By John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal
Borders
Several years ago, my wife and I did a presentation at the local chapter on crossing the U.S./Canadian border. With Oshkosh on the radar, here are some quick pointers about planning the trip and ensuring all goes well on your first leg across the dashed border line.
For most Canadians, this is the first leg of their trip — unless you’re descending from the far reaches of the north, so you’ll most likely be filing your cross-border flight from your departure airport or another one nearer to the border. Oddly enough, things haven’t gotten any easier in the years since we first gave the rundowns of what to do, when, and how. We called it the WWW’s of getting to Oshkosh. Recently, on our way to SUN ‘n FUN, we were confronted with the same hurdles of trying to navigate a weather system and make the border flight work with U.S. customs. It was compounded by a number of factors at the last minute that conspired to alter our arrival time by just enough to “potentially” offend the receiving officer in the States. We were okay, but Mother Nature and Murphy’s Law did their best to make our plans fall apart. Do your utmost to be on time! For the most part, the U.S. border agents understand the potential delays that a little airplane will encounter en route — so we don’t think that that is your biggest hurdle. We do think that if you haven’t already done so, it is certainly in your interest to give the border a “dummy” run to prevent any serious screw-ups. If you can, plan a weekend hop across just to master some of the steps you’ll need to do as outlined below:
Six Steps
- If you can, get some instruction from someone who’s done it recently. Little things change all the time in this techno age we are in and it’s often difficult to stay up to date.
- Go to the eAPIS website. Enroll, register, get familiar with the layout of the pages and how they work (i.e. the code for Canada is CAN), so that when you are modifying it after you’ve potentially landed out somewhere to alter your crossing, its presentation doesn’t get you in a kerfuffle because you’re now doing those mods on your phone! That last word in italics is more important than ever now — it is an absolute must for being able to call ahead and organize anything. Airports used to have pay phones for that — they don’t anymore, and haven’t had any for a while now. Just try to find one at an international airport — good luck with that!
- If you do hop over on a weekend, be sure not to get started too late in the day, expecting to return to Canada at or around sunset, because there is a good chance that the Canadian Border Agency will not be able to provide you with the same service 24/7 that they provide to the nearby car/border crossing. We were very surprised on our return trip that we were not allowed to do so after 1700 local unless we were prepared to divert to a larger airport (not recommended due to charges), well before sunset, with this information only published on their website and not available in the CFS. This forced us to spend an extra night there (in the terminal) until sunrise the next morning to return at 8 a.m. when Customs “opened.” Be prepared also to wait an inordinate amount of time on the phone listening to some terrible elevator music or a repeating message saying “that an agent will be with you shortly.” I think we could have been halfway across the border by the time an agent did pick up. The older I get, the more this drives me absolutely nuts that no one is around to answer the phone! It seems that every year there are less and less personnel available for a service that is supposed to be streamlined. To me, in this information age, there is no reason not to be granted the same level of service as the car that just drives up to the border and has to roll down its window. E.g. if you have all the information on who I am, where I am going, who’s on board, where my airplane is based, and what my ID details are, then you should be able to offer me the same service as my fellow Canadian that drives across at all hours of the day. Since when did the sun have any bearing on who crosses the border and when? Alas, need I say anymore?
- Get your U.S. border pass (airplane decal) early on. This still costs USD $25 — payable by credit card on their website after you’ve created your account online. It isn’t the end of the world if it hasn’t been mailed to you and stuck on the side of your airplane. As long as the payment has gone through and you have a copy that it was paid and can present this to the officer, you are good to get into the U.S.
- On the way back, call Canadian Customs at 1-888-CANPASS to get back in. You can check out their procedures for this here.
- Of course, a flight plan must be filed for each way across the border. From the U.S., you must create an account with 1800wxbrief.com, you will file the flight plan electronically or on the phone, and they will send you an email to activate the flight plan using your phone or other mobile device. By the way, if you call 1-866 WXBrief you’ll be put in touch with the Canadian equivalent. From Canada your flight plan is automatically activated from the filed departure time. You’ll also need a transponder code assigned to your crossing each way.
Whatever you do, don’t let the hassles of cross-border travel impede your goal of getting to Oshkosh or just a trip to where the fuel is cheaper and the flying is easier. ATC does their utmost to accommodate most of your requests (flight following is a great service and a must in higher density corridors to avoid roaming TFRs) and the people you meet along the way make the trip well worth the effort.
Good luck and keep that iPad and phone charged!
John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal, is a passionate aviator. When he isn’t in the saddle at the airline, he can be found out at the airfield doing any number of things. He likes to fly gliders, practice aerobatics, work on airplanes, and fix stuff.