Reflections on first trip to Canada from US

Thanks to all in this group who provided useful information beforehand. The
trip was a success.
Outbound: TUL (Tulsa) - STC (St Cloud MN) - CYAG (Ft Frances Ontario) - CYIB
(Atikokan Ontario)
Homebound: CYIB - KINL (International Falls "Falls International"(?!)~"
MN) - TUL

All the advice proved correct and useful. But in case anything helps a
following first-timer here goes.

Before leaving Tulsa filed IFR flight plans via DUATS TUL - STC & STC -
CYAG. At St Cloud called CANPASS and gave them our eta at Fort Frances. They
took down number aboard, aircraft type and a few other details, and said to
call them from Fort Frances upon arrival. The instructions were, 'the
passenger must stay in/with the plane, you (the pilot) go into the office to
call us.' We landed on time & taxied up to the FBO there and the Unicom
directed us to the fuel area where we parked (no special customs area
designated). I went in and called CanPass to report we were on the ground at
Ft Frances and was given an arrival number ~ a very LONG arrival number. I
was recommended by the customs lady to keep that number for one year in our
records "in case of any problem". That done, the guy at the FBO suggested we
copy the arrival number into a book provided by the phone for that purpose.
He said that several times the customs had "lost" arrival records (or maybe
pilots copied the long string of number down wrong) and this caused a real
problem coming back into Canada on a subsequent occasion. So not a bad idea
if the FBO had a permanent record of the arrival number as well as the
pilot.

I got my co-pilot {& wife} out of the aircraft, and we had it refueled. The
next big headache was getting through to Canadian flight service to file the
required VFR (did not need IFR as beautiful day) flight plan to destination,
Atikokan. (VFR always required in Canada for flights more than 25nm from
originating airport.) Unfortunately every pilot in Canada must have had the
same idea. Eventually got through: I pleaded "never filed a flight plan with
Canadian FSS before" and the guy was extremely helpful and seemed to have
all the time in the world to devote to my short (45 minute) flight planning
(hmmm .... the long on-hold wait times .... ). The equipment code was
deciphered thanks to him, and the unusual aspects were "do you have life
vests" (no) and survival gear {emergency radio, and signal device: yes, no
to anything else}. We were just paralleling the border and flying along part
of the x-Canada highway, but just a bit farther north you can see that "the
rules have changed" from US flying. It's lonely country out there and of
course, water is the preferred landing surface in summer.

I opted to have them automatically open the VFR flight plan at a
pre-appointed time (another difference) and therefore did not have to do it
via radio upon take off. Took off from Ft Frances and headed for Atikokan.
Another surprise: I called Minneapolis Center (controlling Center in that
area) and "I wondered if I can get flight following to Atikokan?" to which
the answer was "at your altitude [5500] it would be a waste of time because
I will lose you in just a few miles. Even just into Canada radar coverage
becomes something exotic versus more or less taken for granted down in the
48 east of the Rockies.

So we proceed on to CYIB which had a MF. MF? Mandatory frequency. 122.3 in
this case. This means you must contact Winnipeg Radio on that better than 5
nm out and they will coordinate your arrival with any other traffic if
necessary. Again, no real precise US equivalent because they are actually
"getting involved" & directing things, versus only offerring advisories.
Flight service actually had told me previously on my briefing that a notam
was out for the MF link to Winnipeg to be out so just "broadcast
intentions." But when I did make my first call a chirpy voice from Winnipeg
Radio asked me to "say intentions" I opted to enter an extended left
downwind for Runway 4. Winnipeg then requested "report turning final for
Runway 4." Which I did. "Report on ground clear of runway." Landed
uneventfully but then there came a problem. On the IFR chart for Atikokan it
says "numerous radio blind spots on airport." More accurate might be "the
entire field appears to be a radio blind spot!" Never mind, though a bit
comical, I was able to obey the instruction to "report on the ground and
clear of the runway" ~ eventually after taxiing about a bit.

Atikokan airport was a remote and pretty deserted place. No-one around. Not
even a restroom although a phone was accessible.

Returning to the US I discovered that the US DUATs 800 numbers do not work
in Canada to get a briefing on my laptop so I had to borrow an internet
connection and hook up to DTC Duats via Internet. I could not file (I tried,
because I was not sure) a DUATS flight plan originating in Canada (although
outbound I was able to file from a US to a Canada airport). But I could file
my US flight leg KINL-KTUL which I did, IFR.

I then called the customs (US) at INL as recommended. They took a fair bit
of information (more than the Canadian Customs did) and requested an ETA. I
gave them 1045. They said arrive "no earlier" and if off the eta (late) by
more than 15 minutes advise FSS (Princeton) in the air. I asked "what do I
do when I get there" and he said the Unicom would direct us to the
appropriate place.

I then called Winnipeg to file an IFR (had mist about that morning) flight
plan CYIB (Atikokan) to KINL. Departing 1000am time en route 45 minutes. I
also said that we'd had ALL SORTS of trouble contacting Winnipeg on the MF
on the ground. I asked, what should I do if I can't contact you for
clearance? Answer: "taxi about a bit" "try to get high" if that fails, taxi
onto the runway and try us at the end of the runway. If that fails, take off
and call us immediately.

At the airport fired up the plane and (miracle) got Winnipeg on the radio.
There was a guy spraying weeds with a truck on the runway and I mentioned
this and the FSS Winnipeg guy said "do your back track (not back taxi) now
to show him you'll be departing~call us back from the end of the runway".
Did that and received the clearance. N...is cleared to the International
Falls via Atikokan - Direct. (I had filed plain Direct). Confusing. So I had
to clarify did that clearance mean fly to Atikokan Navaid (NDB, actually the
wrong direction for what we needed) but no, unlike the US clearance that
meant "Direct." Another slight difference. Instruction was "report
airborne." Then "Report 5nm out from Atikokan." We did so, and the next
instruction was again a bit different. "Contact Minneapolis Center on ... 60
miles east of the Falls, have a good flight."

OK, next problem was that 45 minutes (so as not to be late, BUT NOT EARLY)
was over generous. Really needed only 30 minutes that day. So over Rainy
Lake (next time I will file more over land versus Direct: that's a pretty
big body of water to cross) the gear was down and a 45 minute slow-flight
practice. We landed right at 1045 at Falls International. (After contacting
Center 60 miles east, it was regular US IFR op's.) The Unicom contacted us
upon clearing runway, "say intentions" and when I said we needed to clear
customs, they said "taxi into the big yellow circle by the fuel trucks, shut
down, and wait for the customs officer."

Sure enough, there was a big yellow circle saying "International Area" and
we taxied into it and shut down. A customs officer was on his way out to
meet us as we did so. He asked to see our immigration/proof of citizenship
papers: Green Cards for us, not sure what American citizens would have had
to show. Do we have guns or alcohol? No. Do you have your form filled out?
No, this is our first time & I thought I would wait since I had some
questions on how to fill it out.
"OK then, your wife can go to the FBO, you come with me." I asked would I
need any aircraft papers? No.

In the customs office I filled out the arrival form (which is quite long and
worth doing ahead of time, except the first time, you might get some help
because it's a bit tricky I found). He gave me a form for the $25 customs
yearly decal to fill out for next time. So I guess if just one trip per
year, no charge. He then dismissed me and I was thinking I would have to
taxi the plane away from the "big yellow circle" but no "you can have them
refuel it there, no one else is arriving for a while".

And that was it, we had made our first trip cross borders. Oh and the FBO at
INL give you a free can of preserves (raspberry/blueberry) by a local
company for your fillup, and have excellent sandwiches if you are going on a
long non-stop to Tulsa. (Extremely welcome round about Omaha or so.)

Hope some of this might be useful to others. The eta "timing" issue was
probably the most tricky to handle. Otherwise customs people treated us just
fine. Canadian charts were essentially the same, but not quite. Not a
problem to use however with safety. If you get them from Jepp more familiar
of course.

Thanks for reading.