Temporarily operating a German registered glider in the US

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 4:52:15 PM UTC-5, wrote:
However, for flying with a club or commercial operation, you need a field check out. As this will be done in a US registered 2-place trainer you will need a US pilot license. This is not true. For a field check, you are flying as a student, with the instructor in back as pilot in command. No license at all is required. By the FAA, at least. John Cochrane

If the pilot getting the field check holds the required certificate, he or she certainly could act as PIC during a field check. Many times,at our operation, field checks are done by qualified commercial pilots.
To fly solo, the subject pilot must have at least a student pilot certificate, obvioulsy endorsed by a CFI.
A foreign pilot, using a reciprocal certificate, will also need a flight review.
I guess I beat that one to death.
UH

An U.S. licensed pilot may fly a foreign-registered aircraft in the U.S. as if it were U.S. registered.

The problem with license and registration only comes about when the aircraft is in it's home country -- then the pilot must be licensed in that country. In the pilot's country of license, the registration of the aircraft doesn't matter.

At least, these are the rules for Canada and the U.S.. (Been looking into it, since my club in Canada is hosting the Women Soaring Pilots Association seminar in 2014... we're expecting a bunch of U.S. pilots to come and have been working with Transport Canada to get everything in place for the visitors).

-John

There is/was a German in California who bought a US registered DG-400 and later converted it to a German registration and flew it in the US. I am not sure if he is still in the US, but I thought that he had found a way to keep the German registration for at least a couple of years. Google Marko Rocznik und you will find him.

I think Marko is also an authorized LBA mechanic, capable of performing and signing off his own annual inspections, finding one in US in order to stay airworthy might be problematic.

GK

On 11/19/2013 2:12 PM, wrote:

There is/was a German in California who bought a US registered DG-400 and later converted it to a German registration and flew it in the US. I am not sure if he is still in the US, but I thought that he had found a way to keep the German registration for at least a couple of years. Google Marko Rocznik und you will find him.

I think Marko is also an authorized LBA mechanic, capable of performing and signing off his own annual inspections, finding one in US in order to stay airworthy might be problematic.

GK


There presently is a German in California who bought a US registered
LS-6, converted to German registration, and is flying in the US. If
interested, drop me an email and I will send you his email address.

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 7:57:58 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Dear US-gliding community,

Thanks in advance and best regards

Marc

Marc :
You ask about a combination of pilot and airframe, and how it may be operated in the United States.

As a German national, you may fly a German registered airframe in the US, as long as you keep the pilot and airframe 'legal' according to its home country. Whatever German pilot currency requirements are needed must be maintained (including medical certification). Whatever airframe inspections are required in Germany must also be met. You mentioned the use of a three year program. If it's legal there, it covers your airframe here. There is no additional US paperwork required ! This is due to ICAO agreements, worldwide reciprocity was established primarily for airliners and their staff.

Our FAR citations follow, slightly snipped to pertinent portions:

"§91.9 Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, no person may operate a civil aircraft without complying with the operating limitations ...., or as otherwise prescribed by the certificating authority of the country of registry.
(b) No person may operate a U.S.-registered civil aircraft— .....snip

§91.203 Civil aircraft: Certifications required.
(a) Except as provided in §91.715, no person may operate a civil aircraft unless it has within it the following:
(1) An appropriate and current airworthiness certificate. snip ...
(2) An effective U.S. registration certificate issued to its owner snip, or a registration certification issued under the laws of a foreign country.. "

- - - -

The foreign national pilot is, however, required to abide by all US flight rules, and you might consider sitting down with a US glider flight instructor and review the subjects they would normally cover in a 'flight review', and perhaps a little more. For the airline pilot (think Lufthansa) this is less problematic, as they fly on IFR flight plans, and seldom consider exercising independent airmanship (smile).
How about that US pilot in the German 'legal' glider, flown in the US? The US pilot should mind FAR 91.103. The implication is that any pilot must know the machine is 'airworthy', which includes its home country inspections.

"§91.103 Preflight action.
Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include— snipped
(2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature. "

You are free to find an LBA certified maintenance provider, and/or fly them over to make the required glider inspections and log entries, should you need that. You might consider contacting a German air-carrier about their hub services in New York or DC. Likely they would have LBA mechanic staff there for the Airbus and Boeing products.

For duties and taxes, I have no information. There will be port handling fees and customs clearance fees, which can be researched through a customs broker or shipping line. As you are not importing it for sale, I imagine this is minimal.

Costello Insurance is very knowledgeable for coverage in the US. www.gliderinsurance.com You should ask your home carrier about extending coverage to the US. We manage to get this done for a World Championships or two.

Trailer wiring was answered for you.

Now - for the folks who wanted to extrapolate beyond your questions, there are a few things for you to do, should you want to fly a US registered glider. You would need authorization as a US certificated pilot. You can get this two ways.

First option is to use the ICAO process for reciprocity. Use the form from our FAA to apply for a reciprocal rating. Provide copies of all your German certifications. Send to our FAA, wait for them to send it to LBA and get (snail) mail confirmation back to a local FAA FSDO office in NJ. Pick up your US certificate at that office, and get a flight review endorsement in your logbook from a US glider flight instructor. You must keep ALL LBA requirements up to date to use the US certificate, and get a new US flight review as needed (FAR 61.56) to go beyond two years privileges.
See he
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific..._verification/

Option Two is to pretend you are a glider student, and proceed through the US pilot certification process. You may use your German logbook to meet flight time requirements, but must fly and do the maneuvers and have the endorsements given by a US flight instructor to pass the two US tests ( written and practical, in that order). This was implied by the other posters. You could perhaps fly as an endorsed 'student pilot', if the US CFI wanted to give you those endorsements, but insured flight operations would be more costly for a "student" than for a US Private certificated airman.

Welcome to the US (soon). "UH" will be happy to welcome you to New Jersey and his flying site. They have some marvelous soaring up there. You might consider becoming an SSA member . . . . www.ssa.org :-)

Cindy B
SSA Region 12 Director

What a brilliant response, thank you Cindy.

After September 11 the US restricted the operation of foreign registered
aircraft (with exceptions for Canadian and Mexican aircraft for obvious
reasons). Do you happen to know if those restrictions continue? The FAA
Notam I can see seems to require a filed flight plan and mandatory
transponder use. Not so appropriate for gliders!

http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publi...0or%20less.pdf

Casey



CindyB wrote:
On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 7:57:58 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Dear US-gliding community,

Thanks in advance and best regards

Marc

Marc :
You ask about a combination of pilot and airframe, and how it may be
operated in the United States.

As a German national, you may fly a German registered airframe in the US,
as long as you keep the pilot and airframe 'legal' according to its home
country. Whatever German pilot currency requirements are needed must be
maintained (including medical certification). Whatever airframe
inspections are required in Germany must also be met. You mentioned the
use of a three year program. If it's legal there, it covers your airframe
here. There is no additional US paperwork required ! This is due to
ICAO agreements, worldwide reciprocity was established primarily for
airliners and their staff.

Our FAR citations follow, slightly snipped to pertinent portions:

"§91.9 Civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, no person may
operate a civil aircraft without complying with the operating limitations
...., or as otherwise prescribed by the certificating authority of the
country of registry.
(b) No person may operate a U.S.-registered civil aircraft— .....snip

§91.203 Civil aircraft: Certifications required.
(a) Except as provided in §91.715, no person may operate a civil aircraft
unless it has within it the following:
(1) An appropriate and current airworthiness certificate. snip ...
(2) An effective U.S. registration certificate issued to its owner
snip, or a registration certification issued under the laws of a foreign country. "

- - - -

The foreign national pilot is, however, required to abide by all US
flight rules, and you might consider sitting down with a US glider flight
instructor and review the subjects they would normally cover in a 'flight
review', and perhaps a little more. For the airline pilot (think
Lufthansa) this is less problematic, as they fly on IFR flight plans, and
seldom consider exercising independent airmanship (smile).
How about that US pilot in the German 'legal' glider, flown in the US?
The US pilot should mind FAR 91.103. The implication is that any pilot
must know the machine is 'airworthy', which includes its home country inspections.

"§91.103 Preflight action.
Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar
with all available information concerning that flight. This information
must include— snipped
(2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of
this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft,
relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport
elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature. "

You are free to find an LBA certified maintenance provider, and/or fly
them over to make the required glider inspections and log entries, should
you need that. You might consider contacting a German air-carrier about
their hub services in New York or DC. Likely they would have LBA mechanic
staff there for the Airbus and Boeing products.

For duties and taxes, I have no information. There will be port handling
fees and customs clearance fees, which can be researched through a
customs broker or shipping line. As you are not importing it for sale, I
imagine this is minimal.

Costello Insurance is very knowledgeable for coverage in the US.
www.gliderinsurance.com You should ask your home carrier about
extending coverage to the US. We manage to get this done for a World Championships or two.

Trailer wiring was answered for you.

Now - for the folks who wanted to extrapolate beyond your questions,
there are a few things for you to do, should you want to fly a US
registered glider. You would need authorization as a US certificated
pilot. You can get this two ways.

First option is to use the ICAO process for reciprocity. Use the form
from our FAA to apply for a reciprocal rating. Provide copies of all your
German certifications. Send to our FAA, wait for them to send it to LBA
and get (snail) mail confirmation back to a local FAA FSDO office in NJ.
Pick up your US certificate at that office, and get a flight review
endorsement in your logbook from a US glider flight instructor. You must
keep ALL LBA requirements up to date to use the US certificate, and get a
new US flight review as needed (FAR 61.56) to go beyond two years privileges.
See he
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific..._verification/

Option Two is to pretend you are a glider student, and proceed through
the US pilot certification process. You may use your German logbook to
meet flight time requirements, but must fly and do the maneuvers and have
the endorsements given by a US flight instructor to pass the two US tests
( written and practical, in that order). This was implied by the other
posters. You could perhaps fly as an endorsed 'student pilot', if the US
CFI wanted to give you those endorsements, but insured flight operations
would be more costly for a "student" than for a US Private certificated airman.

Welcome to the US (soon). "UH" will be happy to welcome you to New
Jersey and his flying site. They have some marvelous soaring up there.
You might consider becoming an SSA member . . . . www.ssa.org :-)

Cindy B
SSA Region 12 Director

Funny how "reciprocity" works...One can fly any German registered glider (other than self launching one) with just a US license...

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013 8:57:58 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Dear US-gliding community,



it seems likely that I am going to spend about 2 year in the US (NJ area) starting next spring and I would like to bring my German registered glider along. Given it is for 2 years only, I would like to keep the ship under its German flag and keep any changes to glider and trailer to a minimum. This raises a couple of questions and I am hoping that some folks out here can provide some guidance



1) Import duties/taxes: Is there a procedure that exempts me from or minimizes US import taxes/duties? (I would bring it into the country as part of my household belongings, I paid full VAT in Germany on the ship and I do intend to bring it back and not to leave it in the US...) Uli Kremer of Schleicher mentioned a "carnet" but that would only cover 1 year after which the glider would have to leave the US again. Any thoughts?



2) Insurance: Does anybody have recent experience with an insurance that covers a D-glider within the US? Mine seems a bit reluctant....



3) Trailer: Unsurprisingly, the towing hitch and electric connection between the German trailer and US cars are not directly compatible. I am perfectly willing to exchange the hitch at the trailer itself for a US hitch but is there a way or adapter that "bridges" the electrical systems and allows legal traffic operations in the US?



4) Annual inspection: I am tempted to put the glider on a CAMO+ regime which only requires a physical inspection every 3rd year unless someone here is telling me that there is a D-Inspector (Pruefer Klasse 3) living in the East coast area.



Any fact based ideas? When I searched this forum, I did find some older bits and pieces, in particular from a "Thorsten" im CA and a "Michael" in PA who might already have mastered this little challenge but I couldn't find their personal contacts.



Any help or contacts are much appreciated.



Thanks in advance and best regards

Marc

Hi,

I just wanted to thank all of you who found the time to reply and provide plentiful guidance. By giving specific direct advice or by connecting me with other colleagues, you all helped me a lot to slice the "problem" into digestible and manageable pieces.

I am looking forward to bringing "S2" across the pond next spring.

Thanks again and all the best
Marc

2017 and looking to do the same, (Temp import of a G reg glider)
From what I can see, almost zero hassle (bar trailer wiring and having to drive on the wrong side of the road :-) )
Possibly moving to Louisiana but will almost certainly be flying out of Houston.

Just posted this to resurrect the thread.

On Mon, 14 Aug 2017 19:55:11 -0700, roymgarden wrote:

2017 and looking to do the same, (Temp import of a G reg glider)
From what I can see, almost zero hassle (bar trailer wiring and having
to drive on the wrong side of the road :-) )
Possibly moving to Louisiana but will almost certainly be flying out of
Houston.

Maybe the mod I've just done to my trailer, as part of a rewiring project,
would make a useful halfway house. Since I managed to damage the flying
lead that connects to the car, I cut it off and plumbed it into a 7-bin N
series socket which I'd fitted to the front of the trailer in the same
side of the towbar as the socket on my car and now I use a 1.5m extension
cable as the connection between car and trailer. One benefit is that,
when the trailer is parked, the extension cable is inside it and out of
the weather. The socket and its sprung cover are cast metal and seem
fairly weatherproof.

If you did that, then changing the plug on one end of an extension cable
to US standard should be fairly straight forward and not require
incompatible changes to your trailer wiring.

I was lucky enough to get a good quality extension from Towsure.

I think its Maypole brand but beware - either Maypole source their items
from a variety of (Chinese?) sources which are very variable in quality
or there are Maypole-branded forgeries about. As I said, my extension is
excellent, but I've also seen Maypole extensions from Amazon shops that
had obviously lower quality plugs and which took a set the first time
they were extended, even though this was to considerably less than the
advertised maximum length.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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