Quick Mexico Trip

[CT4ME]

'Flew to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) Mexico today... and will be coming back Wed. morning. Beautiful clear, still air on the way down and the temps on the beach are perfect- 80 days and 60 nights. No border crossing problems or DHS searches. 'Coming back through Tucson.

SPOT Flight Track (good for a week or so)

If anyone is interested in a quick trip down next week, the Baja Bush Pilots are doing a Fly-in here Nov 5-7 (fri-sun). $119 per person gets you two nights at a luxury condo, two breakfasts, transportation to/from airport, and a bunch of fun with a great group of people. It would be a great ice-breaker if you've never flown South before. Rocky Point is just an hour from Tucson, 1.5 from Phoenix, and 1-3 hours from Southern California.

Here's where you'll be staying: Sonoran Sun pics More info on Fly-in trip

Tim & Lynell

[chanik]

Just curious sincew I haven't done this yet, do you have all the paperwork sorted or figure noone will check?

 

Restricted radio license? Radio station license for the plane? Special insurance to fly in Mexico? Is there some customs sticker also?

 

I think you need to use eAPIS now too right?

[CT4ME]

They check, for sure... both ways. You need Mexican Liability insurance on the plane, unless your policy explicitly covers liability in Mexico - most don't. Some say it has to be written on a Mexican company policy. 1 year from Baja Bush Pilots is about $250. You need copies of Registration/Airworthiness/License/medical. Copies of your Mexican insurance is mandatory. Passports, of course. If your plane is owned by a trust or company, you need a letter authorizing you to fly it, and perhaps a copy of the LLC doc. The mexicans are very ritualistic about their paperwork, passing you to three different stations, with rubber stamps in-hand. There are some minor landing and passenger fees. Once a year we get a Multi-entry pass for the airplane ($55).

A Defense VFR flight plan (both ways) needs to be filed. And eApis filing both ways. Going down you just open your plan and fly. Coming back you contact flight service at least 30 minutes before crossing the border and open your return flight plan. This can be done on the Phone, too. In the air you can change your border crossing or arrival time to within 10 minutes. Flight Service will give you a squawk code to use while crossing.

Going down, your first landing must be an Airport of Entry (AOE)... it can be close to the border, or anywhere. Your last airport when leaving Mexico should also be an AOE, where they'll take back your tourist visa and charge a slight exit fee. Your airport of entry into the US will generally be very near the border. They check your paperwork, but mostly passports. The once-a-year Customs Decal is required for going and coming back.

Every so often our wonderful government uses the eApis exit information to do little ramp "surprise checks", I guess looking for sacks of money or guns. I have not gone through one, probably because they are too lazy to come to my airport.

While it sounds complicated, once you go through it and create a little "Mexico Flying" binder with all the paperwork, it's no big deal. The DVFR and eApis things take just a few minutes.

My first couple of trips were done with the Baja Bush Pilots... they have plenty of info on their website and organize really fun group trips.

Tim

 

ps. while all the regulations say you need a radiotelephone license, nobody I've ever talked to has ever been asked for it... including folks with hundreds of crossings. And the requirement to have a 406Mhz ELT has been delayed (of course, right after I got mine!)