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Over 50 years
Beech experience
Pre-Buy and Annual Inspections
Now Offering AmSafe Seatbelt Airbag Installations
Specializing in:
• Custom Engine Installations
• Altimeter and Transponder Certification
• Tip Tank Installation
Kalamazoo Aircraft Inc.
Aircraft Maintenance – Inspection & Repair
2729 E. Milham Rd., Kalamazoo, MI 49002 • 269-381-0790
www.kalamazooaircraft.com / Repair Station K9AR289N
Once at the airport of entry (we flew to Loreto) there
are four work stations to deal with: the Commandant,
Immigration, Customs, and the Cashier. The Commandant
reviews and copies all of your pilot and airplane documents,
files your landing fee paperwork, sells you the aircraft
entry permit (certain credit cards only – not handled by the
Cashier) and files your flight plan to the next destination.
Note that flight plans in Mexico are automatically opened
upon takeoff and are not normally filed if you are departing
a non-tower strip.
Immigration provides visa forms for each person to fill in
(you keep a part), approves your next flight plan, and reviews
your passports. Customs reviews your paperwork, approves
your flight plan and inspects the plane and baggage. The
Cashier makes up the various invoices and collects your fees.
Mexico passed a law in 2011 specifying that pesos must be
used in all transactions. (It was apparently implemented to
try to stop drug money laundering. Most people there said it
was a big negative on tourism.) That is why it is a good idea
to bring pesos with you unless you are going to an airport
of entry that has a money exchange or is near a bank. At
various times credit cards are not accepted for fees or gas,
so bringing cash, including dollars, in small denominations
is a good idea. In our case, when the cash pesos were all
expended I unexpectedly got an even better exchange rate for
cash dollars from the airport cashier than at my local bank.
You are required to check out of Mexico before returning
home. They collect a small fee and your Mexican paperwork,
as well as inspect the plane and baggage. They can confiscate
certain items such as unauthorized lobster and fish; you need
to check for current policy if you intend to bring anything back.
For various reasons I was about an hour and 20 minutes
early at Yuma after departing Mexico at Loreto. I advised San
Diego Radio about 90nm south and they assigned a squawk,
so I was presumably on radar through landing. However, since
Customs apparently does not work with the FAA on this issue,
an ETA change by radio 30 minutes before landing does not
avoid violating the law. I assumed the worst, and devised a
scheme to get sympathy from Customs and avoid fines and
arrest, which worked for several reasons but mostly because we
were all over 75. It also helped that the Customs agent and my
wife’s deceased first husband served for a time in the Marines
at Yuma. Semper Fi. In hindsight, I would return to the U.S. at
a Mexican airport of entry nearby the planned U.S. airport of
entry so I could notify U.S. Customs with a cell phone of my
exact arrival time and any other change in the manifest.
Yes, the trip was worth the effort! We stayed at Palmas de
Cortez, an elegant resort with everything including a fun pitch
and putt nine-hole golf course, and very nice fishing boats.
Unfortunately, the course was built on the old dirt airstrip,
so you have to arrange for a van ride from the new airport to
the hotel. But that’s another story!
54 AMERICAN BONANZA SOCIETY JANUARY 2013