Canada/USA
 

I will be travelling to Canada in October of this year and was thinking of extending my trip to do some flying. I will be based outside Toronto about half way to Niagra falls, so will be able to either cross and fly from around Buffalo New York or else wherever is good near me in Toronto.
I have about 200 hours SEP GA mainly in C172 and TB9s. I also have about 100 hours on Microlights (various Rotax 912s models)
while I am working on getting an FAA cert attatched to my EASA lience, I am finding it harder to get the necessary information in Canada.

Secondly does anybody know any good Clubs/Airfields or even Schools that I could go to in these areas.
Ideally I would like to hire somehting that is not too shabby, either a good LSA or else Cessna 172 and 182. Do they all require rediculous numbers of hours too be flown each day?

Thirdly where is the best place to fly to over there? I was thinking about spending about 4 or 5 days.

Marcus,

You might get more useful information if you post in the Canada forum.

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviati...-fore-1812.htm

That will get you started for a license conversion to fly. It can be done by most flight schools and takes maybe an hour or two. The only catch is if there are hour differences between your license and the Canadian equivalent that may require "clean-up" hours. When I converted my NZ CPL to a Canadian CPL I was short 5 hours of night PIC, so had to do that before they'd issue me the CPL.

As for clubs, try Spectrum Airways in between Milton and Burlington.

Home - Spectrum Airways

Otherwise there is a great club out near St. Catharines HOME - St. Catharines Flying Club. Their CFI from 10 years ago or so did my MEIFR ride - very nice and down to earth gentleman who made it seem you were the only person in the world he wanted to be talking to at that moment. I'm sure if he's still flying, that he'll still be there.

Each club will have a minimum number of hours required for insurance purposes, so you'll only find that information out by calling them. From memory Spectrum was something along the hours of one hour per month after completing their check-out flight.

As for where to fly - anywhere in the golden horseshoe is a great place to fly. The Toronto to Niagara Falls corridor is gorgeous, takes about 2 hours to do it properly and is a great mix of busy flying and talking and general looking out the window. From there, down near Lake Erie to Windsor, up the river to Lake Huron and back would be a great day trip to take in what Southern Ontario has to offer. Otherwise, point the nose north and head up Barrie way or east towards Trenton and the 1000 Islands. Really, you can't go wrong whichever way the nose is pointed!

Oops..the icon will still take you to the TC website I was trying to send you to, but if not, try this:

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviati...00-003-122.htm

I do flying at quite a few locations in Canada and the US. Usually when going to a new city, I just do an internet search for the various flight schools/flying clubs. There are quite a few airfields around Toronto and depending on your location, it should be fairly easy to figure out depending on what you are looking for such as anything close to where you live or certain aircraft types.

Airports in the area include St. Catherines, Welland and Brantford and likely a few others. Getting toward Niagara Falls is actually kind of constrained as you have nearby Great Lakes to the north and south and the American border to the east which requires special signing up procedures for crossing. So to the west initially is the only direction.

I don't have details of any of these locations but finding a 172 is never difficult. My experience is that the checkout usually is the same old stuff in flight such as the steep turns, slow flight, stalls, forced approach, and some touch and goes. And of course the local procedures. Usually an exam or two. Lower total times may mean more of a checkout, I'm not sure but your total time isn't a lot.

Marcus, on a nice clear October day, rent a plane for as much of the day as you are permitted, and fly to Killarney, Ontario. North along the Niagara escarpment, across the end of Manitoulin Island, stop for lunch and gas in Killarney, ten minute walk to a beautiful rather remote town. Then follow the eastern shore of Georgian Bay south again. Enough airports along the way to feel comfortable, navigation very easy on a clear day, and very little radio work. At that time of year, the colours will be spectacular along the route, and the lake just beautiful. That will be four + hours of flying from the Toronto area.