Buying a N registered plane and importing?

[philaviate]

can someone please give me a brief idiots guide to buying a N registered plane to bring it up into Canada.

TC's website links for info on this are broken and any topics I find are decades old.

We are looking at a Cessna 150 or 152.There's on in particular that is basically priced for less than the cost of the very nice avionics which would be perfect for our needs.

I have an FAA CPL as well as TC licences, so I'm open to keeping it N registered if that is easier.
Thank you!

[Pacqing]

Talk to your local AMO and see if they do imports or find your local Minister's Delegate who do imports for a living.

[TeePeeCreeper]

can someone please give me a brief idiots guide to buying a N registered plane to bring it up into Canada.

TC's website links for info on this are broken and any topics I find are decades old.

We are looking at a Cessna 150 or 152.There's on in particular that is basically priced for less than the cost of the very nice avionics which would be perfect for our needs.

I have an FAA CPL as well as TC licences, so I'm open to keeping it N registered if that is easier.
Thank you!

Between the devaluation of the CAD vs. USD and god knows what kind of potential crap this trade war might bring I am very surprised to hear of anyone wanting to purchase and import an N registered bird.

re: “very nice avionics”

Be very careful and leery of this. Many of these mods are done using a “field approval” (called a 337 stateside) and will not be recognized by Transport Canada unless they were installed in accordance to a legitimate STC.

Buyer beware comes (screams) to mind…

All the best,

TPC

[philaviate]

can someone please give me a brief idiots guide to buying a N registered plane to bring it up into Canada.

TC's website links for info on this are broken and any topics I find are decades old.

We are looking at a Cessna 150 or 152.There's on in particular that is basically priced for less than the cost of the very nice avionics which would be perfect for our needs.

I have an FAA CPL as well as TC licences, so I'm open to keeping it N registered if that is easier.
Thank you!

Between the devaluation of the CAD vs. USD and god knows what kind of potential crap this trade war might bring I am very surprised to hear of anyone wanting to purchase and import an N registered bird.

re: “very nice avionics”

Be very careful and leery of this. Many of these mods are done using a “field approval” (called a 337 stateside) and will not be recognized by Transport Canada unless they were installed in accordance to a legitimate STC.

Buyer beware comes (screams) to mind…

All the best,

TPC

Garmin avionics are not exactly a new phenomenon, so I'm not sure how they'd pose much of a difficulty. We did very similar installs on another plane here. They're all certified avionics.

As for trade war, who cares, doesn't change much with a used plane, and maybe it'll kick our useless government into action for a change,or even better bring them down, but that's another topic. Even with the snow peso being worth f all, the numbers still work out compared to what's being sold here.

[digits_]

It goes something like this:
- fly the plane into Canada, either under its N reg or a temp Canadian registration
- whichever airport you picked for your import: your plane is now a paperweight until cleared for inspection by a specific type of government AME, I believe they are called DARs but I might be wrong
- they will inspect the plane and paperwork and make sure it all matches and is up to Canadian standards. I've been warned in the past that you can't change your mind anymore at this point. If your import fails, you can't just keep it N regged. You've got to push through. It shouldn't be a gamble, but for small old planes it sure can be

Ideally you would do this before committing to a purchase, however it can take a while for your AME to go through this. Realistically, the plane will get sold to a US pilot if the owner gets a good offer. If it's a steal of a deal, this will happen before you finish your pre buy inspection.

Ballpark figure without major issues I have seen quoted is 10k + 10% of the plane's value. I have no data to back this up. I haven't been brave enough to actually do it. But it sure can be tempting.

Note though that it is a bit suspicious you would find a good deal in the US with the current exchange rate. Something might be off.

The irony is that the cheaper the plane, the less likely it's worth all the import hassle.

[TeePeeCreeper]

can someone please give me a brief idiots guide to buying a N registered plane to bring it up into Canada.

TC's website links for info on this are broken and any topics I find are decades old.

We are looking at a Cessna 150 or 152.There's on in particular that is basically priced for less than the cost of the very nice avionics which would be perfect for our needs.

I have an FAA CPL as well as TC licences, so I'm open to keeping it N registered if that is easier.
Thank you!

Between the devaluation of the CAD vs. USD and god knows what kind of potential crap this trade war might bring I am very surprised to hear of anyone wanting to purchase and import an N registered bird.

re: “very nice avionics”

Be very careful and leery of this. Many of these mods are done using a “field approval” (called a 337 stateside) and will not be recognized by Transport Canada unless they were installed in accordance to a legitimate STC.

Buyer beware comes (screams) to mind…

All the best,

TPC

Garmin avionics are not exactly a new phenomenon, so I'm not sure how they'd pose much of a difficulty. We did very similar installs on another plane here. They're all certified avionics.

As for trade war, who cares, doesn't change much with a used plane, and maybe it'll kick our useless government into action for a change,or even better bring them down, but that's another topic. Even with the snow peso being worth f all, the numbers still work out compared to what's being sold here.

Well, you either are and were well versed to begin with or are love sick for this particular tail.

Best of luck to you and I hope it works out!

TPC

[philaviate]

It goes something like this:
- fly the plane into Canada, either under its N reg or a temp Canadian registration
- whichever airport you picked for your import: your plane is now a paperweight until cleared for inspection by a specific type of government AME, I believe they are called DARs but I might be wrong
- they will inspect the plane and paperwork and make sure it all matches and is up to Canadian standards. I've been warned in the past that you can't change your mind anymore at this point. If your import fails, you can't just keep it N regged. You've got to push through. It shouldn't be a gamble, but for small old planes it sure can be

Ideally you would do this before committing to a purchase, however it can take a while for your AME to go through this. Realistically, the plane will get sold to a US pilot if the owner gets a good offer. If it's a steal of a deal, this will happen before you finish your pre buy inspection.

Ballpark figure without major issues I have seen quoted is 10k + 10% of the plane's value. I have no data to back this up. I haven't been brave enough to actually do it. But it sure can be tempting.

Note though that it is a bit suspicious you would find a good deal in the US with the current exchange rate. Something might be off.

The irony is that the cheaper the plane, the less likely it's worth all the import hassle.

It's from a friend. So yes, it's a smoking deal that wouldn't be on the open market.

[PostmasterGeneral]

The 337 issues are real. They are not recognized in Canada. Just because the avionics themselves are certified, it has nothing to do with how they were installed. They need to be installed under a Canadian recognized STC.

There are plenty of stories out there where this was an issue, but one that comes to mind was a Bonanza that had some really fancy avionics installed. Transport Canada wasn't happy with how the wiring was labeled, so ALL of that brand new wiring for those "fancy avionics" had to be redone, to the tune of about $25k at the time. Not because the wiring itself was bad, but because it was installed and labelled according to a 337 and not a proper STC. Some of the other components had to be ripped out and replaced for the same reason.

Do not take a cavalier attitude toward this process, it can be daunting. If you're prepared for unexpected expenses, then all the power to you, but don't expect it to be as easy as an annual and a C-Reg decal.

[philaviate]

Ok. So what about just keeping it n registered?

[Bede]

It's from a friend. So yes, it's a smoking deal that wouldn't be on the open market.

Excellent. So fly it to Canada, start the import and find out what it's going to cost you. If it's reasonable buy, if not bring it back to your friend.

You need to seriously consider what other posters have written. The worst import I've seen resulted in the plane being sold for scrap. The best I've seen cost over $10k.

[philaviate]

It's from a friend. So yes, it's a smoking deal that wouldn't be on the open market.

Excellent. So fly it to Canada, start the import and find out what it's going to cost you. If it's reasonable buy, if not bring it back to your friend.

You need to seriously consider what other posters have written. The worst import I've seen resulted in the plane being sold for scrap. The best I've seen cost over $10k.

I am considering them, that's why I said what about just keeping it on an N tag then?

[PostmasterGeneral]

Are you even allowed to do that on a permanent basis?

[philaviate]

Are you even allowed to do that on a permanent basis?

I know a lot do, most of the planes I fly professionally are N registered and here in Canada.
I guess worst case just fly it south every 6 months or whatever.

[planenuts]

Can an import be a nightmare - yes it could be.....most are not.

337's are not really as big a deal as some make it out to be. 95% of them can and will be approved by a DAR as is. If they really don't like something - you can get an LSTC fairly easily. The plane will need an annual inspection and a review of records. One pitfall nearly all US private aircraft encounter is the prop. Canada has strict limits compared to the US and US records are usually shoddy at best. Usually you end up sending it for overhaul and pray it hasn't been filed down too much. I spent about $1600 on mine (172 fixed pitch) AD research can take a while - but is also easily done by you.

Cost wise - whatever the shop charges for the annual and then time spent on other items. The DAR cost me $1500 to do the import. Most of the paperwork you can do yourself (and I recommend that) as paying a shop to fill out logbooks and import packages can add up to quite a bit.

Follow the link and click on the word version. MSI 26 is the import package that will be filled out for import...

https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/refere ... -msi-no-26

[aviran9111]

Get your FAA certificate and keep in N registered. Maintenance is, by far, more reasonable, but more importantly, you won't be paying the Liberals stupid taxes (including the 15% "luxury tax")