The weather came together perfectly yesterday, so we pulled the trigger on the move to Canada. Mark Richardson flew me to Bangor in his RV-8. Bob DiMeo flew the aircraft to Bangor, ME, and handed it over to me. Thanks Bob for all your work (and money) getting the tach cable replaced in record time.
Customs both coming into the US and back into Canada was the simplist I have ever seen it. The US Customs guy in Bangor looked at our passports for about 5 sec each, and that was it. I expected to have some explaining to do with Canada Customs, as the RV-1 thing is a bit out of the ordinary. I gave the Customs lady the whole story on the phone when I called before leaving Bangor, and they gave us clearance over the phone. They never came out to the airport at all. Mind you, Mark and I are both members of the
CanPass program, which is the best $40 I ever spent, as it allows us to fly straight to Smiths Falls from the US without stopping at some other place to clear Customs. Customs reserves the right to meet you at the airport, but they almost never do.
We were met in St. Stephen, NB by several RVers, including Ross Keirstead and Don Bertelsen who took control of the aircraft.
Here you see, from left to right, Ross Keirstead, Mark Richardson, Don Bertelsen and myself.
Ross and Don took the aircraft to Sussex, NB, where it stayed in Ross's hangar. The weather looks perfect for the flight to Stanley this morning, then back to Sussex this afternoon. They'll repeat the process for Sunday. Then we'll start watching the weather to bring the bird west to Windsor for the event on the 26th.
Thanks to everyone who has helped make this all possible.