Buying a kit plane from the states

[mike53]

Hi all.I am buying a kit plane from Sonex(a Onex) and was wondering what the procedure was for importing the kit.
ie;How will it clear customs.I understand I will have to pay HST here in Ontario but am I supposed to find a customs agent or would it be sent to what I believe is called a bonded warehouse?
I brought the tail kit home with me back in October and that was easy clearing customs but now I'm having the rest of the kit delivered all at once.
Thanks.
Mike

[185_guy]

I can not answer your question directly, but do you belong to COPA, or the EAA? The cost of membership is pennies compared to building a kit and the benefits of networking with like minded people are priceless. Most COPA 'flights' and EAA chapters meet once a month, a great place to ask questions, maybe someone locally to you is even building the same kit.
Good luck.

[mike53]

Thanks .I have belonged to both for some time now.

[AirFrame]

Realistically there should be no difference between buying an unfinished kit and buying any other merchandise from the US and having it delivered to Canada. You'll pay PST/GST or HST when it crosses the border (sounds like HST in your area). There are no duties on aircraft parts, so you shouldn't be in for any other fees to the Canadian authorities. The method of shipment may incur additional fees though, depending on the carrier they will have a way of dealing with the border on your behalf. They usually charge for that convenience, and for some carriers it won't be cheap.

Is there any way you can go pick it up and bring it back yourself on a trailer? If not, maybe it would be possible to have it shipped to some US location near you where you *could* go pick it up yourself.

This all assumes you've got a way to do a pre-purchase inspection on this, or have someone do it for you. I'd hate to pay for the kit, pay for shipping, pay for taxes and carriage fees, and then find out something isn't quite cricket once it landed on my doorstep.

One more thing that I say just as a warning to others... I hope you already know about this: Are the tail surfaces or any other parts of the kit already closed, ie. riveted closed? If so, you *will* need to de-rivet them for MD-RA inspection. This is usually the achilles heel of importing partially built kits from the US.

[mike53]

Thanks for the reply.This is a new kit unfinished.I could pick it up at Sonex in Oshkosh but then I have to pay Wisconsin state taxes which would be more that the shipping costs.That is how I brought the tail kit home but I was there to take the workshop anyway so paying the state taxes was incidental.
I have been informed by someone who already gone through it that it will be held at a Conway depot(the shipper) in my area till I take the paperwork to the closest Canada Border Services Agency ,have the paperwork stamped ,pay the HST and then return it to Conway at which point they will release the kit to me.
It would be nice if Sonex dealt with all of this but then I guess they would have to charge more money