While training I wanted to push myself to get new experiences so I did my commercial Xcountry into the US. It took me a lot of reading to figure out all the steps I needed to cross the border. After I did it successfully I became the go to guy when other students wanted to cross. It’s about time the streamline the cross boarder process. Thanks again!
We learned from our mistakes that will cause great stress. But I can see why a list can make a difference. Thumbs up 👍
Yes! Thank you!
I've set up customs for years in private aviation. The frustrating thing is alot of ports have their own rules and oddities. Those airport sheets have been great.
We used to go through Canada for years. It was enjoyable, but we’ve done all the routes and seen enough. Now we route KCLM-PAKT to eliminate customs, CBP aircraft sticker, EAPIS, phone calls, firearm registration and fees, credit card international transaction fees and needing a passport.
File a flight plan, get a border crossing xponder code and don’t have to talk to anybody enroute unless IFR is necessary. Life is good again.
sure yes, but if you wanna stop and visit either country... you've gotta deal with this process.
It looks scary at first. Then you do it and you wonder what all the fuss was about.
When I flew out of Langley CYNJ I always cleared Customs at my first opportunity, Bellingham KBLI (they go over the plane with geiger counters too). On my last cross-border flight the briefer was covering somebody else's shift and was familiar with the Texas Gulf Coast but hazy on the Pacific Northwest. I filed KFHR-KORS-CZBB, knowing I'd be talking to Victoria Terminal most of the way anyway.
They use the geiger counters at EVERY CBP port.
@@CanardBoulevard Yes - my buddy Dave fly our museum's T6/Harvard across from Windsor to KDET one time and the guard really perked up when the thing went off 20 feet away from the airplane. It was apparently the first time he'd ever seen it happen - the radium in the WWII era cockpit was enough to be detected.
I've been on an email string for the past month and a half regarding exactly this (pretty sure the event you're speaking of came up actually). Very glad to get some guidance on this as it will be me doing this in the new year. I do NOT have time to be fighting over a $5K fine.
Most informative Steve - quite a learning experience.
wow, lock haven . . . i thought that piper plant was closed. my whole family is from there. i used to love sitting on my aunts porch and watch planes take off and land. it is what started my interest in aviation.
It's a great little airport - And yes, the plant is closed as far as I know, but there is an amazing Piper Aircraft museum there now.
I still don't understand why the US makes everything so difficult when flying across the border to Canada. I show up at the border in a car and I'm across no issue. I show up in a boat, tie up at the customs dock, make a phone call to customs and it's no issue. If I want to do the 10 minute flight from Friday Harbor to Victoria in my RV it's like I'm trying to smuggle people out (or in the reverse way) of the US on a 747 to North Korea and require all sorts of advance notice things.
Yeah... It is what it is.
I think it got a lot harder after 9/11.
We didn't even need a passport to drive across before.
And didn't TFRs first become a thing after 2001?
You'd think AOPA would be all over making this more streamlined.
I, too, frequently fly to Canada from the States in my RV and agree with the absurdity of the process (mainly the US). AND, it would be great if the US did a reciprocal agreement on Basic Med with Canada, so we don't have to keep doing a 3rd class medical.
Flightchops is the best ❤
Thanks!
Rest in peace Jr. You were well loved.
Thanks for watching to the end 🙏🏻
An ATP rated friend of mine used to say that "People think that kerosene makes planes fly. That's false. Paper makes planes fly :) "
Every CBP office is different, and do things in slightly different ways. An important message you didn't mention is that many of the CBP offices are NOT staffed on weekends - so if you are planning to land in the US on a weekend, you need to call the Friday before to obtain your prior permission to land - they will then call out an agent to meet you on the weekend at your scheduled time. They will also give you a special number to call if your landing plans change due to weather or any other reason, so they don't send an officer out when you're no longer going to be arriving. I went over this and other aspects of cross-border flying from a US-based pilot's perspective in my how-to video: ruclips.net/video/WCFmOzq5Wok/видео.html
I too use a checklist like shown here, to make sure I don't miss a step.
Thanks, yeah - I didn't get specific about weekends (and several other things that could have easily diverted the into the weeds) because I was trying to make less than 20 minute long video :P. That said, I'll add this clarification to the ~8,000+ character blog post on the website when I edit that later.
But my point about making the "initial call" MORE than 24 hours prior kinda covers this issue...
If you try to call on a Saturday for a Sunday arrival at a CBP office that isn't staffed on weekends, you're probably not going to get an answer at all; and if you call on Friday for the same request, you'll get "not gonna happen" for the answer - but at least in both cases you'll know.
@@FlightChops I get it! I tried to cover everything in my video, and that video ended up almost an hour long!
I've been told when calling more than a couple days in advance for a non-weekend trip; "call back closer to the trip." I've not been denied for a weekend trip, but again - it depends on the CBP office. As you mentioned in the video - every office is different. I've once had to go WAY out of my way on a trip home that got changed at the last minute, because my usual port of entry isn't staffed on weekends and I had to go to one that was (Port Huron). Extra bonus: Port Huron has no landing fees!
I've absolutely been denied for a weekend trip. I had one officer just cut me off mid sentence when I said my trip was aiming for a Saturday arrival - he just said "Not gonna happen!" and ended the call fairly abruptly with out even discussing options... But anyway... I'm curious as to what sort of retention you got on an hour long video covering this topic - you can email if you'd rather stay private regarding back end stats. fligthchops at gmail dot com.
Do you know what’s the status of border crossing to Mexico with an experimental? It would be great to make a video on that type of crossing
That is an obscenely excessive fine.
Yeah.
It was not a fun time to get that email.
I think I would just stay home.
I know man.., it’s not easy if you don’t get some guidance to do these things.
The first couple of times is stressful. Then it becomes easy. I highly recommend you use a checklist like shown here - I've done the same thing for some time now.
What was that goofy device he was scanning your aircraft with?
antique geiger counter - the scan the plane every single time. 🤷🏼♂️
Well this seems uncalled for. Considering how customs ignores border crossings in their millions. I feel a simple warning is sufficient.
Just don’t bother flying to the USA. No big loss, way less headaches.
Haha.. yeah well... Most of the word's general aviation community is there... so whatcha gonna do?
@ Lol I live here and usually end up driving 200 extra miles to go visit family rather than cutting through Ontario just to save the headache of dealing with the US border. Never had issues with the Canadian border, just getting back into the US.