LFHNflightstudent wrote:
We got the Comanche with the tip tanks which gives us 8,5h of autonomy and the mechanic has just put in the ferry tank on the back seat which brings that up to 12hs – our longest stretch should not be more than 9.
Tough to argue against a lot of range, but any particular reason to avoid Greenland? You would have been fine to go via Greenland without the ferry tank.
That’s an adventure ! Plenty of them in EuroGA :)
Did you ask for a visa to enter the US in you plane ?
mmgreve wrote:
Tough to argue against a lot of range, but any particular reason to avoid Greenland? You would have been fine to go via Greenland without the ferry tank.
If you are trying to get to somewhere at a specific time, being able to skip Greenland makes sense. If he was going to go through there on a Sunday for example it could cost more than the labour to install the ferry tank. But mostly weather risk is much higher there than the rest of the trip.
Yes quite an adventure! I’m envious!
About the visa, as a pilot, back in 2017 I was allowed to fly as PIC out of the US, but I was unequivocally told by US CBP I would not be able to fly back in (I had previously flown-in CAT with ESTA). So when we flew out of the US into Canada on our way to EU, we knew there was no way back!
I thought Canada was easier but found out the hard way that , at least for a Spain passport, only pilots with a valid and current license could go in and out of Canada via private aircraft without a visa waiver or a visa. It could have been a mess: we were not allowed in Canada, but we could not go back to the US unless on a commercial flight…coming from EU!
The pilot exemption is based on ICAO Annex 9 ch3, but such exemption applies for crews, not pilots. So the question came on whether we could use it for non-pilot crews. ICAO requires some kind of CMC or crew-member-certificate, but eventually we could produce an FCL for all POB which made it easier.
3.66.1 Recommended Practice.— Contracting States should waive the visa requirement for crew members when
arriving in a duty status on an international flight and seeking temporary entry for the period allowed by the receiving State.
3.66.2 Recommended Practice.— Contracting States should waive the visa requirement for arriving crew members
presenting CMCs, when arriving on another aircraft operator or another mode of transport and seeking temporary entry for
the period allowed by the receiving State in order to join their assigned flight in a duty status.
Perhaps there is some more GA-specific ICAO guidance in this respect.
Antonio wrote:
About the visa, as a pilot, back in 2017 I was allowed to fly as PIC out of the US, but I was unequivocally told by US CBP I would not be able to fly back in (I had previously flown-in CAT with ESTA). So when we flew out of the US into Canada on our way to EU, we knew there was no way back!
Well, this is contrary what @Patrick writes in his Bahamarama thread and also what a friends of mine got in writing from the US Embassy in Vienna in 2016. What it underscores is, that it really depends on who you talk to.
Quote from @Patrick inb the other thread:
All four of us traveled on ESTA and it was no problem at all. It was the time of the government shutdown, but we experienced no problems (on the contrary: Trump cancelled his trip to Mar a Lago, so we did not need to worry about the TFR in the Palm Beach area). The CBP agents we were in touch with were very friendly and professional and the process very smooth.
172driver wrote:
Well, this is contrary what @Patrick writes in his Bahamarama thread and also what a friends of mine got in writing from the US Embassy in Vienna in 2016. What it underscores is, that it really depends on who you talk to.
It is clearly the case that you can fly back in if still within the validity period of the ESTA entry. But I would not personally do it in terms of flying out to Europe then trying to fly back in. You might be right but still the officer concerned has to let you in. For a short jaunt to the Caribbean you are probably safe as the CBP down there is used to it.
If you want to enter or exit the US in a private plane, it really is worth getting a visa.
I think the problem is that the wording in the ESTA regs is very vague. It says something along the lines of ‘short side trips to neighboring countries are permitted’ without defining ‘short’ or ‘neighboring’, the latter being clear wrt Canada, not so much in the Caribbean. Otherwise agree with @Jason.
Antonio wrote:
ICAO requires some kind of CMC or crew-member-certificate, but eventually we could produce an FCL for all POB which made it easier.
An FCL paper will not make them crew neither 
?
But you can claim C210 need 5 “loadmasters” and hand them few W&B sheets 
Ibra wrote:
An FCL paper will not make them crew neither ?
But you can claim C210 need 5 “loadmasters” and hand them few W&B sheets
Well , I did not try that in the US, but when being charged extortionate per-pax fees, we definitely appoint mum as cabin-crew in charge of the pax-kids. I am trying to get mum an FCL but for the time being failing miserably at that.
mmgreve wrote:
Tough to argue against a lot of range, but any particular reason to avoid Greenland? You would have been fine to go via Greenland without the ferry tank.
Avgas at 9$ A liter.
