GolfFoxtrot
14th Sep 2002, 18:02
Just thought I’d drop a quick line and let others benefit from my experience.
The original plan in a nutshell was to fly out to Vancouver Canada. Rent a C-172, incorporating some mountain flying experience in the in initial checkout. Then obtain either a Canadian Limited Time PPL or a Foreign Licence Validation for my UK/JAA PPL. The route was planned south in to San Francisco, before threading through the Rockies to Casper and North to Calgary, leaving the return journey back through the Rockies to Vancouver. Perfect 50-60 hrs flying and all of my single engine time built.
I actually spent quite a long time working all this out from licencing, to immigration/visa issues for my girlfriend (I’m British/Canadian) and it all looked highly plausible.
The Problems
The visa application (which is needed for all UK citizens entering the US in a light aircraft) was sent off 8 weeks before the travel date. In those 8 weeks the application was rejected twice. First time for not providing a detailed enough itinerary the second time for not providing:
Details of UK rent or mortgage, Details of parents UK rent or mortgage, Evidence of UK pension, Evidence of savings in the UK, Letter from UK employer supporting claim to a full time UK job, Evidence of UK medical scheme and a few other I can’t remember now.
By this time however we were a few days from travel date. Why they couldn’t have included this information in the second application I do not know.
They did however say that travel under the visa waiver on a schedule flight might be possible if all this information was brought along. I could then pick my girlfriend up in Seattle.
We arrived in Canada rented the C-172 and flew along (with instructor) to the nearest Transport Canada office to obtain the foreign licence validation. No problems it took an hour except that it can only be used within Canada. I informed them that over the phone they had suggested the opposite but it was like talking to a brick wall. To fly a Canadian Reg A/C outside Canada a full Canadian PPL was needed.
This could be issued on my UK PPL however they found I had insufficient P1 cross country time owing to the fact that flying P1 to another airfield but not actually landing to save the landing fee (CAA have no problems with this) is not actually cross country flying. Also they needed a medical because a UK class 1 is not sufficient.
The Solution
With this many obstacles the trip to the US was abandoned, a Canadian class 3 medical was obtained and the necessary cross country time was filled flying East through the Rockies to Calgary, up to Edmonton and Jasper then out across the prairies to Saskatoon and back along the border to Vancouver. We flew 45 hours in the end, which was a little shy of the original goal.
All in all it was a great trip, we saw some beautiful scenery and I got a 420nm cross country, gained mountain flying experience and all in all became a more experienced, safer and confident pilot. Perhaps I could have done more research or maybe I was unlucky. Next time I won’t believe anything unless it is confirmed by several sources and never again will I underestimate the tenacity of an INS service even in the light of 911, I think they were more worried about my girlfriend taking up residence than her hijacking our 172.
The original plan in a nutshell was to fly out to Vancouver Canada. Rent a C-172, incorporating some mountain flying experience in the in initial checkout. Then obtain either a Canadian Limited Time PPL or a Foreign Licence Validation for my UK/JAA PPL. The route was planned south in to San Francisco, before threading through the Rockies to Casper and North to Calgary, leaving the return journey back through the Rockies to Vancouver. Perfect 50-60 hrs flying and all of my single engine time built.
I actually spent quite a long time working all this out from licencing, to immigration/visa issues for my girlfriend (I’m British/Canadian) and it all looked highly plausible.
The Problems
The visa application (which is needed for all UK citizens entering the US in a light aircraft) was sent off 8 weeks before the travel date. In those 8 weeks the application was rejected twice. First time for not providing a detailed enough itinerary the second time for not providing:
Details of UK rent or mortgage, Details of parents UK rent or mortgage, Evidence of UK pension, Evidence of savings in the UK, Letter from UK employer supporting claim to a full time UK job, Evidence of UK medical scheme and a few other I can’t remember now.
By this time however we were a few days from travel date. Why they couldn’t have included this information in the second application I do not know.
They did however say that travel under the visa waiver on a schedule flight might be possible if all this information was brought along. I could then pick my girlfriend up in Seattle.
We arrived in Canada rented the C-172 and flew along (with instructor) to the nearest Transport Canada office to obtain the foreign licence validation. No problems it took an hour except that it can only be used within Canada. I informed them that over the phone they had suggested the opposite but it was like talking to a brick wall. To fly a Canadian Reg A/C outside Canada a full Canadian PPL was needed.
This could be issued on my UK PPL however they found I had insufficient P1 cross country time owing to the fact that flying P1 to another airfield but not actually landing to save the landing fee (CAA have no problems with this) is not actually cross country flying. Also they needed a medical because a UK class 1 is not sufficient.
The Solution
With this many obstacles the trip to the US was abandoned, a Canadian class 3 medical was obtained and the necessary cross country time was filled flying East through the Rockies to Calgary, up to Edmonton and Jasper then out across the prairies to Saskatoon and back along the border to Vancouver. We flew 45 hours in the end, which was a little shy of the original goal.
All in all it was a great trip, we saw some beautiful scenery and I got a 420nm cross country, gained mountain flying experience and all in all became a more experienced, safer and confident pilot. Perhaps I could have done more research or maybe I was unlucky. Next time I won’t believe anything unless it is confirmed by several sources and never again will I underestimate the tenacity of an INS service even in the light of 911, I think they were more worried about my girlfriend taking up residence than her hijacking our 172.