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Aussie plans to fly solo to the US

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:33 pm
by Kangajab
Hi folks,
I'm retired now, in my mid 60's. I currently fly recreational aircraft around Tasmania, but I plan to fly a Jabiru J230D from Australia to the US. It will be a brand new aircraft and registered under the RAA registration in Australia. Will that pose any problems with my plans to fly around the US?
One thing I might add is that aircraft registered with the RAA in Australia, as opposed to an aircraft registered under GA, have a situation where the details of ownership are not freely given to the public. At the present this works to our advantage because we avoid being charged landing fees etc.
Personally I'm happy to pay for a service given.
The restriction with RAA registration here are probably the same as Light Sport in the US. Only VFR, pilot and one passenger, no IFR. MAX 10,000 FT.

As you can understand, the thought that US authorities might throw their hands up in the air and say I can't use my aircraft while there, is a major worry.
I plan to fly down to South America and back, then to Europe to continue with my slow but sure circumnavigation of the planet.
My guess is that it will be the slowest and longest circumnavigation ever, as I plan to see as many countries that are worth seeing, get to know the locals everywhere I go, and party as much as I can, as long as I'm 100% sober for the flying.

Re: Aussie plans to fly solo to the US

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:23 am
by MrMorden
My understanding is that as long as you are flying an aircraft that meets airworthiness standards in its home country, and you have a pilot certificate that meats ICAO standards, you are good to go for international travel. You might need some permits for transiting various countries though. The J230 series is well-known in the USA and certified as a Light Sport Aircraft (LSA), so you should have little trouble here.

This sounds like quite an adventure! I wouldn't fly it right from the dealer around the world though...get some hours on it to break everything in and account for infant mortality; you'd hate to have an early engine failure over open water...

Re: Aussie plans to fly solo to the US

Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 9:51 am
by Kangajab
Thanks for explaining the setup with flying the aircraft into the US, and yes you are right with that advice. The Jabiru is made in Bendigo Queensland, so that's a reasonable hop from Tasmania to start with, but I do intend to do several trips to Western Australia and some back up to Queensland and possibly a circumnavigation of Australia to sharpen my skills. One thing I'm waiting for, is the new nickel cylinder barrel 3300 Jabiru engine. It will run on anything from Mogas to Avgas100.
As far as permits are concerned, yes they are an issue which I think better handled by a company that does that sort of thing. Indonesia for example still has a light plane load of people serving jail sentences for just landing in Papua New Guinea without prior approval. They are really anal about New Guinea considering they invaded a country that never belonged to them to start with. Considering the atrocities they committed in Timor back when they murdered 5 Australian reporters, I would expect much of the same is going on there. Recently a guy doing a global circumnavigation was on a leg from Columbo, Sri Lanka to Singapore and managed to cross into Indonesia air space. They forced him to land and held him at gun point. After a hefty fine they let him go. Just because he didn't get a fly over permit beforehand.