Looking at Canadian 206 and know nothing about bringing plane into USA. Any major downsides or issues before I start getting serious with purchase? Is there a company that does this sort of thing I could get a quote from?
Thanks

Big factor is if the airplane was originally sold as N registered or some other country. Typically an airplane that was originally N registered is fairly "easy" compared to others. There needs to be a conformity inspection done to make sure the airplane meets its TC.

This is usually where someone would secure the services of a DAR. I just did a quick search for "DAR FAA conformity services" and a bunch popped up, perhaps some other members might have a specific DAR to recommend.

AOPA is a good resource as well.

MW

Used to be any US- FAA IA could do an annual inspection and you are done. Something changed where a DAR services are required for a conformity inspection. Not sure if FAA FDSO needs to inspect? This might have something to do with Transport Canada allowing "special certificate of airworthiness for owner maintenance".

Many of us are kinda scared to import just because of this. Expensive parts may have to come off or reinspected. Buyer beware.

I was peripherally involved with the re-import of a 172 on amphib floats. Making sure all of the STCs were US legal was kind of a big deal, requiring a couple of visits from an American DAR and several months.

OTOH, my 185 was repatriated with minimal difficulty.

I looked into this not long ago as I was eyeballing a standard airworthiness Aeronca in Canada.

It required positive deregistration from TC, then a ferry flight to some location in the US where a DAR can perform a conformity inspection. Maybe the deregistration comes after you land in the US. And by “you” I mean a Canadian certificated pilot.

The local DAR I talked to wanted $2000 for the inspection. Once you have that you can apply for a FAA airworthiness cert and registration. The FAA requires the deregistration from TC before they do anything.

I didn’t follow through so no firsthand knowledge but that was my understanding.

My understanding is that the easiest is to have the Canadian fly to you where you make an offer he can’t refuse and buy the plane at your home airport. He goes home deregisters it and then you go through US registration.

I just went through this process (took about 4 months). Glad to have a chance to pay it forward. If you'll message me, I can send you my number.

short version:
1. Need Transport Canada CofA for Export performed by TC Ministry Delegate (with export authority-- not all MD's have it)
2. Need FAA CofA performed by FAA DAR-T.

Prerequisites for 1 are:
a. Full annual within 30 days of the M.D.'s inspection for 1.
b. As part of the annual, a conformance inspection, performed by a certified shop/ mechanic attesting to the fact that the aircraft conforms to the Type certificate. It was blurry in terms of the distinction between "a" and "b," but "b" involved getting paperwork prepared related to all STC's.

Prerequisites for 2:
a. Plane needs to be registered in US before step 2. And a pre-req for FAA registration is proof of deregistration from Transport Canada.
b. 100 hour inspection (or annual) by FAA A&P, within 30 days of DAR-T's inspection. the annual in Canada can't count for this. This also entails documenting all STC's for the DAR-T's review. (which means transcribing the Canadian STC's from step 1b onto form 337).
c. Once 2a and 2b are completed, you are ready for the DAR-T's visit and sign-off.

Summary: when you're finished, notwithstanding whether the plane needed an annual, you will have done two full annuals, because of the 30-day timing requirements on each end. The actual Officials involved (The TC MD and the FAA DAR-T) took just one day each. It's all the supportive stuff that takes time.


Other notes: Whether the aircraft was manufactured in the US originally may impact the process slightly, but I don't think it allows you to skip any of the steps above. There's something called the "bilateral agreement" (from NAFTA & its successor) that's supposed to make this process as listed simpler than if coming from another country. (e.g. the attestation done in Canada is w/r/t to the FAA Type Certiciate)

In hindsight, are there companies that can manage this process? Good info, thanks.

When the “several months” I mentioned above were completed, the new owner made the tactically brilliant move of crossing the border for his actual importation late on a Friday afternoon. He landed at the airport of entry and put the documentation, a three-foot stack, on the float.

The Customs officer looked at the stack, said “welcome home,” shook my buddy’s hand, and walked off.

Great information; this will obviously factor into which T206 we move forward on as well as price offered. My favorite plane is a 2000 located in Canada. Couple of very nice Wipaire mods. We've also raised our budget to low $400s.

softlanding: thanks for detailed info, sending PM this AM.
Jack