By Dave Stanchuk, EAA 1141923, and Doug Daverne, EAA 1161768; Chapter 154 Regina\
In the process of building our RV-10, there are many decisions to make on avionics and other equipment. And, of course, the best place to make these informed decisions is at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Plus, it’s a lot of fun. And this was the year to actually fly in, for the first time ever. Excitement guaranteed. So, with our 1967 Cessna 172H, good old Whiskey Hotel Charlie, we planned and geared up to camp, and headed out.
What you are about to read is our 2024 trip account. And, just to be clear, there were never any unsafe or dangerous maneuvers, flying issues, or fines involved. Just a lot of dumb stuff along the way… enjoy and hopefully learn from our experiences.
Chapter 1: How the Heck to Get Out of Canada
Original Plan — Leg 1 of 4: Regina, Saskatchewan (CYQR), to Minot, North Dakota (KMOT)
First was going to be to Minot, where we would enter through their Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) portal. COPA’s guide to flying in and out of the U.S. was especially helpful in setting up what we need to know and do. First: Get a private aircraft user fee decal through the Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPs) website, well ahead of time, like weeks. Second: Get an online eAPIS account with CBP. Third: File a flight manifest for entry to U.S. Fourth: Call the CBP office with an ETA and get verbal permission to land. Dave talked to the Minot CBP office a couple days before, and they concurred with what we were going to do. Groovy.
Saturday, July 20
We loaded up the airplane with our camping stuff. Weather was looking okay for departure Sunday morning. Wheels up at 06:00 CDT should get us through an estimated nine hours of flying time to arrive at KOSH before the airport closed at 20:00 CDT, with plenty of time for fuel stops and unexpected delays. Time to go file the eAPIS.
Dave is in charge of the border crossing leg, so he went home, immediately got distracted by some gardening, and didn’t file until later in the afternoon. Calling the Minot CBP office a couple hours later (recommended time duration from filing to calling) for permission to land exposed the first flaw in our plan: CBP officer says, “Office is closed. Not open until 09:00 CDT tomorrow. Can’t review your eAPIS until at least then, and technically, you can’t depart until two hours later.” Hmmm…that’s a detail that is not described anywhere in the eAPIS/CBP procedures, or by the dude Dave talked to on Wednesday. This would push us back four hours to start with.
***Insert any variety and number of four-letter words here***
OK, new plan – Leg 1 of 4: Regina (CYQR) to Morden, Manitoba (CJA3), then Leg 2 of 4: Morden (CJA3) to Grand Forks, North Dakota (KGFK).
Turns out Grand Forks CBP opens at 07:00 CDT, 06:00 our time. File a new eAPIS on Saturday evening for later arrival time Sunday, 11:00ish. Call Grand Forks for permission to land at 06:00 our time, then get in the air. We’ll fly two and a half hours to CJA3 (Morden), a nice little airport where WHC has gotten fuel before, then check in with Grand Forks CBP to update arrival time. Piece of cake.
Sunday, July 21
Arrive CYQR at 06:00 CDT for departure. Immediately call CBP Grand Forks to get permission to land. CBP officer says, “Well, I’m not in the office right now and can’t review your eAPIS…”
Oh, oh…
“…but what’s your tail number, aircraft type, number on board, and when about you arriving?”
Gulp…
“Yah, ok, no problem, I’ll be around. Update me if ETA changes.”
Woohoo!
At this point we decided to be sure that additions to yesterday’s gear didn’t put us overweight, so we decided to re-weigh everything. Turns out, we’d be under gross by 50 pounds with full fuel. No problem. Good to go!
Well, except for fog/smoke and haze and two-and-a-half miles visibility. But, Special VFR Departure let us leave and get going. Wheels up at 07:36 CDT. Still time to get to KOSH, as long as there are no more delays.
Visibility improved as soon as the sun came up a little more and we headed east. Became four, then 10 miles after leaving CYQR’s zone.
Touchdown at 10:00 CDT at CJA3. Very quiet. No one around. Pull up to the pumps. Then Doug exclaims, “There’s nothing coming out! Just a few drops!” While searching the fuel system for extra valves we might have missed, we stumble upon the tank gauge: EMPTY!
Doug, in charge of this leg, rechecks (firstly on July 18) the NOTAMs:
Now what? We immediately start calling around to other airports within range of what we thought we had left. All airports we called either didn’t have fuel, were hoarding it for themselves, had racing going on, or didn’t answer the phone. Unbeknown to us, it turns out there’s a very recently started fuel shortage in not just Manitoba, but all of Canada.
***Insert another variety and number of four-letter words here***
It turned out that the only refinery in Canada that makes avgas, Esso in Edmonton, had a recent problem with production and wasn’t making or shipping it at the time. Any stocks reportedly were being reserved for wildfire fighting ops. Back then it was to be resolved in early August. Having our own lightly used fuel supply at our little home airport (Disley, CDS2) we were oblivious. Some vendors, i.e. Regina Flying Club, were only selling to the public if there was urgent need, and then only so much. Others who didn’t restrict sales ran out quickly, i.e. Morden!
So, we did have some fuel, and with careful dipping of the tanks we determined it was 13 gallons. Enough for an hour plus 30 minutes reserve. Exactly what we needed to get to Grand Forks. As long as we went straight there. A little nervously, we began preflight to go. Then Andy pulls up in his truck.
“What’s going on? I’ve been watching you guys on the airport cameras for over an hour. Stuck?”
Andy goes on to tell us he had heard they were running short of fuel the other day and had filled his Cherokee to the brim. We relayed our plight, and he most generously offered up some fuel from his airplane. The siphoning operation was successful, and we left Andy 10 gallons short of full in his tanks, but plenty in WHC for the border crossing. Turns out that it was a very good thing. Thanks, Andy Martens of the Morden Flying Club. You’re a pilot hero!
Leg 2: Morden (CJA3) to Grand Forks (KGFK)
With confidence fueled by…well, fuel…away we go, lifting off 12:48 CDT. Cutting it tight, but we could still make KOSH by 20:00 CDT, as long as there are no MORE delays. File the flight plan with ForeFlight, update CBP with arrival time, and good to go.
There’s a 4,000-foot ceiling upon departure, and we get to 3,500 as fast as we can so that we can raise Minneapolis Centre to get a squawk code before we cross the quickly approaching border – it’s only about 15 miles from CJA3. No answer on any of the frequencies we had. Couldn’t even get Winnipeg Centre. We’re both pretty sure we can’t legally cross without a code (turns out this is true), so we begin circling. Eventually Dave finds the phone number and calls Minneapolis from the air (by the way, a Bluetooth-equipped headset works awesome in the cockpit).
“You’re who and calling from where and what do you want?”
“Oh, ok, sure, hang on.”
A minute later, we’re all coded up and head south.
“How about a frequency we can use for Minneapolis here?”
“Ummm…hang on…I don’t know that area all that well…try 127.6, that should work.”
We never did raise Minneapolis Centre on that leg, but eventually Grand Forks Approach responded on the published frequency as we neared the airport and cleared us in. Better yet, no Blackhawks or F-15s were seen anywhere near us!
We get marshalled into the red Customs and Border Patrol square on the ramp and shut down. CBP officer comes out and checks our decal and says, “Come on in boys.” A few minutes of checking passports, aircraft CofA, insurance, pilot licences, and medicals, it was as smooth an entry through Customs as one could wish for. “Welcome to the USA. Have a good trip.”
Phew. Let’s fuel up and on to Oshkosh!
Stay tuned for Chapter 2’s further misadventures and Fisk Arrival from Doug, Dave, and WHC in next month’s newsletter.
In the meantime, Chapter 1 lessons learned:
- It appears each port of entry to the U.S. may have its own unique eAPIS procedures. Best to do your border crossing planning and filing during business hours of your port of entry.
- Read the NOTAMs!!!
- Read the #!$@* NOTAMs!!!
Originally published in Chapter 154’s Leading Edge newsletter, August 2024.