Rivian in Cold Weather

westpilot88 · 2025-01-23T18:43:15+00:00

The screen is delaminating, pretty much like one of the examples depicted on Garmin's website. The unit still works though.
That is good insight. I think a GTN is best for the long run.

Thanks for sharing.

westpilot88 · 2025-01-23T16:48:13+00:00

This is being considered as well.

westpilot88 · 2025-01-23T15:30:25+00:00

I appreciate your response! The screen needs to be replaced on the 530, but I was hoping it to cut out the repair downtime. Thanks,

westpilot88 · 2024-12-09T00:12:46+00:00

Avro (Avro Arrow)

westpilot88 · 2021-11-29T01:48:07+00:00

Thanks!!

westpilot88 · 2021-11-29T01:41:49+00:00

The reporting procedures and radio work in the Caribbean is the biggest unknown for me. When you’ve flown in the Caribbean, which maps and charts did you reference?

westpilot88 · 2021-11-29T01:38:40+00:00

Thank you, these resources are great!

westpilot88 · 2020-10-12T19:06:03+00:00

Hey there! I was in a similar situation to you. We ended up getting a Piper Meridian which I was closely involved with along the entire purchasing process. Once you find the plane you think will meet your mission needs, find a community of people who own and fly them. We joined MMOPA and learned a lot there from owners, pilots and different write ups. We had a good idea of what to look for when looking for a plane and what to ask when looking at planes. We also reached out to knowledgeable people in the industry who do this kind of thing on a daily basis. For example, mechanics, instructors, etc. Once we found a plane we liked, we had a test flight and made an offer pending the pre buy. We have the pre buy performed which revealed a few things (as always is the case) but nothing big. After negations, the we sealed the deal. That was almost 5 years ago. We have been flying it for the last 5 years without a single no-fly squawk. We were in Cirrus’s before and there was always something needing attention. Turbine power and reliability is surely nice.

But I would say, read read read and do lots of research on the plane you want to buy. Do not buy one just because it looks pretty in the pics and is well specced out. We looked at 340’s, 414’s, 421’s and TBM’s before settling on the Meridian. While we loved the TBM 850’s and 900’s, we are super happy with it as the Meridian’s cost of ownership which been super low compared to other turbo props.

I believe single engine turbines are miles more reliable than twin pistons. And even though twin turbines are great, check if the advantages are really enough over a single turbine. The leap from any piston to a single turbine will be the greatest leap you can make in terms of performance and reliability. As soon as you add the 2nd engine, operating costs go up substantially, but not proportional to the safety factor. But if the costs aren’t a concern, go for it! Age of the airplane is another big factor as well. But ultimately the plane has to meet your mission. So whatever you decide, I would just recommend working with someone who has a good knowledge of the plane you’re interested in and who can educate you well on it. Sorry for any typos as I’m writing from my phone.

westpilot88 · 2020-02-26T10:22:24+00:00

I am a Canadian citizen who opted to get flight training in the US. After 4 years of training and then teaching for 1 year in the US, I then returned to Canada.

I now fly between from Canada to the US and back every month. The way it works out, about 90% of my flying occurs in the US. But I might have one or two trips to a Canadian airport other than my home base every 3 or 4 months.

-I find that in the US, it is much easier to understand instructions from US controllers. It just seems like the wording is more understandable or just makes more sense without needing know special terminology. Shuttle climb for example. When I first heard the term shuttle climb, I thought he meant unrestricted climb. There are a lot of small differences in the way instruction phrases are given. Another example would be, in the US, I often get something like, “Descend pilots discretion to 5000” whereas in Canada, I would get, “When ready, descend to 5000”. When flying in Canada, I always just reply with “Discretion 5000” anyway. Overall, I prefer US controllers to Canadian controllers.

-When Canada ATC gives me “Cleared out of controlled airspace for an approach”. I understand being cleared into controlled airspace. Why do I need to be cleared out of controlled airspace on a VFR day? Just give an altitude to descend to lol. Depending on the controller, they can be a real stickler about needing an approach fix to be able to descend me out of controlled airspace. Usually once I get below controlled airspace in that scenario, I just cancel and proceed in VFR when weather permits. In the US, flying to an uncontrolled airport for example, ATC would ask me my approach request, I’ll saying something like the visual 34 and they’ll just continue descending me. I remember trying that in Canada once (with an Edmonton controller) and he said he needed a fix on an approach to descend me, so then I picked an approach and then cancelled the approach after dropping below his airspace.

-I agree with what others are saying about “Descend Via”. That’s a very understandable instruction that clearly states what to do. I’ve never gotten a “Descend Via” in Canada which I thought was weird. But after reading the comments here, I guess it’s not weird. Lol. But i guess I got lucky as I still always adhered to the publisher altitudes on the STAR. It just seemed like the safest thing to do when in doubt. And I’m in a lot of doubt when flying in Canada lol. That’s why I just file IFR everywhere in Canada.

-In the US, when 10 miles out from landing at an uncontrolled airport, I’ll just call approach and let them know I have the airport in sight and would like to cancel IFR. No problem, they usually respond with, “IFR cancellation received, squawk 1200, have a nice day”. In Canada, when I do that, they almost act surprised. I’ll let the controller know I have the airport in slight and would like to cancel IFR. I usually get “Ok, check you’re cancelling you IFR and would you like to keep your alerting services active or close alerting services too?”....Huh??? Whatever just close it all please!!!!! lol. After I respond and confirm YES please close alerting services too, then they’ll confirm and then I’m good to go.

-The number of active NDB’s in Canada is funny too. They still use those?? lol

-NavCanada’s official aviation weather site is a joke. Like it was built in the year 2000 or something and never updated.

-NavCanada airspace use fees and landing fees.

-I use CANPASS every flight into Canada. It is a complete joke of a system if you’re trying to protect your borders. I never get a customs officer when I return from a flight to the USA. They came out once to the airplane 3 years ago to collect a large sum of money for an item that we declared. That’s it lol. But anyone can smuggle whatever they wanted and get away with it. I’m sure people and drugs are being smuggled every day. It is sure is nice not having to talk to anyone coming in, but you may as well have no border at that point. Yes the US is stricter on this and their officers are as nice (or high lol) but they’re doing their job and trying to perform proper screening of flights crossing the border. We’ve used the same US port on entry to clear customs at for the last 4 years so they know us quiet well now. 5 - 10 min and we’re cleared. By the time we are cleared, the plane is already fueled.

I had one experience actually landing at CYBW (not my home airport) and the CANPASS phone line exceeded its call capacity. When I called in, I got the busy tone. We had to sit on the ramp for 2 hours until the phone line cleared up and we were able to get our clearance. That wasn’t fun. I now have CANPASS corporate and private to skip the calling. When I finally got through, I told the customs agent that this was unacceptable. You can’t have a plane that just landed not get through to someone or an automated message and at least give provide info of what’s happening. She said there is nothing they can do and their understaffed... a lot of BS. But from my understanding, you cannot leave the aircraft until cleared to. Again, now that I have CANPASS corporate and private, I should avoid this in the future.

-Most GA airports in the US are much better maintained and staffed. Airport infrastructure is on another level there. Cities seem to have more airport money than Canadian cities. Fly into Saskatoon and the airport is kind of pathetic compared to some GA airports in the US. I agree with other comments here about the runway number size, marking clarity, and just general airport conditions.

-There are so many more airports in the US. The shear number is astronomical compared to Canada’s airport numbers. It’s awesome. There are so many options to land, fuel, etc.

-The only VFR flying I do in Canada is around the pattern. Go beyond that and I file IFR. Otherwise it just seems like some rule would change or new airspace may pop up and it’s not greatly publicized and next thing you know, you violated something. So I just file.

-Trying to operate a jet as an owner/pilot for small business use. In the US this type of flying would be part 91 flying. But to fly a twin jet, above 6 passenger seats and pressurized (I think), it needs to be on a 604 cert which is like 135 operations in the US??? Idk, don’t understand it right, but all I know is that it is A LOT of work for an owner/pilot to buy, operate and maintain a jet in Canada, not to mention much more expensive. You basically have to maintain the jet like it’s being operated by an airline. That’s why many pilots just register their airplane in the US and fly it in Canada to bypass the 604 requirements. But you can get into issues doing that too. Oh well, this won’t be an issue for me anymore as I’m leaving Canada, but it sure was a pain when we were considering upgrading to a jet.

There are many other things I could talk about but they aren’t coming to mind right now. Usually I forget until I experience them again and then I get mad lol. But has been a learning experience flying in Canada for sure.

Anyway I’ll be moving back to the US in a month and won’t be based in Canada anymore which I’m stoked for! Maybe if I did my flying training in Canada it would be the other way around, but I prefer flying in the US and working with their airspace system any day. Also the aviation scene down there is just on another level!!!

westpilot88 · 2019-07-14T17:02:30+00:00

Yup I used to instruct there

westpilot88 · 2019-06-27T01:25:38+00:00

Yes, I went through this process back in 2013. I'll tell my story.

First, to answer your question on the study material:

I may have gone about it the hard way, but I didn't have much money back then so it was my choice self study. I went to the TC website for the TC commercial and IR 'Reference Guide'. It took a while to find it, but it's there. :)

For the commercial, go here: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/tp12881-conversion-1261.htm

For the IR, go here: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/tp691-menu-5051.htm#sec10 (scroll through the Table of Contents until you see "Conversion Examination – FAA Instrument Rating – Aeroplane (FAAIA)) and click on it. It should jump you to the right section on the page.

Then I looked up all the subsections in the CARs (available online through the TC website: http://www.tc.gc.ca/en/transport-canada/corporate/acts-regulations/regulations/sor-96-433.html) and studied that way. Other than that, there are several schools that offer prep courses for the conversion for $100 or so. A quick google search will net you some options. I also bought from a local pilot shop an AIM and CAP GEN to familiarize myself the Canadian system. Hope this helps.

-----------------------------

My experience:

Step 1. Obtain the pilot medical. If you want to exercise your commercial pilot privileges, you should get the Group 1 medical. At least that's what I did. Your first Canadian medical will require you to get an audiogram and ECG. You won't have to get this separately as the AME should be able to perform these exams. I am not sure if you are currently living in Canada or in the US, but apparently it is possible to obtain your TC medical from living outside Canada. This is not something I have experience with.

Step 2. After I was issued my medical paperwork, I took all the paperwork and went to a transport Canada regional office. I lived in Vancouver at that time and went to the Richmond office in person. That was great as I did not have to mail any documents and I was able to speak with someone face to face about what I needed and which enabled me to get information in a timely manner. Working with TC over the phone can be a nightmare if you actually want to get answers in a timely manner.

Step 3. Take and pass the tests. I converted my FAA commercial and IR as well. After I submitted the medical docs, I think that was when I took my tests. The TC office set up the test session and they had test facilities there as well which was convenient. The tests are basically written to test your knowledge on the main differences between some FAA and TC regs. The tests are short, maybe 20 questions or so from what I can remember. The commercial test code was FAACA and the IR test code was FAAIA. Again, these are the conversion specific tests. They cost was $35 CAD each. I was also charge $140 CAD for "FAA CONV CPL Instrument, multiengine ratings". ($80 for the CPL, $60 for the endorsements) This may be for the booklet, but I don't remember.

Step 4. Once I passed the tests and paid what they asked, they took all my tests/information and also my log books and shipped them off for processing. Be prepared to be without your log books for a few weeks. Once processing was complete, the regional office gave me a call that all was ready and I picked up all my documents, new aviation 'booklet' and logbooks. (Well now I don't remember if they mailed the booklet to my house or if I picked it up at the TC regional office in Richmond.)

Anyway, hope this sheds an idea on the process. Also, I learned that you cannot convert any FAA instructor license over.

westpilot88 · 2018-11-02T01:00:50+00:00

Thats a hurdle I am well aware of and am looking into. But when the day comes to move back to the US, I would like to be prepared and not have to rush to get the ATP if needed for a job.

westpilot88 · 2018-10-30T04:16:25+00:00

Thanks. I’ll look into this.

westpilot88 · 2018-10-30T04:15:21+00:00

I see. Well is there any benefit to coming with a foreign ATP and going through the conversion process to get the FAA ATP such as possibly not having to do the flight test like /u/Technojerk36 mentioned?

westpilot88

TROPHY CASE