Re: Kalispell, MT

[Dave Springford]

It is possible to fly a US registered glider in Canada. There are two
"categories"

"Category 1" flying with a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness for
a type certified glider, or "Category 2" if your glider is registered
as Experimental.

1. If you are NOT registered as Experimental - there is nothing you
need do to, just drive across the border go to a gliding site assemble
and fly.

2. If you ARE registered as Experimental, then you need permission
from Transport Canada to fly your experimental glider in Canadian
airspace. You can do this by making a written request to Transport
Canada.

The following link is a starting point for those who want to do their
own research:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/maintenance/regsdocs/validation.htm

After speaking with somebody at Transport Canada that knows the
current procedure for you to fly your “Experimental� glider in Canada
it is now called a “Validation of Foreign Flight Authority�.


Scan your Certificate of Registration and special Certificate of
Airworthiness with the Letter of Operating Limitations. The documents
should be in PDF format and the request should be sent to the
following e-mail address:



In the message state that you are requesting permission to fly your
glider licenced in the “Experimental� category and where you plan to
fly in Canada as well as the specific dates.

Now - armed with that information - who wants to fly in the Canadian
Nationals, North Battleford Saskatchewan from 15 - 25 June?

North Battleford is a little north of Kalispell located at 52° 46′ 9″
N, 108° 14′ 37″ W and offers 10,000 AGL days with sunset at 11 pm!

Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.769167,-108.243611&spn=0.03,0.03&t=m&q=52.769167,-108.243611

[gen]

Thanks for the great info. I should have asked here before I departed
for the trip.

We don't hear much about soaring in Canada here, but keep them coming.

-Gen

On Mar 1, 11:43Â*am, Dave Springford > wrote:
> It is possible to fly a US registered glider in Canada. Â*There are two
> "categories"
>
> "Category 1" Â*flying with a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness for
> a type certified glider, or "Category 2" if your glider is registered
> as Experimental.
>
> 1. If you are NOT registered as Experimental Â*- there is nothing you
> need do to, just drive across the border go to a gliding site assemble
> and fly.
>
> 2. If you ARE registered as Experimental, then you need permission
> from Transport Canada to fly your experimental glider in Canadian
> airspace. Â*You can do this by making a written request to Transport
> Canada.
>
> The following link is a starting point for those who want to do their
> own research:http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/maintenance/regsdocs/validation.htm
>
> After speaking with somebody at Transport Canada that knows the
> current procedure for you to fly your “Experimental� glider in Canada
> it is now called Â*a “Validation of Foreign Flight Authorityâ€�.
>
> Scan your Certificate of Registration and Â*special Certificate of
> Airworthiness with the Letter of Operating Limitations. The documents
> should be in PDF format and the request should be sent to the
> following e-mail address:
>
>
>
> In the message state that you are requesting permission to fly your
> glider licenced in the “Experimental� category and where you plan to
> fly in Canada as well as the specific dates.
>
> Now - armed with that information - who wants to fly in the Canadian
> Nationals, North Battleford Saskatchewan from 15 - 25 June?
>
> North Battleford is a little north of Kalispell located at 52° 46′ 9″
> N, 108° 14′ 37″ W and offers 10,000 AGL days with sunset at 11 pm!
>
> Google Map link:
>
> http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.769167,-108.243611&spn=0.03,0.03&t=...

[Dave Nadler]

On Mar 1, 2:43Â*pm, Dave Springford > wrote:
> It is possible to fly a US registered glider in Canada. Â*There are two
> "categories"
>
> "Category 1" Â*flying with a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness for
> a type certified glider, or "Category 2" if your glider is registered
> as Experimental.
>
> 1. If you are NOT registered as Experimental Â*- there is nothing you
> need do to, just drive across the border go to a gliding site assemble
> and fly.
>
> 2. If you ARE registered as Experimental, then you need permission
> from Transport Canada to fly your experimental glider in Canadian
> airspace. Â*You can do this by making a written request to Transport
> Canada.
>
> The following link is a starting point for those who want to do their
> own research:http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/maintenance/regsdocs/validation.htm
>
> After speaking with somebody at Transport Canada that knows the
> current procedure for you to fly your “Experimental� glider in Canada
> it is now called Â*a “Validation of Foreign Flight Authorityâ€�.
>
> Scan your Certificate of Registration and Â*special Certificate of
> Airworthiness with the Letter of Operating Limitations. The documents
> should be in PDF format and the request should be sent to the
> following e-mail address:
>
>
>
> In the message state that you are requesting permission to fly your
> glider licenced in the “Experimental� category and where you plan to
> fly in Canada as well as the specific dates.
>
> Now - armed with that information - who wants to fly in the Canadian
> Nationals, North Battleford Saskatchewan from 15 - 25 June?
>
> North Battleford is a little north of Kalispell located at 52° 46′ 9″
> N, 108° 14′ 37″ W and offers 10,000 AGL days with sunset at 11 pm!
>
> Google Map link:
>
> http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.769167,-108.243611&spn=0.03,0.03&t=...

Too bad it overlaps the USA 18-meter nationals, as
its only 38 hours drive from my house per Google...

[Sandy Stevenson]

On Mar 1, 5:42Â*pm, gen > wrote:
> Thanks for the great info. I should have asked here before I departed
> for the trip.
>
> We don't hear much about soaring in Canada here, but keep them coming.
>
> -Gen
>
> On Mar 1, 11:43Â*am, Dave Springford > wrote:
>
>
>
> > It is possible to fly a US registered glider in Canada. Â*There are two
> > "categories"
>
> > "Category 1" Â*flying with a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness for
> > a type certified glider, or "Category 2" if your glider is registered
> > as Experimental.
>
> > 1. If you are NOT registered as Experimental Â*- there is nothing you
> > need do to, just drive across the border go to a gliding site assemble
> > and fly.
>
> > 2. If you ARE registered as Experimental, then you need permission
> > from Transport Canada to fly your experimental glider in Canadian
> > airspace. Â*You can do this by making a written request to Transport
> > Canada.
>
> > The following link is a starting point for those who want to do their
> > own research:http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/maintenance/regsdocs/validation.htm
>
> > After speaking with somebody at Transport Canada that knows the
> > current procedure for you to fly your “Experimental� glider in Canada
> > it is now called Â*a “Validation of Foreign Flight Authorityâ€�.
>
> > Scan your Certificate of Registration and Â*special Certificate of
> > Airworthiness with the Letter of Operating Limitations. The documents
> > should be in PDF format and the request should be sent to the
> > following e-mail address:
>
> >
>
> > In the message state that you are requesting permission to fly your
> > glider licenced in the “Experimental� category and where you plan to
> > fly in Canada as well as the specific dates.
>
> > Now - armed with that information - who wants to fly in the Canadian
> > Nationals, North Battleford Saskatchewan from 15 - 25 June?
>
> > North Battleford is a little north of Kalispell located at 52° 46′ 9″
> > N, 108° 14′ 37″ W and offers 10,000 AGL days with sunset at 11 pm!
>
> > Google Map link:
>
> >http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.769167,-108.243611&spn=0.03,0.03&t=...

Interesting post on Kalispell, and it looks like Dave Springford has
done all the homework for American pilots wanting to fly in Canada.
Invermere is a commercial operation offering a 260 hp Pawnee towplane
with a club also embedded at the site, and does have great soaring
conditions. 1000 km flights have been done
running up and down the Columbia River valley in which it sits.
There is a closer operation to Kalispell than that. My home club is
just outside Calgary at Black Diamond, Alberta, and I'm sure we could
make tow arrangements for for visiting pilots if they called ahead.
See our site at:
http://www.cunim.org

Of greater interest may be that there is a first class wave site just
north of the border at Cowley, Alberta.
The Alberta Soaring Council hosts two wave camps annually at the site,
which it owns.
Dates are:
July 24 to August 2,
Oct. 2 to Oct. 11, 2010.
The airfield is not active outside of those dates.
Twenty to twenty five years ago, we used to get American pilots from
Washington and Oregon coming up for the camp,
but that doesn't seem to happen now.
Full details can be found at:
http://www.soaring.ab.ca/index.html
Flights to 28,000 ft are possible if conditions are favorable.
Please read the site specific material on the website very thoroughly
before you come if you're inclined to attend.
Memorable flights in spectacular scenery often occur, but it's an
ecologically sensitive site subject to high winds with specific air
space restrictions.

Years ago, it used to be common to do cross country flights from
Cowley into the Flathead valley, where cloud bases to 14,000 feet were
reported. With regulations the way the are and In the current
climate, however, Canadian glider pilots simply don't fly gliders
cross the border any more.