"vincent p. norris" wrote in message
...
I'd recommend carrying some food and survival gear, though it is not
mandatory.

Is that a recent change? A booklet I obtained from Transport Canada
before my first trip to Alaska had a list of *required* survival gear.
It included 10,000 calories per person, fishing gear, mosquito
netting, sleeping bag, flares, and a number of other items.

Such particulars are no doubt a good idea, but the regulations are not this
specific. The regulations requi

: 602.61 ... no person shall operate an aircraft over
: land unless there is carried on board survival equipment, sufficient for
: the survival on the ground of each person on board, given the
: geographical area, the season of the year and anticipated seasonal
: climatic variations, that provides the means for
: (a) starting a fire;
: (b) providing shelter;
: (c) providing or purifying water; and
: (d) visually signalling distress.

There are of course reasonable requirements for flights over water
as well.

...
Flight plans are pretty much mandatory in Canada.

There is (or was) a loophole: As an alternative to a flight plan, you
can "notify a reponsible adult" of your plans. On our trips we had
several airplanes, so the pilot of one plane "notified" the pilot of
another plane, etc.

Not a loophole. An alternative. The VFR alternative to a VFR
Flight Plan is a Flight Itinerary. One or the other is required for
any flight more than 25 nm from the departure aerodrome, except
that a Flight *Plan* is required for flights between Canada and a
foreign state. A flight *Itinerary* can be filed formally
with FSS/tower etc., or with a responsible person. A responsible
person is "an individual who has agreed with the person who has
filed a flight itinerary to ensure that the following are notified in
the manner prescribed in this Division, if the aircraft is overdue,
namely, (a) an air traffic control unit, a flight service station or a
community aerodrome radio station, or (b) a Rescue Co-ordination
Centre."

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Re...602.htm#602_73