Renting 172 USA

[rotorspeed]

Ok so I've looked up renting a plane in USA with canadian license so I guess you have to go through faa first and verify license and medical. Has anyone done it. Did you have problems. I once heard of a bunch of fbos linked together so when you do a checkout in one you can rent a plane in another state without a checkout.

[PilotDAR]

You'll have to get an FAA pilot "certificate". To do that, you'll have to make arrangements with an FAA delegate for that purpose. There's a process, they'll explain it. It will include requested a Transport Canada letter to verify your Canadian license. I was midway in the process last summer when I went splash, so it's still incomplete for me. Once done, you can present yourself to rent in the US.

Don't pass up the opportunity for a local check out. It perhaps need only be a ground briefing about local information and a couple of circuits if your skills are fresh. You will always learn something during a check out. The notion that you resist a few circuits with an instructor in a new environment, different plane, or after a while away from flying will make the aircraft provider think even more that you should have one. Though some states are quiet, some have really busy airspace, and local traffic patterns best learned in the company of a local pilot.

[ShawnR]

I am in the process now. I have received a letter from the FAA and now have to attend their office sometime before July to meet them and then they will authorize me to fly a rental, etc in the USA. The paper work was not hard. You will need to specify the FAA office that you will be attending for your meeting.

That is about all I can tell you at this point.

There is another route that I mistakenly followed for a while till I figured it out. It is a "Conversion" to an FAA license. Don't go there (unless that is what you want) It requires a medical and I think flight test. Being able to rent in the USA just requires paperwork and a meeting with FAA. I think that is what PilotDAR is talking about too. Same as me.

I can report back after my meeting.

Good luck

Cheers,
Shawn

[JasonE]

Please keep us posted, I've been interested in this. Plenty of different planes you can rent south of the border! Where do I find the contact info to get started?

[nbinont]

Start here: https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificat ... ification/
What you're after is a certificate based on a foreign licence (section 61.75).
Send them the form and copies of all the things mentioned on the form (I e-mailed them). Wait a few months for the verification letter to arrive in the mail (took about a month for me). Then visit their office with the verification letter (valid for 6 months I think, so don't sit on it), your original documents, ID, logbook, etc. (arrange with their office ahead of time so they know what you're looking for - the section 61.75 application). You should get your certificate in a few weeks.
Suggestions:
1. Have your night rating done or you will get a certificate restricted to day only. The US certificate by default includes night.
2. If you have an instrument rating, you can go do a written test and get it included too.

Once you have the certificate, you'll need to do a BFR before you can fly a US aircraft.

[Cessna 180]

Just an FYI (not sure where you live), but if you apply outside of the Rochester FSDO, there is absolutely no fee (don't quote me too much there might be other FSDOs that farm the job out to DPEs, there was no fee in the Helena FSDO). I think the service you're looking at is OpenAirplane. I haven't used it, but it seems very intriguing.

You'll need a flight review (new name for the BFR). You can likely combine that with a check on type. Bring your logbook, they'll give you a sticker.

[TA/RA]

Here is the link to a good article on the topic from the BC General Aviation Association.
https://www.bcaviation.ca/bcga-news/so- ... d-aircraft

[co-joe]

If you were to get a checkout prior to rental, would that not be considered receiving flight training, and cause you to need the alien fingerprinting and TSA clearance?

[Cessna 180]

If you were to get a checkout prior to rental, would that not be considered receiving flight training, and cause you to need the alien fingerprinting and TSA clearance?

flight reviews, IPCs, checkouts, etc, are exempt from the TSA requirements. You only need it for initial training on aircraft over 12,500 lbs (theres exemptions at most providers for under 12501 lbs) and for training towards a new certificate or rating. there's even an exemption for recurrent training on large aircraft.

[JasonE]

Process seems fairly straight forward. How do they handle tailwheel or complex time as Canada doesn't have these as "ratings"? I'd like both to be available to me.

[nbinont]

tailwheel and complex are endorsements for the FAA - not tracked by the FAA. Simply do a checkout in a complex/tailwheel with the instructor and get them to endorse your logbook as being able to operate complex aircraft or tailwheel as appropriate.

[ShawnR]

rotorspeed (and others)

I thought I should get back and update this. As mentioned earlier, I was in the process when this thread was started. After applying, I received a letter stating I had to visit the office that I had requested (Minneapolis FAA) before July 31 to have the interview to obtain the license. I ended up in Minneapolis on short notice, for other reasons (sick dog) so had not made an appointment. I contacted the office a day or two before I was to be there and the contact person got back to me and was very accommodating. (The letter I received stated I must make an appointment, iirc, 3 weeks ahead?) She was very nice, we managed to get together and I basically filled out another application like I had done before, almost like an insurance ...hours flown, etc.. Another fella there reviewed my log book (I think more out of curiosity than anything) but after about an hour, I was done and issued a temporary airman certificate. I have not received the official one in the mail yet. So in the end, it went very well. I think the link I used to get started was the BC one mentioned in an earlier post. It contains a good article on the process too. The staff at the FAA were very pleasant to deal with. I might have gotten a bit of slack because of my situation with my pet, but if you set up the appointment ahead, and are pleasant, the process itself easy.

You will need your log book, Pilot license and passport.

Not sure if I will ever use it but nice to have should my wife and I find ourselves with some time stateside and I have the itch to fly.

Good luck.
Cheers,

Shawn

[geneticistx]

Wow!! I sent in my material for the Verification of Authenticity of Foreign License on Jun 21 to the FAA and received my letter from them today, to contact the FSDO after 24 hours. Transport Canada provided FAA all the info they needed within 2 weeks!

[Beefitarian]

I don't want to talk anyone out of getting extra ratings or foreign credentials. Especially if you're young. Get off the computer and go get an FAA certificate. but..

Renting a plane on a trip is easy. I have flown in two places in the US and would do it more if I could fund it. Flying in a vacation spot is great fun.

My point? Unless I was going to be doing at least a few seperate flights or one well over two hours, and more often than every two years. I don't think I would bother getting an FAA certificate.

Some of my reasons silly as they are as follows.
If you hold the one not attatched to your Canadian license.

• You need a seperate medical.
• Also you need a bi-annual flight review

If I don't get a conversion, I just take an instructor along when I rent a plane occasionally, the benifits to this?

• I have someone to help work the radios and make sure we are in in the right spot for local calls and check points.
• I can just relax and look around while flying. I'm on vacation, I want to get to looking at the area not demonstrating maneuvers.
• In case of something particularly interesting such as whales near Maui, the instructor can take full control, you could even take pictures if you wish.

In my opinion, I prefer to take the instructor for up to two hours strictly sight seeing and bumming around. Instead of going for an hour or more to get a renter's check out before getting to just fly around for fun.

The downsides?

• Instructor is on the clock. It will get pricey if you are going to fly for five hours and they might not even want to stop for lunch off base.
• Instructor is occupying a seat you might want to use for someone else.

So for me, I flew once in 2012 then a few years later. I might go do one this summer with the cost of the plane being so high, I would rather just get it done and give a nice instructor a little work.

For example. $270 dual $190 solo. (Really loose $ conversion estimates for demonstration purposes)

1.3 renter's check $351. 2.1 solo flight $399. Total $750

2.7 dual $729

To word this another way, if the instructor is $80 per hour the check ride $351/$80 is nearly 4.5 hours worth. I start saving money having done one after 4 hours solo flying, plus I needed to spend time earning my solo flight.

If I'm just going for a quick local flight occasionally it's great fun to just book a plane and instructor for 2 hours and go.

Then again, the renter's check is flying too so, it's all good.

[waterdog]

Great thread guys and thanks for the update. I was clearly headed down the wrong path and have been studying for a written test.....After all of that, Beefitarian you make some great points! Something I realized the last time that I was in the US and I was sorry that I hadn't done the paperwork to rent a plane yet. When I looked at the area we wanted to fly and the amount of time for the flight it would have been less then 2hrs, in an area that was busy airspace and would have taken away from the sightseeing enjoyment that I was looking for.

Certainly something to consider.

Good points all around!

Thanks

[pelmet]

I think the service you're looking at is OpenAirplane. I haven't used it, but it seems very intriguing.

Got an email from open airplane recently.....

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From the beginning, we designed OpenAirplane to be failsafe. This timing will give us time to process payments, and provide for the orderly shutdown of the platform. We’ve always done our best to ensure vendors got paid before we did. We built that into our system from day one. We’re taking care to protect everyone’s data, just as we have since we started back in 2012.

We hope we leave the aviation world maybe just a little bit better than we found it.

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