Flying to Newfoundland

[802flyer]

Hi all,

Planning a flight to Newfoundland in a couple weeks and figured this forum might have some wisdom to impart. The general plan would be take off in the morning and cross roughly from the AUG vor to Halifax (CYHZ) where we would land, clear customs, stretch the legs/eat lunch, and then head out on the next leg up to Deer Lake (CYDF) for 3 nights before making the reverse trip home. The general AUG-CYHZ-CYDF routing makes for a nice lunch break and keeps long stretches over water to a minimum.

Given this will be my first trip to Canada and over such remote terrain, I'll have a low threshold to cancel for weather beyond VMC or gentleman's IMC. Plan would be to file IFR regardless. This is the major point that I'd love some input on from folks that are familiar with flying IFR in Canada. I've reviewed the AOPA guides and other references online, but I'm still interested to hear what differences people have noticed compared to flying IFR in the US (especially in the more remote areas vs. simply crossing the border and landing at Montreal/Toronto). I'm also curious if they would indeed clear me direct from YHZ to YDF or if I'll get sent on airways which does stretch the over-water distances a bit.

I've read a lot about the paperwork/phone calls/etc for crossing the border and clearing customs and so feel relatively comfortable with that part of the plan. If anyone cares to weigh in on how this goes at Halifax in particular, I'd be grateful to hear it.

I'll be upgrading my XM subscription to include non-CONUS areas to ensure I have weather info outside US ADS-B range. Interestingly, I don't see an AWOS-type weather info frequency for CYDF but I should at least be able to get the METARs and TAFs via XM. If anyone has actually flown into Deer Lake and knows if there's something I'm missing here regarding radio weather info, I'd appreciate it.

I'm sure there are other unknown-unknowns so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[aviatoreb]

25 minutes ago, 802flyer said:

Hi all,

Planning a flight to Newfoundland in a couple weeks and figured this forum might have some wisdom to impart. The general plan would be take off in the morning and cross roughly from the AUG vor to Halifax (CYHZ) where we would land, clear customs, stretch the legs/eat lunch, and then head out on the next leg up to Deer Lake (CYDF) for 3 nights before making the reverse trip home. The general AUG-CYHZ-CYDF routing makes for a nice lunch break and keeps long stretches over water to a minimum.

Given this will be my first trip to Canada and over such remote terrain, I'll have a low threshold to cancel for weather beyond VMC or gentleman's IMC. Plan would be to file IFR regardless. This is the major point that I'd love some input on from folks that are familiar with flying IFR in Canada. I've reviewed the AOPA guides and other references online, but I'm still interested to hear what differences people have noticed compared to flying IFR in the US (especially in the more remote areas vs. simply crossing the border and landing at Montreal/Toronto). I'm also curious if they would indeed clear me direct from YHZ to YDF or if I'll get sent on airways which does stretch the over-water distances a bit.

I've read a lot about the paperwork/phone calls/etc for crossing the border and clearing customs and so feel relatively comfortable with that part of the plan. If anyone cares to weigh in on how this goes at Halifax in particular, I'd be grateful to hear it.

I'll be upgrading my XM subscription to include non-CONUS areas to ensure I have weather info outside US ADS-B range. Interestingly, I don't see an AWOS-type weather info frequency for CYDF but I should at least be able to get the METARs and TAFs via XM. If anyone has actually flown into Deer Lake and knows if there's something I'm missing here regarding radio weather info, I'd appreciate it.

I'm sure there are other unknown-unknowns so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

I've flown a fair bit to Canada from my home base in upstate NY just 15 miles from Canada.  To Toronto, to Ottawa, to New Brunswick, to PEI and Nova Scotia as well as over Canada to Michigan and beyond...

I pretty much always file IFR when over flying Canada since it is so much like USA IFR that it seems utterly seamless and I feel right at home.  There is almost no difference.  And just like in the USA if a controller gives you a flight clearance routing that you did not choose, that you do not like for a legitimate reason like you dont want to over fly long stretches of water Single Engine - then just say so - you can say it fancy - unable - or you can say it human - "do you have a routing that doesn't take me over such a long expanse of water in my little single engine airplane" "would you accept the following routing instead"/. The nice thing is - outside of Montreal, and Toronto and maybe Ottawa - these are mostly rural airspace controllers with not a whole lot of activity in their area and so they have time to help - and separation and safety are their primary job - they want to help.  So dont be shy to ask for what you NEED.

[Fly Boomer]

32 minutes ago, 802flyer said:

Hi all,

Planning a flight to Newfoundland in a couple weeks and figured this forum might have some wisdom to impart. The general plan would be take off in the morning and cross roughly from the AUG vor to Halifax (CYHZ) where we would land, clear customs, stretch the legs/eat lunch, and then head out on the next leg up to Deer Lake (CYDF) for 3 nights before making the reverse trip home. The general AUG-CYHZ-CYDF routing makes for a nice lunch break and keeps long stretches over water to a minimum.

Given this will be my first trip to Canada and over such remote terrain, I'll have a low threshold to cancel for weather beyond VMC or gentleman's IMC. Plan would be to file IFR regardless. This is the major point that I'd love some input on from folks that are familiar with flying IFR in Canada. I've reviewed the AOPA guides and other references online, but I'm still interested to hear what differences people have noticed compared to flying IFR in the US (especially in the more remote areas vs. simply crossing the border and landing at Montreal/Toronto). I'm also curious if they would indeed clear me direct from YHZ to YDF or if I'll get sent on airways which does stretch the over-water distances a bit.

I've read a lot about the paperwork/phone calls/etc for crossing the border and clearing customs and so feel relatively comfortable with that part of the plan. If anyone cares to weigh in on how this goes at Halifax in particular, I'd be grateful to hear it.

I'll be upgrading my XM subscription to include non-CONUS areas to ensure I have weather info outside US ADS-B range. Interestingly, I don't see an AWOS-type weather info frequency for CYDF but I should at least be able to get the METARs and TAFs via XM. If anyone has actually flown into Deer Lake and knows if there's something I'm missing here regarding radio weather info, I'd appreciate it.

I'm sure there are other unknown-unknowns so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

If I'm reading correctly, Space-Based ADSB is now required in Class A airspace.

[802flyer]

8 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

If I'm reading correctly, Space-Based ADSB is now required in Class A airspace.

I believe you are correct. Thankfully that won't be a problem that my F model will be troubled with.

[802flyer]

22 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

I've flown a fair bit to Canada from my home base in upstate NY just 15 miles from Canada.  To Toronto, to Ottawa, to New Brunswick, to PEI and Nova Scotia as well as over Canada to Michigan and beyond...

I pretty much always file IFR when over flying Canada since it is so much like USA IFR that it seems utterly seamless and I feel right at home.  There is almost no difference.  And just like in the USA if a controller gives you a flight clearance routing that you did not choose, that you do not like for a legitimate reason like you dont want to over fly long stretches of water Single Engine - then just say so - you can say it fancy - unable - or you can say it human - "do you have a routing that doesn't take me over such a long expanse of water in my little single engine airplane" "would you accept the following routing instead"/. The nice thing is - outside of Montreal, and Toronto and maybe Ottawa - these are mostly rural airspace controllers with not a whole lot of activity in their area and so they have time to help - and separation and safety are their primary job - they want to help.  So dont be shy to ask for what you NEED.

This is very reassuring, thank you! I've been reading that it is quite similar but it's reassuring to hear personal experience. Definitely will make sure to ask for favorable routes; just wasn't sure if ATC was equally accommodating and/or if there was a pressing local reason they might suggest on a non-direct route that I wouldn't have thought of. 

[A64Pilot]

Been many years ago but when my Family went, we flew Commercial from somewhere close by I assume Canada.

‘My Father thought the small risk wasn’t worth it, you go down in that cold water you don’t survive long. This is the same guy who flew all over the NWT and Alaska over glaciers etc. The difference was the water.

[802flyer]

Got a direct message with a good tip that I'll share here: The FltPlan Go app is free and includes all the NavCanada Sectional/TAC/IFR low/SID/STAR/etc charts. The interface is a bit clunky but for the rare weekend trip into Canada, it may be worth trying rather than spending the extra $100/year to unlock the charts in Foreflight.

[Fly Boomer]

54 minutes ago, 802flyer said:

Got a direct message with a good tip that I'll share here: The FltPlan Go app is free and includes all the NavCanada Sectional/TAC/IFR low/SID/STAR/etc charts. The interface is a bit clunky but for the rare weekend trip into Canada, it may be worth trying rather than spending the extra $100/year to unlock the charts in Foreflight.

I asked ForeFlight Support about temporarily upgrading.  Here is their response:

Albert here - Thank you for being our customer. You can upgrade and downgrade at any time with ForeFlight. When you do so, you will renew your subscription, when downgrading a store credit will be issued for the unused portion of the upgraded plan for future use.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Kind regards,

Albert
Pilot Support Team

[802flyer]

1 hour ago, Fly Boomer said:

I asked ForeFlight Support about temporarily upgrading.  Here is their response:

Albert here - Thank you for being our customer. You can upgrade and downgrade at any time with ForeFlight. When you do so, you will renew your subscription, when downgrading a store credit will be issued for the unused portion of the upgraded plan for future use.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Kind regards,

Albert
Pilot Support Team

Ok that's good to know. Thanks!