Is there anyone on the WebSite Located in Mexico? I have to go to Chihauhau, Mexico to work for a month. I would like to know what I can expect... I hope there is some resemblance of General Aviaiton For the Aeronca types... Any input will be welcome...
Thanks, Champdriver...
General Aviation in Mexico?
I fly down to Mexico all the time but in a corporate aircraft. Are you going to fly an Aeronca there? One thing to remember is that I believe that Mexico has no night flights allowed in a single engine airplane, but that is old info.
I have never had a problem with Customs and such but treat them very nice and do not bring anything "interesting" down there. We have a member living in Mexico South of Tucson, let me get ahold of him and see if he has any good current info. His name is Jerry Miel and hopefully he can contribute to this thread.
JoeA
I have never had a problem with Customs and such but treat them very nice and do not bring anything "interesting" down there. We have a member living in Mexico South of Tucson, let me get ahold of him and see if he has any good current info. His name is Jerry Miel and hopefully he can contribute to this thread.
JoeA
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Lowell Sterchi
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 21:01
- Contact:
MEXICO
I flew down about 4 years ago, needed passport and drivers licenseand fuel is sold by the Gov. (no FBO) you pay in US dollars or their money
lots of paper work...just smile a lot. There is NO night VFR, only IFR.
Hope this helps....you must have 12" N numbers crossing the US/Mex
line, coming and going. After crossing you are OK. I took mine off at the
first fuel stop, and back on going back across. AOPA has a kit that is
real good if you are a member.
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jmiel
Flying in Mexico
This is Jerry. I am an American and have been living in the city of Durango, Mexico for the past 2 months. Our mission organization has been flying in Mexico for almost 40 years. We have planes based in Tucson, Chihuahua, and Durango. I am not one of our line pilots, but I have flown into Chihuahua many times.
Chihuahua is reasonably friendly to General aviation. There are a number of general aviation based there as well as others flying through. Mostly they are C206's, C210's, and light twins. I have never seen anything as small as an Aeronca there, but there is a Super Cub here in Durango. Although there are many hangars in Chihuahua (CUU), renting space is almost impossible and very expensive. We pay $500 U
Chihuahua is reasonably friendly to General aviation. There are a number of general aviation based there as well as others flying through. Mostly they are C206's, C210's, and light twins. I have never seen anything as small as an Aeronca there, but there is a Super Cub here in Durango. Although there are many hangars in Chihuahua (CUU), renting space is almost impossible and very expensive. We pay $500 U
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Jmiel
flying in Mexico
Sorry, I hit the wrong button and sent the message before it was finished.
Hangar space cost us $500 (US) per month in a hangar that is so tightly packed that we have hangar rash regularly. Ramp space is available and cost about $15 per day. Bring your own tie down ropes as they are not provided. Landing fee is about $10. Right now AV gas is about $2.50 per gallon, cheaper than most places in the US.
I will give you my experience, but I would suggest that you check with AOPA and Baja Pilot's Association for the latest legal information. It changes frequently.
Coming into Mexico is the easy party. All you have to do before leaving the U.S. is to file and open a flight plan. Someone already mentioned that you will need 12 inch registration numbers. You will need a passport or birth certificate. A tourist visa is issued when you get here and cost about $20. You must have Mexican insurance on your airplane, even if your US policy gives you coverage here. You can buy this by the day, but you have to get it before coming. You can buy it by phone or fax. Your agent can probably help you. We buy it from a place in CA. You will also need all of the airplane documents and pilot documents. You could be asked for all of them. Your registration certificate must be the original white copy, not a pink copy. Your first landing in Mexico must be at an airport of entry and the location that you filed for. That would probably be CUU or Jurrez. If you land somewhere else first, even for gas, you will be in trouble. If you are not the sole owner of the airplane, you will need a notorized letter from the other owners giving you permission to operate it in the US and Mexico.
When you land in CUU, the process is quite involved and confusing. You will need to visit 3 different aviation offices plus customs and immigration. You will probably need to pay about $50 in "airspace" fees when you arrive, plus the visa. You will pay the landing and tie down fees when you leave. It really helps if you can have someone walk you through the process. Depending upon when you come, one of my co-workers might be able to meet you and help you through. If not, just ask for help. When you ask for their help, the Mexican people are most gracious and helpful, as long as you don't show an attitude and tel them about how you think they should do their job. The people and processes at the airport are very professional. Most offices will have at least one person with reasonable ability in English. The magic words are, "I'm new here and don't know how to do this. Could you please help me so I can do everything correctly."
If you fly in Mexico, a flight plan is require for each flight, even local flights in the traffic pattern. You close the flight plan when you return to the same airport or land at another major airport. If you go to a small airport and spend a week, you don't close it until you get back. Search and rescue services are not closed to closing the flight plan like they are in the US.
Returning to the US is the most troublesome part of any trip. US customs officials are the hardest people to deal with that I have ever met. Some are helpful and I'm sure that they are just trying to do their job, but some of them are really mean. Every procedure must be followed exactly. I believe that a transponder is required for crossing the border. This is a customs requirement, not an FAA requirement. I don't know if there is a waiver for this or not. You must contact customs one hour before landing at the nearest customs airport and before crossing the boarder. This is usually done through a US FSS station. The flight plan that you file in Mexico is not adequate. As soon as you are close enough to the US border to talk to FSS, ask they to confirm that customs has been notified. If they don't get the notice, you will be in big trouble, even if you are not the one at fault.
What kind of Aeronca are you flying? Be sure that you have enough climb performance and range to make the trip. CUU is 4500 feet elevation. If you come in from El Paso, which may be the only way for you to go, you will probably need to climb to about 7500 for terrain clearance. From Tucson you would need at least 10,000. From El Paso to Cuu is about 220 miles with not fuel stops available. You will need to cover that distance with reasonable reserves. Winds can get pretty strong and the winds aloft forcast for Mexico are not reliable.
I hope this helps. Contact me if you have more questions.
Jerry
jmiel@uim.org
Hangar space cost us $500 (US) per month in a hangar that is so tightly packed that we have hangar rash regularly. Ramp space is available and cost about $15 per day. Bring your own tie down ropes as they are not provided. Landing fee is about $10. Right now AV gas is about $2.50 per gallon, cheaper than most places in the US.
I will give you my experience, but I would suggest that you check with AOPA and Baja Pilot's Association for the latest legal information. It changes frequently.
Coming into Mexico is the easy party. All you have to do before leaving the U.S. is to file and open a flight plan. Someone already mentioned that you will need 12 inch registration numbers. You will need a passport or birth certificate. A tourist visa is issued when you get here and cost about $20. You must have Mexican insurance on your airplane, even if your US policy gives you coverage here. You can buy this by the day, but you have to get it before coming. You can buy it by phone or fax. Your agent can probably help you. We buy it from a place in CA. You will also need all of the airplane documents and pilot documents. You could be asked for all of them. Your registration certificate must be the original white copy, not a pink copy. Your first landing in Mexico must be at an airport of entry and the location that you filed for. That would probably be CUU or Jurrez. If you land somewhere else first, even for gas, you will be in trouble. If you are not the sole owner of the airplane, you will need a notorized letter from the other owners giving you permission to operate it in the US and Mexico.
When you land in CUU, the process is quite involved and confusing. You will need to visit 3 different aviation offices plus customs and immigration. You will probably need to pay about $50 in "airspace" fees when you arrive, plus the visa. You will pay the landing and tie down fees when you leave. It really helps if you can have someone walk you through the process. Depending upon when you come, one of my co-workers might be able to meet you and help you through. If not, just ask for help. When you ask for their help, the Mexican people are most gracious and helpful, as long as you don't show an attitude and tel them about how you think they should do their job. The people and processes at the airport are very professional. Most offices will have at least one person with reasonable ability in English. The magic words are, "I'm new here and don't know how to do this. Could you please help me so I can do everything correctly."
If you fly in Mexico, a flight plan is require for each flight, even local flights in the traffic pattern. You close the flight plan when you return to the same airport or land at another major airport. If you go to a small airport and spend a week, you don't close it until you get back. Search and rescue services are not closed to closing the flight plan like they are in the US.
Returning to the US is the most troublesome part of any trip. US customs officials are the hardest people to deal with that I have ever met. Some are helpful and I'm sure that they are just trying to do their job, but some of them are really mean. Every procedure must be followed exactly. I believe that a transponder is required for crossing the border. This is a customs requirement, not an FAA requirement. I don't know if there is a waiver for this or not. You must contact customs one hour before landing at the nearest customs airport and before crossing the boarder. This is usually done through a US FSS station. The flight plan that you file in Mexico is not adequate. As soon as you are close enough to the US border to talk to FSS, ask they to confirm that customs has been notified. If they don't get the notice, you will be in big trouble, even if you are not the one at fault.
What kind of Aeronca are you flying? Be sure that you have enough climb performance and range to make the trip. CUU is 4500 feet elevation. If you come in from El Paso, which may be the only way for you to go, you will probably need to climb to about 7500 for terrain clearance. From Tucson you would need at least 10,000. From El Paso to Cuu is about 220 miles with not fuel stops available. You will need to cover that distance with reasonable reserves. Winds can get pretty strong and the winds aloft forcast for Mexico are not reliable.
I hope this helps. Contact me if you have more questions.
Jerry
jmiel@uim.org
Jerry,
Thank you very much for the excellent informaition and offer to help.
One thing about this new bulletin board. If you accidently hit the enter key and the post is sent in, there is no need to post again.
Go to the top right part of the window and hit the "edit" button. You can edit any and all of your posts as long as you are signed in when the post is made. Do not believe that you signed in, as it says "guest" under your name and no number of posts.
Appreciate the help and hope to see you at the next fly-in in Casa Grande!
Joe A
Thank you very much for the excellent informaition and offer to help.
One thing about this new bulletin board. If you accidently hit the enter key and the post is sent in, there is no need to post again.
Go to the top right part of the window and hit the "edit" button. You can edit any and all of your posts as long as you are signed in when the post is made. Do not believe that you signed in, as it says "guest" under your name and no number of posts.
Appreciate the help and hope to see you at the next fly-in in Casa Grande!
Joe A
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mike newall
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 06:32
- Location: UK
- Contact:
Have flown into Cancun several times in the past couple of years but always in a corporate airplane. There are several small single engine aircraft there but do not know of anyone based there. Might look on the internet and see what you can find.
Just found out that we will be in Cabo over New Years. Like you I would rather be home but then thats life!
Joe A
Just found out that we will be in Cabo over New Years. Like you I would rather be home but then thats life!
Joe A
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Nathan K. Hammond
- Posts: 2371
- Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2004 00:22
- Location: Danville, KY (DVK)
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