The last week of July I'll be striking out from Texas to Chilliwack BC (via California to pick up my nephews) for four days of Sturgeon fishing. I've never taken a airplane out of he U.S. before. Here is what I have so far:

1. U.S. Customs sticker on the plane
2. Radio station license for the plane
3. Radio operators permit for myself

Questions I have:

1. Is there a smaller airport then Vancouver, that I can land at to clear customs?
2. I Google mapped the Chilliwack airport, does anyone know if the grass along the runways can be landed on?
3. Is that legal in Canada?

And what don't I know that I don't know?

Thanks in advance.

Man, I was just at chilliwack not long ago, but in a 150 and didnt check the runway edges. Sorry. Im kind of leaning towards no. Yes, it is legal to land on the grass beside the runway. There is a great restaurant in the chilliwack airport as well.
I think Abbotsford has customs. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they do international. Its not far from chilliwack, and personally I like the smaller airports better.
David

Customs at Abbotsford is the way to go.

X2 on Abbotsford. Boundary Bay would be my second choice.

Filing an EApis manifest with the DHS is important. Filing an international flight plan with US FSS is also important. Timing is critical. Arrive exactly when you plan for +/- 5 to10 minutes. For this reason, I usually file from Bellingham, because it's about a ten minute flight. leaving little variation in arrival time. They get suspicious if you do anything that you didn't mention in your plan. Have all of your ducks in a row. They can be pricks on both sides of the border.

A shotgun or hunting rifle is no problem in Canada, but you need to fill out some forms. I was under the impression that bringing firearms in to Canada was a nightmare before I did it, but it is actually quite painless.

You can usually land on the grass. Specify that intention to the tower if it is controlled, and they may give specific instructions. There are sometimes hazards lurking on the side, so be sure before committing.

File eAPIS, file a flight plan, phone Canada Customs minimum 2 hours before your ETA. Abbotsford (CYXX) is the closer customs airport to Chilliwack (CYCW). After you land at CYXX and are parked in the customs parking area (near the base of the control tower) give Canada customs another phone call - they may just clear you over the phone with a clearance number or tell you to hold your hat while they come to your plane.

When you fill out the eAPIS you have to list both the departure airport and the "customs" airport. Usually I give KBLI (Bellingham), even if I'm departing from Puyallup or Arlington. You also need an ETA (CYXX is 20 min from KBLI) and a border crossing location (say Custer). You can land on grass beside the runway at CYXX, just ask tower. At Chilliwack I doubt if anyone cares where you land, there's no control tower there and it's farming country with nobody getting too nosey. Just don't go cartwheeling off into the water-filled ditches and attract attention. What else.....as soon as you depart your last airport in the US, give Seattle FSS a call to get your border-crossing transponder code.

You don't need the sticker to get into Canada. but you'll need it to get back into the US. Customs and TWR at Bellingham are real friendly, so usually I clear there southbound to get it out of the way and then just drive to wherever I want.

As the earlier reply sez, try to be accurate on your timing. They'll cut you some slack, but anything over 20 minutes would be pushing it.

Good on you for the radio licenses, but nobody in Canada really cares or checks. Radio licenses are admin'd by Industry Canada and and have nothing to do with aviation.

Phone numbers and a repeat of the process above at http://www.lepore.ca/aerobatics/aerobatics.html

Abbotsford has an airshow starting July 27 this year.

When I crossed last August taking off from Renton, I had previously been delayed a couple of days and realized I was going to arrive during the airshow!

Canada FSS was quite willing to let me go in to Abottsford but I didn't think that was such a good idea and went to Boundary Bay instead. I tried to get Seattle FSS to tell "those who care" that I wasn't crossing at Abbotsford but Seattle FSS didn't have any idea of who to tell. I had a voice recording of "my good intentions" and decided to see what, if any, commotion this would cause on the way back in. (No commotion - nothing mentioned.)

By the way, I got CANPASS for private aircraft for myself - my copilot did not. That may have helped.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/canpass/privateair-eng.html

At Boundary Bay, I was directed to a boundary box and then escorted inside to a phone. Called customs, cleared by phone, and on my way - very pleasant. Tower referenced a local marker on the VTA for departure. My copilot and I had difficulty finding it - when we told tower we did have local charts but were having difficulty, they were very gracious and helpful (HINT - make sure you have a current Vancouver VTA - this is SO not wide open airspace.

On the way back, I crossed at Bellingham and called them twice that day updating my arrival. The first time was around noon, because I want to update my arrival to 6 pm and wanted to make sure they were open. The second time was 4 pm because I had to replace my tail wheel (bolts holding it together had come loose) and I told them we would arrive closer to 9 pm. We arrived around 8:15 pm - we did have to wait in the box 15 minutes, but Customs apologized for the long wait (!!!) and were very pleasant and interested in our adventure to Tuk.

6 weeks after we returned, I got a bill for using NAV Canada flight services. I think it was $45 and for 3 months- payable by credit card.

Hope you also have such good luck

This is all great information, thank you.

Boundary Bay (czbb) airshow -july 27
Abbotsford (cyxx) airshow - august 8,9,10,11
Chilliwack (cycw) airshow- august 17&18
chilliwack contact info- re grass landing
Edward (Ed) Wilkins
Airport Manager
Magnum Management
Chilliwack Municipal Airport
46244 Airport Road
Chilliwack, B.C.
V2P 1A5
Phone: 604-792-3430
Fax: 604-792-3070
[email protected]
www.chilliwackairport.com/
Chilliwack is the center of our gravel bar playground- can't play right now because of spring run off.
Make your life simple, leave you guns south of the border.
When are you planning on being here?
Ken

Normally I would look this up for you and provide a link, but I have to run. AOPA has some good docs on their website with information about flying to Canada. You might find it worthwhile to check it out.

They also have docs on Mexico.

Ken,

Thanks for the additional info.

Arriving Chilliwack July 28, fishing 29, 30, 31, 1, headed back home Aug 2.

If I didn't have my nephews with me I'd stay a couple of days extra and got out and play with you guys. Having said that how cool would it be if one of the days we were fishing I sent my nephews out with the guide, then met up with them on a bar. That would blow their minds.

I believe you have to have radar service (aka flight following) and have your own discrete squawk when you actually cross the border. You can contact NAS Whidbey Island (aka Whidbey Approach) for that-- 118.2 west side, 120.7 east side. I've entered Canada at both Nanaimo and Boundary Bay, no customs officer showed up so had to call but no problem. I have cleared back into the US a couple times at Friday Harbor, both times they had an attitude. Cleared once at Bellingham, very professional service (no attitude). An enhanced drivers license works if crossing by car, but for flying I believe you will need a passport-- if not for entering Canada, at least for re-entering the US.