Another angle in favour of importing a plane from the USA is that you can get a big avionics upgrade done there for perhaps 2/3 the cost of Europe. This is partly because you save the ~20% VAT and partly because work out there is much cheaper. I have seen quotes literally half the price (e.g. a G500 install). And while you should pay the VAT on import, nobody quite does because you pay import VAT on the market value (MV) and that is always depressed; avionics upgrades are wasted on the MV.
Also there is more quality and expertise to be found there. There are good and bad shops everywhere but here in Europe there is very little choice and most of them are pretty borderline. This results in a tiny number of firms getting an absolutely fanatical following and even though they do their fair share of bodges nobody dares say it openly because they will get slammed in forums. Or the firm threatens to sue the forum. In the USA there is a lot more transparency; people talk openly on forums there about who is good or bad.
I spoke to an old avionics guy here yesterday… he fully agreed that if the USA was say 5hrs’ flying time (instead of more like 30hrs and all the hassle like visas) the entire European avionics installation business would be immediately wiped out. It would also massively prop up the N-reg scene whose benefits have been much reduced over recent years.
OTOH you aren’t likely to be out there to manage the job, and that’s never a good thing…
A further thing is that you get lots of good engine shops there – another dire aspect of Europe. Yes I know I had an oil leak from a pushrod shroud seal on my new engine but that was fixed ok.
Still I can’t see an import worth doing for a plane under ~100k.
STOLman’s trip is under Articles. Well worth watching the video.
Ferry flights over the NATL are usually experiences well worth doing. It’s on my bucket list, though not necessarily as a ferry but simply to go there and back.
In the past few weeks quite a few planes from Europe went to Oskosh and back and that happens every year. Yes, it is an adventure, yes there is a lot which can go wrong and Murphy never sleeps but heck, he doesn’t sleep every time you get out of bed either.
On youtube there are several accounts of people having done that. Jan Brill from Pilot und Flugzeug has flown the atlantic many times in his Twin Commanche at the time but he also brought home the Cheetah which now is Lisa 1. It can be done and if it can and you have the time, find yourself a pilot with experience and go for it. If in your case you can find an IRI who is willing to do the trip, well, you need these 30 hours anyhow, so why not do them doing something productive? And believe me, on the NATL you probably get more real IFR experience than below foggles at the local training port.
Jan states in his excellent book about the NATL ferry business that you need at least 700 NM range and, if you wish to go over the ice cap, a service ceiling of in excess of 15’000 ft. A TB20 can easily do that, so can a M20 J and upwards (the turbos will be happier up high), Arrows from the III onwards, many Bonanzas and I suppose Cessna 182’s as well. Most twins can do it too. IFR is a de facto must, even though there are folks doing it VFR from time to time, it’s not recommended as in some areas the top level you are going to get is 5000 ft over the sea. The longest leg btw is the one from Iceland to Europe, as the Faroer are hardly ever plannable as fuel stops reliably.
I’d look for an IRI who has NATL experience and go for it.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
…and I suppose Cessna 182’s as well.
I have flown IFR over the Alps in a C182 at FL160 with two people on board so it would be able to do that trip. The range is rather critical though, I guess a ferry tank will be required.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
IFR is a de facto must, even though there are folks doing it VFR from time to time, it’s not recommended as in some areas the top level you are going to get is 5000 ft over the sea.
A former colleague once flew a small homebuilt over (don’t remember what type it was, a two seater which looked very much like a C152), that he got assembled in Canada. It had no proper instruments so he needed to stay out of clouds which meant that he had to fly the last three hours over the ocean below 1000ft. Radio contact was loat early and the SAR helicopters were about to be scrambled when he finally managed to relay a message via an airliner overhead.
I’ve done this 13 times now, great trip. Got two more coming up in the next month.
A C206 from NYC area to UK will cost about 10K USD (including paying all the costs of a ferry pilot), doing it without and you’ll save about $4000.
Shameless plug, but we’re doing a return crossing next summer UK-US-UK by a deliberately inefficient but amazing route (all legs under 400nm) – landing at disused USAF airstrips, abandoned settlements etc. Get in touch if interested – both helis and planes…
Safe flights, Sam.
PS reading back a few posts, neither ferry tanks, HF nor IR required – it’s the journey, not the destination! :-)
