Todos Santos, Baja Sur

MikeS

MikeS

Pre-takeoff checklist
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MikeS
I've had a long-standing intention to fly down to Todos Santos to visit a friend who has property there. Something or other has gotten in the way of doing this trip until now but I'm currently firming up a plan to head down there. There's a lot to learn about eAPIS and other realities of flying in Mexico these days but I'm finally hot on the trail.

The first question I had was "Do I really need a radio station license for the plane?" Reading a thread on Caribbean Sky Tours answered that one - the correct answer appears to be "yes". Looking on the FCC website it appears this annoyance is going to cost $165 american money! I knew from previous discussions I would need the old radiotelephone operator's permit that we used to pay $5 for. I haven't yet checked on the price of that.

Second question. Back when I used to fly into Mexico regularly - in the 70's - after clearing customs and getting the GenDec and filling up with cheap gas in Mexicali, I could file a flight plan to whatever little airstrip I wanted. Nobody expected that the flight plan would be "closed". It was just a formality. Usually the second stop was somewhere that sold gas, such as Mazatlan, but from there I could and did file to strips that had no tower or airport personnel at all . . . San Blas comes to mind although I was all over the place - little towns with just a dirt strip . . . like San Blas. No one expected the flight plan would ever be closed nor did I ever expect, if I didn't show up at the destination, that anyone would come looking for me. How has this situation changed - if it has?

It appears the strip in Todos Santos is not used . . . for reasons that are so far not clear. It has an FAA ID (AG2336) and somewhere I can't find just now I found the Mexican identifyer (M-002 . . . or something close to that). My resident friend tells me he's never seen any planes coming in and out so I'm guessing there's a problem with that strip, the nature of which I'm still investigating. Currently my choices are LaPaz or Cabo but I'm wondering if the airport jefe in LaPaz could authorize me to fly from LaPaz to Todos Santos. Anything is possible in Mexico . . . or used to be. I doubt that's changed much. My Spanish is fairly proficient and I've spent a lot of time earlier in my life living and travelling in Mexico so I'm somewhat at home down there.

I've got a couple reasons for wanting to keep the plane in TS rather than LaPaz. Not only is the strip about five minutes from my friend's home, but temps are in the 70's there whereas it's already in the 90's and above in LaPaz and there's no cover available from what I see on Google Earth. I've got a composite aircraft and I don't leave it out in the sun for any length of time in those kind of temperatures. Actually I have at times, but try to avoid it. It's just not a nice thing to do to my plane.

I intend to enter Mexico at San Felipe since that will allow me to do SDM - MMLP with one stop. I could probably make it to MMLP direct going down but coming back against winds will require a fuel stop.

If anyone knows any specifics regarding TS I'd appreciate your thoughts or knowledge on the subject. Gracias.
 
Both times I went, the FCC site had the RTO and RSL forms which you could print out and they were ready to use.
Attached to the bottom were payment coupons.
For some reason, (like many people before me), I would put the checks in the envelope with the coupons and seal it....then stupidly leave it on the counter, failing to mail it promptly the day I left! There it was when I came back from Mexico, dang it! Won't say what happened to it from that point. Except NEVER did anyone ask to see them.
Not sure if that will work anymore.
 
Thanks for that. I am just at that point of finishing up the applications. I've been expecting a payment screen to pop up but so far nada . . . now I understand why. They want us to send a check? That's nice. Check will certainly be in the mail manana.
 
FWIW, I looked at SkyVector and the charts don't show an airport at Todos Santos (which, btw, is a great little town). OTOH, the airstrip does does show up in Google Maps, right along side the road. So maybe it's not just unused, but closed or unpublished/private. Have you tried one of the Baja flight groups? They might have some current information about it.
 
The strip in Todos Santos isn't listed in the 2010 Pilot's Guide to Mexico, published by Caribbean Sky Tours. You might try contacting the folks at the Cabo San Lucas Airport (MMSL); they might know its status. Their email address is ingresos@acsl.com.mx.
 
Thanks guys for the great info. Very useful. I'll report back at some point on how the trip went and whatever I learn that might be useful to others.
 
I filed SEE to Loreto but didn't find anywhere near the 35 knot tailwinds predicted by ADDS for 12-14K. If anything, I had something on the nose, so soon realized Loreto was going to be a knuckle biter so did the smart thing and landed San Felipe. I sure hated to give up that altitude but better safe than having to land at Santa Rosalia (not an AOE) for gas (if they even have it) without a flight plan and without having landed first at an AOE. Could have turned into a can of worms.

A camouflage-painted King Air landed right behind me and ten camo guys with automatic weapons piled out of the plane and milled about the terminal. Two HumVees showed up from town and parked outside, machine guns manned. Wow, I thought to myself. Nice show. Meanwhile . . . the semis roll across the border unimpeded . . . . It's all theatre designed to create more government overhead plus justification to poke into our lives . . . an old story. Nothing new.

The Comandante and other people there, but especially the Commandante a Sr. Hugo Fonseco, were/are stellar. Once on the ground, for various reasons I decided I didn't really want to go to Loreto/La Paz that day and Sr. Fonseco made his computer terminal available for filing an eAPIS back to SDM. The CBP site wouldn't respond so I paid $40 to to into town and back to find some wi-fi and same thing happened. Unresponsive eAPIS site. Typed in my ID and password and the page just sat. Sr. Fonseco extended his hospitality even further allowing me to use his phone to call Customs and also FSS. Customs was adamant about me filing an eAPIS but after the trip to town and after talking once more to a nice lady at FSS I was told to just come on back and call them on the radio when I got close. That I did. SDM customs wasn't at all happy to see me but after talking to someone (I assume the nice lady at FSS), their attitude completely changed and I was waved on my way back to Gillespie. No search, no hassle. They were mighty stern at first however.

Several things changed my mind about continuing my trip to La Paz. First, it was hot as hell in San Felipe and La Paz was just going to be worse. June is not the right time of year for me nor my little plane. While sitting on the ramp, even with the canopy cracked open, my PTT switch melted apart on the stick plus when I went back to the plane I heard a strong hissing sound. I immediately thought "tire" but quickly realized it was coming from my oxygen tank. I turned the valve off and it stopped. Once home I realized my regulator needs a new seal. The added pressure induced by the greenhouse heat of a cockpit on a full tank of O2 prompted the seal to fail. When back home I put a viton O-ring of the right size on top of the squashed seal and it's not hissing anymore when I open the valve. The O-ring is not the proper sealing washer but it's working for now. I'll get the right sealing washer before I go anywhere. So . . . why did I abort? Winds were wrong (as always), ambient heat was causing strange things to go wonky, my alternator voltmeter was riding a little lower than I'm used to seeing it . . . can't remember what else. Nothing serious, but anomalies aren't good things to have when heading deeper into Mexico and further and further away from my hangar and tools. I think the slightly lower voltmeter reading is more in my imagination than a result of something that needs attention, but still . . . there was just enough of an accumulation of little things telling me to get back home and do this another day - like next Fall and Winter.

At some point in all this Sr. Landero, Commandante at Loreto with whom I had been in communication earlier during my preparatory work (thanks to CT4ME), called MMSF to find out why I hadn't shown up yet. The guys running these airports are great people, responsive and helpful.

Part II to follow
 
Paperwork & procedures:

Crossing south no assigned squawk is necessary. Coming back, yes. FSS gives it to you over the radio when you get within radio range - about fifty miles at 8500.

First thing upon landing was refueling the plane. A Comanche and a Skylane were getting fuel so I just got in line and got that over with. No credit cards at this airport. I used pesos and included a nice tip. I exchanged $500 U.S. at 18/1 - 9 thousand pesos at an exchange just this side of the border at Otay Mesa crossing. Dollars go a lot further than when it was 12 - as it was for so many years, or so it seems.

When entering the MMSF terminal, passport control was first, Commandante was second. Commandante wanted to see insurance first of all, then license and medical. I think that was all I was asked for. He proceded to fill out the plan de vuelo himself right then and there for the next leg to Loreto and we were done. No request for any of the aircraft paperwork (airworthiness, radio station license, radio operator's permit, operating limitations, W&B, etc. I had it all, neatly done in individual folders with lots of extra copies in case they were needed. They weren't. I had filed the Mexican eAPIS the day before and again 30 minutes prior to my departure. I got no response from either send so just left anyway. Nobody asked about it in San Felipe and I suspect are not quite sure what it is or how it's supposed to work. I think the Mexican eAPIS system is still a work in progress, but you never know. Be prepared. It's simply an Excell spreadsheet page which you fill out and attach to an email which you send to the address you'll find when you look into it. It was a complete non-issue in this instance, although there's no guarantee other AOE's are the same. It's Mexico, after all. I had printed it out and had it in its own file in case I was asked about it. I had proof that I'd filled it out at least, even though had received no response. Better than nothing. At MMSF it was a non-issue.
Since what little paperwork was asked for was in order, going through the routine upon arrival was effortless. Coming back wasn't quite so easy, but still overall it went well and I consider it a great success as a "training" flight - learning all the hoops and going through them. I intend to make more trips into Mexico as time goes by. I've had far more trouble crossing borders in Africa than my experience at MMSF. I'm not assuming my experience at MMSF is reflective of all AOE airports in Mexico so I'll continue to keep my folders with all possible forms, aircraft currency - every esoteric document I could find out about or conjure up in my imagination. I don't intend to be caught short on anything, however in this instance I had far more than was required for this particular entry at this particular airport.
Sr. Fonseco indicated that strips such as Todos Santos, although "closed" - with some luck and a good reason for using it, it may be possible to obtain permission from the Commandante of whatever major airport exercises authority over that geographical area wherein lies the strip in question. In the email response sent me by Sr. Landero in Loreto, he explained that would be the Commandante in La Paz. Sr. Fonseco (MMSF) said such permission is "possible". Having a working facility with Spanish is very helpful with this sort of thing I would imagine, as it is with all other matters down there. They really appreciate gringos who can communicate easily with them in their own language. Unless the strip has had ditches dug across it (I've read some have) I'm currently entertaining the expectation that it will be possible to use the strip in TS when the time comes.

What have I learned? The hardest part of it all is just grasping the whole picture of how things fit together regarding eAPIS. I could have avoided my eAPIS problem (the CBP guy said on the phone when I called from San Felipe) by filing the return eAPIS at the same time as filing the outgoing eAPIS. I had not researched that sufficiently, it appears. I didn't know exactly when I would be returning so figured I would file the return eAPIS via internet once I knew my return schedule and was on my way back. My intention was to file it from the airport where I'd landed to turn in my visitor card and Gen Dec upon departure from Mexico. Come to think of it - this just dawned on me - I wasn't given a General Declaration to fill out (unless it's there and I just didn't notice it - I need to check my paperwork). If I indeed have it, it would have needed to be turned in along with visitor's permit at the Mexican departure airport and it was from that airport that I intended to file the incoming eAPIS. CBP wants at least 60 minutes notice prior to arrival. From what the CBP fellow said on the phone, I could have and should have filed an incoming eAPIS before leaving the U.S. I need to research that further. It sure would have saved a lot of running around in San Felipe trying to log on to the CBP site.

I filled out the application for the annual Customs Decal a few days prior to my departure. Carrying the application was sufficient to show that I had one. The actual one arrived yesterday in my mailbox. Took about a week and a half to arrive following submission of the application. Cost $27.50. Paid with Amex.

This is a bit long-winded, especially for those who already know all this. Hopefully for those who haven't gone through the process there is something in all this that might be of use.

*************

Although I'm sure membership in Baja Bush Pilots and/or Caribbean Sky Tours is valuable, especially their airport directories, I didn't find any need to join - although I very well may do so just to get their airport guides if nothing else. The books are a bit large for my cockpit (I've got a really small plane) but I could easily keep it in baggage and will more than likely buy both books once I start travelling regularly south of the border. You can never have too much information, plus I think there's some historical information plus other valuable things in these books. As for complying with CBP and Mexican ATC, you can do that on your own without the help of these organizations. For some, especially those with no facility with Spanish, enlisting the help of these two organizations may be very useful.

So. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

If there's anyone reading this that has gone through the US/Mexico border crossing learning process and finds in my experience anything that would benefit from clarification or additional information or comments, I'd much appreciate anything offered.

Thanks,

Mike
 
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