Looking to rent a twin or a high performance single in Canada

[rmdr2]

Hi there

I am considering a 7-10day x-country flying holiday in Canada in the summer, and would like to do it in a decent twin. However, after about a hundred phone calls to various schools, I have found that renting a twin is near impossible.

Any of you guys out there got any ideas?

If the twin idea doesn't work out, next best thing would be a high performance single (prefereably 6-seater)...

Also looking for suggestions on good places to fly - beautiful scenary being the priority...

Help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Mostly Harmless]

Hmmm… difficult. You are correct… the insurance industry here has made the rental of light twins pretty expensive (or so the story is told by the schools). Unfortunately the same is true of high-performance singles. The reality is that most places that rent don’t get a lot of renters looking for high performance aircraft. They make their bread and butter off of the good old C-172 (or similar) airplanes and doing dual instruction. I don’t think I know of any 6-place aircraft for hire in all of western Canada (B. C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba). The Calgary Flying Club has an Arrow and a C-182.
I would suggest you post this in the general section of www.avcanada.ca and you might get a little more feedback. You might be able to hook up with someone who is not a traditional school but has a plane to rent. Be careful about doing it this way. If it is a privately registered aircraft, you will have to buy (for as low as $1) a share in the airplane and have your name on the registration and insurance for it to be legal. If it is commercially registered, a rental is no problem. You can check to see if it is private or commercial here. http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/activepages/ccarcs/aspscripts/en/quicksearch.asp
While I was writing this, a friend of mine who lives down the hall rang my doorbell to invite me over for a carbonated beverage. I told him of your request and he suggested that perhaps Bar XH might have a Beech Baron 55 that they used to rent. They are based in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Good luck and good hunting.
Oh yes… one last piece of advice. Don’t tackle the Canadian Rockies without going out with an instructor for a mountain checkout first. A good instructor who has experience out there. It is a unique type of flying, beautiful beyond all words, but it will kill you if you don’t know what you are doing. How to spot a good instructor? For starters, you won’t climb up over the peaks until you are confident down in the valleys.

[rmdr2]

Thanks for your help, Mostly Harmless!!!

Advice on mountain flying duely noted!

Do you have any opinions on renting out of seattle - and flying into canada - perhaps up to alaska?

[richardhead]

I know a twin. Here name is Gina. She's fast and friendly, but as mentioned in the previous post. You will need a check out and she does not come cheap.

[Mostly Harmless]

Sorry. No useful information about renting out of Seattle, but it is no problem to fly north from there to Alaska. Fairly routine.

Richardhead... those ones never are cheap. Ones like that tend to make aeroplanes look affordable by comparison. :)

P.S. Do you have an I.F.R.? You will likely need it if you are planning on flying up the west coast.

[amberhuggatt]

Any suggestions, also now looking for a multi or high performance in alberta.

Around 15-20hours a month.

thanks

[ahramin]

You do not need to be on the C of R to rent an airplane in Canada. If the airplane is privately registered then you just get an LVC for your foreign licence, sort out the insurance, and pay the owner whatever you agree on.