Tips for flying in the States??

[fowldplug]

Is it me or are the Federal Aviation Regulations set up just as confusing and User "UN"Friendly as our beloved CARS?

I'm planning on doing some sightseeing in a weeks time down in the States and I was hoping to simply convert my Canadian 'Certificates' to FAA ones (In my particular case: Canadian Commercial to American Private).

Let me review my understanding of this process:First, one has to fill out the FAA "Verification of Authenticity of Foreign License, Rating, and Medical Certification", fax or mail it to Oklahoma (which I have already done), wait for a response via letter that his/her license has been authenticated and verified and bring this letter to the nearest FSDO of where one plans on renting. From here, and assuming you have registered for an IACRA (Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application) you will then meet up with a Designated Pilot Examiner upon which they will review all relevant documentation, medical certificate and foreign license. They will then issue you a temporary FAA Private Pilots Certificate. After completing a flight review with an examiner or club instructor and if everything all goes well, you will finally receive your FAA Private Pilots license. Now, you can finally fly N numbered a/c south of the border.

My question is, are there any American equivalent PPL written exams that need to be written (from what I have read, they take your ICAO license at face value as long as you're not looking for a commercial or higher) as well and if so, where do I find the sort of relevant questions that would pertain to this? Or, is there a specific link I can go to that would abbreviate the FAA's version of Air Law/Air Regs that I could review instead of dissecting the entire FAR's website for stuff that I would never really need to know for my 3 day trip? I was hoping that getting an American PPL wouldn't be this daunting but this isn't proving so.

Also, anyone care to share any tips for flying in and out of the San Diego area and/or sightseeing the Grand Canyon should everything pan out in the next week???

Your comments are much appreciated, thanks!

[Nark]

Is it me or are the Federal Aviation Regulations set up just as confusing and User "UN"Friendly as our beloved CARS?

I'm planning on doing some sightseeing in a weeks time down in the States and I was hoping to simply convert my Canadian 'Certificates' to FAA ones (In my particular case: Canadian Commercial to American Private).

Let me review my understanding of this process:First, one has to fill out the FAA "Verification of Authenticity of Foreign License, Rating, and Medical Certification", fax or mail it to Oklahoma (which I have already done), wait for a response via letter that his/her license has been authenticated and verified and bring this letter to the nearest FSDO of where one plans on renting. From here, and assuming you have registered for an IACRA (Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application) you will then meet up with a Designated Pilot Examiner upon which they will review all relevant documentation, medical certificate and foreign license. They will then issue you a temporary FAA Private Pilots Certificate. After completing a flight review with an examiner or club instructor and if everything all goes well, you will finally receive your FAA Private Pilots license. Now, you can finally fly N numbered a/c south of the border.

My question is, are there any American equivalent PPL written exams that need to be written (from what I have read, they take your ICAO license at face value as long as you're not looking for a commercial or higher) as well and if so, where do I find the sort of relevant questions that would pertain to this? Or, is there a specific link I can go to that would abbreviate the FAA's version of Air Law/Air Regs that I could review instead of dissecting the entire FAR's website for stuff that I would never really need to know for my 3 day trip? I was hoping that getting an American PPL wouldn't be this daunting but this isn't proving so.

Also, anyone care to share any tips for flying in and out of the San Diego area and/or sightseeing the Grand Canyon should everything pan out in the next week???

Your comments are much appreciated, thanks!

You won't do the bold part. Just bring the letter from OKC into a FSDO, and you'll get a printed FAA certificate.
That easy.

I used my Canadian medical years ago when I used the FAA private, however that was before the 1 for 1 swap they do today.
A checkout is a checkout at any flight school.

I don't think there is a "downgrading" exam, unless you go from TC cpl to FAA cpl.

As far as flying in San Diego I can go on for days giving you advice. My biggest one is don't bust the bravo at Lindburgh AND Mirimar. There are two little "gotcha" pies on either end of Mirimar's approach/departures. They will track you on radar and you will here those magic words "Stand by to copy a phone number"

Give me a PM and I'll set you up with a descent school to rent from in the SD area.

Cheers

[SuperchargedRS]

If your going to be flying in the US, check out skyvector.com has all the charts for the US, good for quick trip planning.

[ez4u2say]

I just went through it as well and here is what I learned:
I talked to one of the agents on their toll free #, was advised that I must first fill in the VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY OF FOREIGN LICENSE, RATING AND MEDICAL CERTIFICATION form which can be found on line
http://forms.faa.gov/forms/faa8060-71.pdf
They in turn will send this to DOT Canada to do a check on whether all the data is correct who in turn will send it back. The FAA will then forward me a letter of acceptance. I then must make an appointment with a conveniently located FSDO (in the USA) for a positive identification to make application for the replacement certificate. This I did and am now waiting for the letter of acceptance. I know they have received my verification info since I had forgoten to include which FSDO I would go to...as per the following email
Thank you for your application to verify the authenticity of your foreign license. Please note that you did not provide a FSDO location where you will complete the process of converting your foreign license. Please choose from the list of FSDO's at the following website.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/

Please inform me at your earliest convenience which FSDO you have chosen. You will have 6 months from the day your letter of verification is written to appear at the FSDO. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you.

When we receive verification from the CAA, you will receive written notification that we forwarded a copy to the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) you designated in your request. The verification is valid for 6 calendar months. You may apply for a U.S. certificate at the designated FSDO during that period.

Okay now the question was..what do they do at the FSDO..no, there is no exam etc.. all they want to know is all the paper work in order and that must be done in person..they then issue a tempo certificate and your new plastic one will arrive from OKC in the mail..
hope this helps..and it's not a big a deal as I thought it was either...and it gives me another reason to take the plane out of the hangar..

[ez4u2say]

Follow up to my previous reply..I should read your post better..seems that I assumed you already held a FAA certificate and wanted to change it to the new one which is required by the end of this month. I hold an FAA certificate which was received by just a look at my DOT commercial license..no exam, no checkout etc...only restriction was " the carriage of persons or property for compensation or hire or for agricultural aircraft operations"...another words I could not work there since I was a foreigner and now you need all the applicable documentation..green card etc. Mind you I received this some time back at the FAA booth in Oskosh..hopefully it's still "just that simple"

[ez4u2say]

If you plan to do all this in a weeks time then I am afraid you are out of luck...

[crazy_aviator]

Another tool to use is called VFR FLIGHT FOLLOWING USE iT EVERYWHERE in the USA...call and ask for flight following ,,then, let THEM take care of you!
IF you are VFR and going stateside, day and night USE IT !!!!

[Panama Jack]

Flight Following is a VFR pilot's best friend! They make no guarantees per se, but they will point out traffic and on one case alerted me from drifting into a Restricted Area over Southern California back in my Student Pilot days. They will also hand you off to the people who you need to be talking to, when you need to talk to them.

[fowldplug]

Awesome! Thanks guys for all the input. I am hoping that since I have the new Passport style license that maybe if I didn't receive this verification letter by the time we leave, that they would let things slide or just maybe the process works quicker with the new, more secure aviation document?? (Wishful thinking!!) I did speak with a lady from Oklahoma and she said the process could be as quick as 10 days depending on how backed up the system is. Can anyone comment from their own experience how long it took to receive their letter?

On something completely unrelated, if we are stuck ground side anyone have any top pics as things to take in while in the Los Angeles/San Diego area? Obviously I'll have to take my ten year old to Disney Land for sure but when looking online, it seems as though there are more amusement parks down there than we have sunny days up here?! Sea World, 6 Flags, Universal, Knotsbeary, San Diego Zoo, Boardwalk, Long Beach, etc., etc.,...one week just isn't enough.

Anyone??

Cheers!

[Nark]

Check your PM's

Do you have a rental car or are you hoofing it?

Legoland in Carlsbad is about a 45 minute ride up the coast from downtown SD on the Coaster, then an easy transfer on a bus. Also right beside Palomar airport where most of the biz jet traffic is.

Sea World is kind of pricey, and out of the way. You need to take a bus or taxi from downtown. The trolley doesn't run that way.

In SD the trolley won't take you too far, it's more for commuters out of the downtown area. Everything worth while is within walking distance of downtown.

I guess Gas Lamp is out of the question for night life. However there is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Dick's Last Resort. They encourage food fighting and tom-foolery. I'm sure a 10 year old will love it.

Pacific and Mission beach is the quintessential SoCal beaches, surfers and stoners alike. Ocean Beach is realllllllly for those still stuck in 1968 if you get my drift. A little north, La Jolla is where the money is, with an awesome cove/beach. Easy waves to deal with. But don't wander to far north because Blacks Beach is a nudy one. There is a giant pier "Scripps" that separates the two, so you'll know.

Further north Oceanside has a pier with a fish place at the end of it, but having lived there for 2 years nothing you wont' see closer to downtown.

The furthest south you'll want to stick your toes in the sand is Coronado. Beautiful beach, very expensive homes. Anything further is the Navy SEAL training base, BUDS and the Imperial Beach, which is nasty.

I almost forgot, Kansas City BBQ is right across the street from the Marriot (hard to miss) This is where they filmed the stupid Top Gun scene. Luckily their BBQ makes up for the cheesiness.

[Panama Jack]

Fly out to Catalina Island. Good idea to have life jackets on board, although if you are unfortunate enough to ditch there are more than a few sharks in the channel between L.A. and Catalina. Santa Catalina is a nice place to stroll around, maybe even spend a night- a pseudo-"Caribbean Island" just outside of Los Angeles. Be sure to get a briefing and watch out for windshear on the approach. If you are a SCUBA diver, you can do a shore dive right off the breakwater by "the Casino" in the Southern California kelp forests and watch the omnipresent orange-colored Garabaldi darting around.

Now . . . I am jealous.

[Panama Jack]

Something else that came to mind. Although it is an unknown concept in Canada, many places that rent aircraft in the US now require (or highly recommend) pilots to get "Renter Insurance," because US insurance policies cover the aircraft and the owner, but not the pilot renting the airplane (you have the accident, the insurance will pay out to the owner of the aircraft and third parties, but then come back and sue you to recoup their losses!) In a way it takes out the attraction of renting on vacation for an hour or more, given the cost being equivalent to one or two hours of wet-rental rates for a period of time. Obviously, if you are interested in renting significantly more, then this fixed cost diminishes. Alternatively, might just be better to rent an aircraft with an Instructor. At least you have someone who knows the area, can point out the sights, and hold the stick from time to time as you take photos.

http://www.aopaia.com/display_article_06.cfm

[Nark]

Catalina is an excellent suggestions for a flight.
The airport isn't close to anything and you have to wait for a bus into Avalon (town). There is also a $30-$40 landing fee, can't remember which.

The only sharks you'll have to really worry about are the ones in big houses in Orange County.
Be cautious of drivers down that way as well. LA and Orange County suck ass. SD much better, but nothing like you're neck of the woods.

LAX also has a museum on the south side, but it's not open Sundays. Torrance may have a Robinson helicopter factory tour. It's just south of LAX on the 101.

[SuperchargedRS]

Things to do in LA??

Where to start, well first off I would drive down Sunset to get a bite to eat. There was a restaurant called Moustache Cafe, they had a grand marania chocolate souffle that was REALLY REALLY good (you had to order it right when you got there as it took a while to make). The Moustache Cafe is now called the Chocolate Cafe.

Drive over to Venice Beach, this is where the good old "muscle beach" is, a bunch of cool shops, good street performances etc.

Might be able able to get in the audience at the Jay Leno show in Burbank.

Man the list goes on, just walk down Sunset and Melrose and you will find something going on!


If you like the museum thing, go check out the La Brea tar pits, it is a actual tarpit that the old dinos got stuck in, might be something to do later on in the day before you hang it up for the day. On your way to the tar pits check out Pinks hot dog stand, it's famous.infamous (try to check it out on a a friday/sat night).

Dont waste your time on sea world, legoland, etc. If your going to LA do LA, it's like going to Thailand and looking for a Micky Ds lol

[Panama Jack]

If you want to see an impressive sight, the place where airplanes go to die, take a trip across the mountains to Mohave. Don't recommend it if you are in August and without good air-con though!

[fowldplug]

Well....ok. Sounds like there are just a few things to do to keep us busy. How about a crash course on the FARs? I was hoping to find a somewhat easy or broken down version of their air law. Where might one find this? I'm sure many with the Ignorance is bliss attitude go down there, only grasping our Canadian rules and regs. (IE: East : Odd/Thousands+500, etc.,) meanwhile getting the effin tourist bird flipped at them but I would rather not land in that stereotype. I hate the tourist that stands out just as much as the next guy but as much as I enjoy sifting through the CARs for days on end looking for a simple answer (like standard passenger weights or what have you) I can't say I'm too over ecstatic about these similar written FARs. Did these people all take degrees on how to over complicate matters for a reason or were they just bored one summer??

Thanks again in advance!

[Nark]

The FAR's and CAR's are somewhat the same.

Biggest notable difference is ATC clearing 2-3 aircraft to land at a time. Follow what ATC say's, keep at the "right" altitude" and you'll be fine.

Part 91 will apply to you as a renter. The rest, not really.

[Panama Jack]

Difference between the CARs and the FARs:

The FARs are a lot older and are a tree with some very long branches (regulatory ammendments) while others are relatively short (short branches). From a legal standpoint, in order to understand the regulatory interpretation of a given FAR it is necessary to go back to previous editions and judicial rulings. To complicate the matter further, different FSDO's (regions) have differing interpretations about the FAR's. I have noted that discussion about FARs is a more intense past-time than discussion about CARs, thanks, in part, due to some draconian enforcement actions on the part of the FAA in the past.

In any case, some flight schools, in reading Part 61, interpret that you must have had a Flight Review, even if you have a Validation Certificate. If you have never flown in the US before, it is probably worthwhile. If done well, they will go over a review of airspace and other nuances in the regulations which affect you most. Classes A, B, C, D, E and G have slight differences to the airspace in Canada (and of course, there is no "Class F" airspace in the USA).

[alti2d]

All the above is spot on.

There are several schools and a flying club from which to rent at Montgomery Field, also, that is where the FSDO is located. Rental rates are a fair bit cheaper stateside, and you can also organize independent instructors through the club. If you are going flying, ask a local about the city tour (I think it's called)... departing MYF, you head west to the shoreline, then south along the shore line at 500 feet to stay below Lindburgh Field's departure, around the Cabrillo National Monument, then cut over the water, south of the Naval Air station to get back over the beach and the bay and follow south bound to Brown Field, then back up north on the east side of the city at the edge of the hills. It is quite a nice, low flying tour of the city.

The town of Julian, east of San Diego, is a nice little spot in the hills with a GREAT pie store, if you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city.

That's all that I can add that hasn't been added already. OH... If you like the desert, go see Joshua National Forest east of LA... though it may not entertain the kids as much as Disneyland...

[Nark]

Great post above, however you still have to contact Lindbergh on 118.30 PRIOR to the pier (Chrystal) Class Bravo violation will get your cert ripped up faster than you can blink.

Another not well known trick is crossing taxiway Delta at or above 1000' and flying over the harbor and the Coronado bridge. Ask the CFI BEFORE you get in the plane about it, if he doesn't know how to do it, don't. You'll end up pissing off a lot of people.

I used to fly out of MYF and SEE. MYF is a little closer but not by much to downtown.

Let me know how things work out for you.






It's hard to imagine it's been 8 years since tearing up mud patches in your jeep. You still have it?

[RatherBeFlying]

Back in the '80s I flew down to Philly from YTZ. Flight following was great; customs was fine both ways. The advantage in flying around in a Canadian a/c is that tower and center knew you were a bit unfamiliar and kept an eye out for you.

These days with TFRs popping up, flight following is that much more important to avoiding prolonged confrontations with armed to the teeth enforcement types.

[Randleman]

Is it me or are the Federal Aviation Regulations set up just as confusing and User "UN"Friendly as our beloved CARS?

I'm planning on doing some sightseeing in a weeks time down in the States and I was hoping to simply convert my Canadian 'Certificates' to FAA ones (In my particular case: Canadian Commercial to American Private).

Let me review my understanding of this process:First, one has to fill out the FAA "Verification of Authenticity of Foreign License, Rating, and Medical Certification", fax or mail it to Oklahoma (which I have already done), wait for a response via letter that his/her license has been authenticated and verified and bring this letter to the nearest FSDO of where one plans on renting. From here, and assuming you have registered for an IACRA (Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application) you will then meet up with a Designated Pilot Examiner upon which they will review all relevant documentation, medical certificate and foreign license. They will then issue you a temporary FAA Private Pilots Certificate. After completing a flight review with an examiner or club instructor and if everything all goes well, you will finally receive your FAA Private Pilots license. Now, you can finally fly N numbered a/c south of the border.

My question is, are there any American equivalent PPL written exams that need to be written (from what I have read, they take your ICAO license at face value as long as you're not looking for a commercial or higher) as well and if so, where do I find the sort of relevant questions that would pertain to this? Or, is there a specific link I can go to that would abbreviate the FAA's version of Air Law/Air Regs that I could review instead of dissecting the entire FAR's website for stuff that I would never really need to know for my 3 day trip? I was hoping that getting an American PPL wouldn't be this daunting but this isn't proving so.

Also, anyone care to share any tips for flying in and out of the San Diego area and/or sightseeing the Grand Canyon should everything pan out in the next week???

Your comments are much appreciated, thanks!

You won't do the bold part. Just bring the letter from OKC into a FSDO, and you'll get a printed FAA certificate.
That easy.

I used my Canadian medical years ago when I used the FAA private, however that was before the 1 for 1 swap they do today.
A checkout is a checkout at any flight school.

I don't think there is a "downgrading" exam, unless you go from TC cpl to FAA cpl.

As far as flying in San Diego I can go on for days giving you advice. My biggest one is don't bust the bravo at Lindburgh AND Mirimar. There are two little "gotcha" pies on either end of Mirimar's approach/departures. They will track you on radar and you will here those magic words "Stand by to copy a phone number"

Give me a PM and I'll set you up with a descent school to rent from in the SD area.

Cheers

Not quite actually, you do need to write the FAA exams...not that they are a particularly hard thing to do. I am in the process of getting my converstions done.

[. ._]

I've only flown through the States once. Never landed there, but being the stupid student I was at the time, didn't check to see if a military practice area was active and blasted right through it.

Luckily it wasn't active and nothing happened, BUT if I were flying through the States now, I'd definitely have my camera handy so if I did mess up and get intercepted by an A-10 or something cool I could get some cool pictures!

Oh yeah, and I had flight following at the time too, so maybe Centre knew it wasn't active- but it's still the PIC's responsibility to check that stuff.

That's my totally useless tip.

-istp

[Panama Jack]

Assuming it is a Military Operations Area (MOA), there is nothing legally wrong with flying though one istp. But they call it a MOA for a good reason. Once you fly though one you might just end up saying "No MOA!""

[. ._]

Yeah, that was it. A MOA.