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Shipping an RV overseas

dan carley

Well Known Member
has any one shipped a plane overseas? there is a person wanting me to ship my rv-4 to austrailia. is this a beware thing to do? if you got payed in full for everything in advance i don't think there would be a problem.

thanks
danny
rv-4
n14ft
 
Dan, I shipped my RV6 to a buyer in England last summer. It was a positive experience with no problems encountered. First we agreed on a price. Then the buyer flew here to see the airplane and ensure that it was as represented. Our agreement was that the aircraft would be sold "as is, where is", meaning that the buyer would take posession of it in my hangar and before it got dismantled for shipping. Method of payment was international wire transfer to my account. Once the funds arrived in my account I assissted the buyer in preparing the airplane for loading into a 20" international shipping container.

The key to a successful transaction is preparation by both the buyer and seller. Make sure he has the paper work covered on his end and the shipping arranged before hand. You must be familiar and complying with our FAA rules concerning the export of an Experimental. If you would like more detailed info you can send me a P.M.

Martin Sutter
Building and flying RV's since 1988
RV6 N868CM, now flying as G-OBUZ in the U.K.
RV7A N678CM
 
Overseas shipping

Dan,

We have shipped several RVs overseas to people, including a couple into Australia. The process really isn't very difficult. Your part is actually very simple. Just sell him the plane as you would to any buyer. Australia is one of the simplest countries to export an RV to as they accept all RVs for import, so there's not much for the buyer to do either. Because it's an experimental, he isn't required to have an export annual inspection done or an export Certificate of Airworthiness, like with certified airplanes.

If he's serious about buying your plane, have him contact me and I can tell him what he can expect, and we can even handle the disassembly and shipping for him if he doesn't want to arrange everything by himself.

As for your part, just make sure that when the plane is disassembled for shipping, you keep the FAA registration. It is your responsibilty to make sure that you sign the back of it and mail it in to the FAA. There's a box on the back you check that says the airplane was exported and reregistered in another country. That's it, you're done.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions.
 
I have imported 2 usa RV's into South Africa. Painless. Sale no different to local other than FAA issue mentioned and that buyer usually requires some assistance with shipping. I use agent in Vacaville. Expensive in isolation, but cheaper than me coming to do it myself....
 
Sale to Australia

I sold my 7A to a person in Australia. He hired Jon Johaansen to come over and inspect the plane and then Jon flew it back. It was fairly painless. I would think that Jon does that sort of thing still. Jon is very good and did a thorough pre-buy, and when the aircraft was accepted, the buyer wired the money thru the bank. Saves the disassembly and possible problems with putting it all back together. I would guess the cost would be equivalent. Jon is listed on Van's web site and I bet he would be easy to contact. He's easy to talk to and quite an interesting fellow.
 
Wondering if anyone has an update (or estimate?) on recent shipping costs for a containered RV going to Australia or New Zealand?
 
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