Getting a Canadian registered plane into the USA

Dean

Dean

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Has anyone here brought a Canadian registered airplane into the USA? If so, what did it entail? There is a Canadian registered airplane that I am interested in, but not sure if I want to go to the trouble if it's a big ordeal. It would fall under ELSA rules here.
 
Dean said:
Has anyone here brought a Canadian registered airplane into the USA? If so, what did it entail? There is a Canadian registered airplane that I am interested in, but not sure if I want to go to the trouble if it's a big ordeal. It would fall under ELSA rules here.
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Well, maybe, maybe not. An E-LSA, in the US, must be (now) a kit version of a factory-built S-LSA. (Unless it was converted to E-LSA before January 31, 2008.)
 
I was working on this for a while, until the plane was sold out from under me. I wonder if it was you.....

Anyway, first, the Owner of Record in Canada must have it de-registered with Transport Canada. You will need a copy of the deregistration notice from Transport Canada(their version of FAA reg branch). Next, you'll need a bill of sale from the last owner of record that is acceptable to the FAA(this is important, they want specific things in the bill of sale). You can then bring it into the US, and you will deal with the US customs on import fees, and any duty owed. Once in the US, it will need a condition inspection(it's an EXP plane), then finally it will need a airworthiness inspection for it's AW certificate from a different person than did the condition inspection.

I have a few questions. Was it built from a commercially available kit, a copy of which has been built and registered in the US (like a Challenger, or something)? Would you consider taking the wings and engine off, and import it as 'aircraft parts'? If you would I think customs would be easier.
 
docmirror said:
I have a few questions. Was it built from a commercially available kit, a copy of which has been built and registered in the US (like a Challenger, or something)? Would you consider taking the wings and engine off, and import it as 'aircraft parts'? If you would I think customs would be easier.
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The plane in question is a Challenger II on Floats. I think it will be more of a pain in the a-- than what its worth.
 
Couple of comments.

My Velocity was built and owned in Canada, so I went through this when I purchased, but it was a couple of years ago so some details may be slightly off. The details I quoted strike me as correct, but my experience was slightly different and I managed the sequence differently. There is a legal sequence that must be followed, but there is no reason that you can't pay to have everything done ahead of time and then the legal sequence is a simple paper exercise.

First, once the Canadian owner has the plane de-registered, they would have a VERY difficult time getting it re-registered. Thus, for them to de-register, they are at great risk if you back out on sale. This should make them a bit skittish. What we did was fly the plane to US, then I paid for pre-purchase. When that showed plane was clean, I paid for condition inspection and air-worthiness inspection. When the inspections were complete but prior to actually being issued, I put money in escrow with SUBSTANTIAL amount non-refundable if I backed out. At that point, the owner de-registered the plane and everything went as quoted below.

Having the plane in the US at Velocity factory where they knew the owner and the plane had a clean inspection made risk acceptable to me. Having a >$5k non-refundable deposit made risk of de-registration acceptable to seller. If the seller isn't pretty skittish about de-registering his plane, I'd be a bit worried about legitimacy of the deal.

I'm not a lawyer and don't really know what I'm talking about. This information is from ~2003 and you paid nothing for it, that's exactly what it's worth. Good luck, but realize that there is some substantial risk to both of you. Worked perfect for me, but it was much more involved than purchasing a US based plane.

docmirror said:
I was working on this for a while, until the plane was sold out from under me. I wonder if it was you.....

Anyway, first, the Owner of Record in Canada must have it de-registered with Transport Canada. You will need a copy of the deregistration notice from Transport Canada(their version of FAA reg branch). Next, you'll need a bill of sale from the last owner of record that is acceptable to the FAA(this is important, they want specific things in the bill of sale). You can then bring it into the US, and you will deal with the US customs on import fees, and any duty owed. Once in the US, it will need a condition inspection(it's an EXP plane), then finally it will need a airworthiness inspection for it's AW certificate from a different person than did the condition inspection.

I have a few questions. Was it built from a commercially available kit, a copy of which has been built and registered in the US (like a Challenger, or something)? Would you consider taking the wings and engine off, and import it as 'aircraft parts'? If you would I think customs would be easier.
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EAA didn't know much. I talked to them as I'm a member as well. Their advice boiled down to 'use an escrow service in OK City that is familiar with international sales'. I contacted several escrow services and the base cost was $599, plus some document fees and transfer fees.

The information I gave comes from a long time DE that has done several of the Canada deals. I would say that JS above is pretty close to the same deal, except he was allowed to take the plane to the US first. Both sellers I dealt with said 'no way the plane leaves the country until the money is transferred'. Which, is what I would say if I were selling a plane to a foreign national. YMMV. If you can get them to let the plane go to the US under a Canadian registration, it makes the deal easier. Still need the statement from Transport Canada before trying to get anything done in the US.

Being a type that has been built and flown in the US makes the condition inspection pretty much a done deal. You may have to mark or placard some detail, but it should go smoothly. Ditto for the AW inspection as long as it has not been modified much from the plans.

JSB, what was the situation on Customs duties or fees? I never got that far.
 
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