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Permalink Reply by Darrell Witham on July 28, 2015 at 8:36pm

Wayne,

I operate on edge of Michigan / Canada border.  Also near MOA and have had more than one near pass with F16 and Helo's from Selfridge ANG based out of Detroit, not intercepts, but within a mile crossings.  First suggestion would be to carry an in-flight intercept procedure crib note sheet with you, so you have reminder to initiate communication on 121.5, rock wing singles, this is basic stuff but in heat of moment nice to know the rules.

Other suggestion would be to make sure you have all papers in order, you know, the ARROW doc's.  In the event you are ramp checked, no excuse to not have that all square.  I'm proud of my flight bag & airplane and would be willing to lay it all out.  Confidence defuses a lot.

I fly from 1800' strip at my residence, following one trip out over Lake Huron and returning, a King Air with belly pod arrived and circled my location.  This is Customs & Border Patrol unit also from Selfridge.  Not too long after that a local field agent called and wanted to stop and introduce himself.  Real nice guy, had pleasant chat about awareness of the bad guys landing at night in our area, left a card, and said to call if I ever noticed anything to inform them of.  I suspect his visit was 2 fold, but I have nothing to hide and welcomed him in.

I'm sure they know my transponder code, and routine flight habits.  I would not be one bit concerned about flying on or even over boarder, just make sure your within gliding distance of US soil. If you have remaining concern about what you're doing, call them up.  They work for you and I, have our interests in mind, and I'd suspect you'd find they are decent guys that will appreciate what you do for a hobby.

As far as off airport operations, I don't have much for comment there.  I stick to the published stuff in my current bird, when the 701 is done, then game on.

Regards, Darrell

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Permalink Reply by Wayne Tyson on July 29, 2015 at 9:06pm

Thanks Darrell,

The AOPA considers ramp checks to be a major problem--lots of complaints about abusive Feds and other police agencies. If you flew in the Southwest, you might have different experiences. But so far, only invading Canadians have taken down an airliner; none from Mexico that I know of. Of course, there are no Mexican honkers.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Juhl on July 31, 2015 at 7:45pm

There are different kinds of ramp checks.... those conducted by the FAA and those by agencies such as Border Patrol.  Do your research and make sure your documents are up to date.This link will give you info about FAA checks http://www.aopa.org/Pilot-Resources/PIC-archive/FAA-Enforcement/Ram...

Unless a Border Patrol Agent has probable cause, I would think that they could request no more information than what the FAA is allowed to see.  That said, with those guys you never know and they carry guns.  Smile and cooperate.

Tim

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Permalink Reply by Tim Juhl on August 7, 2015 at 8:51am

The AOPA online newsletter just came out with the news that after an internal review, the CBP have all but eliminated inspections of GA aircraft except in cases where there was probable cause.  AOPA has not received word of any unwarranted stops in awhile so I think you can rest easy on that score.

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Permalink Reply by Wayne Tyson on August 7, 2015 at 12:53pm

Thank you Tim. I did not know, but that's good news. I have lost confidence in AOPA staff through their consistent neglect of my attempts to do business with they via website, email, or phone.

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