Airport comments for North America
Comments 4,451 to 4,500 of 4,820
Smile, you're on candid camera!
This is your best chance to end up on airliners.net! Just remember that everyone at the Sunset Beach Bar is listening to your transmissions so put on your best "pilot voice" and don't mess up those radio calls!
Not open to public
This airport is in an ideal location, right in the middle of metro Toronto near the end of a subway line, but unfortunately it's not normally open to the public. It's a former military field, long used by Bombardier for flight testing. The closest public airports are Buttonville (YKZ) to the northeast, City Centre (YTZ) to the south (right by downtown), and the very busy and expensive Pearson (YYZ) to the west. Oshawa (YOO) and Brampton (CNC3) can also be useful for the extreme ends of Toronto.
Fees and fuel costs
On Saturday 4 August 2007, at Flite Line Services:
Landing fee (airport): CA $7.00 + tax
Parking: CA $8.14/night + tax
100LL: CA $1.47/litre + tax
Tax is 7% GST. Flite Line collects the landing fee on behalf of the airport, so you have to pay it no matter where you park. Flite Line has a ramp fee that it waives when you take fuel, but you still have to pay the first night's parking.
Best airport for Blue Jays baseball
This airport is a short walk from Skydome (now the Rogers Centre), where the Toronto Blue Jays play -- you could probably watch a bit of a game from your plane on short final when the roof's open (check out the satellite picture).
re: Car rental
Don't worry about the car rental hours (see my previous comment). National was happy to leave the keys and contract for me at the Flite Line FBO, so my arrival time didn't matter. Flite Line itself rents Hertz, but they'll handle keys for the other companies as well.
Busy
This is a busy GA airport. Arriving on Saturday morning on a nice VFR day, tower sent me several miles on a downwind -- all the way over the city -- and then turned me number 4 for landing. Be ready to get off the runway quickly so that you don't hold up other traffic. My past two visits were during the week, when it wasn't quite so busy.
Car rental
Hertz rents out of Buttonville, and the rates are reasonable (make sure you use your COPA or AOPA discount if you have one). After hours is no problem -- I called earlier then arrived Sunday night long after the desk was closed, and my contract and keys were waiting for me at the FBO with no fuss. Renting a car is the only realistic way into Toronto from Buttonville, but it's easy since the airport is right beside the 404, which turns into the Don Valley Parkway and leads straight into downtown Toronto. Outside of rush hour, you can expect to be downtown in about 25 minutes. I still prefer City Centre (YTZ) for downtown, since it's in walking distance, but Buttonville is better for the 905 area code or anywhere else you might need to drive.
Don't plan on landing here!!!
Georger Farms Airport no longer exists. It was a private grass airfield that was removed in 2001.
Randy Georger
Effectively a 1-way strip
100 mile house's runway has a favourable gradient for landing eastbound and taking off westbound. This combined with a big hill to the east makes it effectively a 1-way strip. Watch out for your density altitude as the hot summer days can reach > 30 degrees C regularly. If your runway length is tight, you can begin your takeoff roll on the ramp as only a very slight turn is required from there to line up with the runway. The airport itself is quite scenic, and it's close to the town - either a medium-length walk or a very short cab ride.
Nice little airport
Beloeil is a fly-in community where people live in the second story of hangars, and park their planes and cars on the ground floor. It's very easy to spot from the air as all the hangars have red roofs. There's not much in the way of publicly available tie downs, but there is room to park, and theres a TON of GA aircraft that are permanently based here to avoid the CYHU landing fee.
Nice little airport
Nice little strip. There's a fairly large grass parking area just north of the field that's coned off. It's close to the road, but I didn't see any tie-downs. There's also private hangars off the west end of the runway. The runway is in decent shape, but there's often lots of gulls sitting (and crapping!) on it.
Normally closed
This airport is PPR, and as a military aerodrome is normally closed to civilian traffic. The Air Cadets do sometimes run glider ops out of here though.
Airport info
I'd recommend calling ahead to COPA flight 53 which is based here for the latest update on conditions. When I was there the Air Cadets were running glider ops off of runway 17/35, which is still in very good shape. The other two runways have deteriorated significantly with lots of cracks and grass, and small loose rocks scattered over the surface. Most of the ramp is much worse, with many areas that have loose nails, broken glass and gravel lying around. The flying club is located at the N-W corner of the field, tie downs are available there, and the ramp is cleaner there too. Also remember that the closest fuel is at Tyendinaga, or Kingston if you want it for cheaper. Picton is an extremely scenic airport though, and thoroughly underused so you'll have no problems parking or anything.
Challenging Approach/Landing
This was the first time landing at an aiport with a "shorter" runway (~2500'). The worst landing I've ever done (almost a 90 degree crosswind). Obsticals on both end of the runways (trees) so be careful on those hot/humid days.
Approach for 27 flies right over my friends cottage.
Landing Fee
It is a small world - I stopped in Rockliffe today for a burger and started talking to someone. It turned out that Roland is the President & CFI of Eagle Flight Centre in Sudbury. He told me that what I was charged in Sudbury was the terminal parking fee, but there is no landing fee. He said that if we visit, we should park at his Flight Centre, he does not charge a parking fee. He welcomes visitors, his 100LL is cheaper than the main FBO and he will sell fuel to transients.
Finally, if you know of any flight instructors looking for work, he needs instructors at his schools in Sudbury and Timmons for both wheels and floats.
Radio Comms
This is a message to the instructors at Cooking Lake: Teach your students how to use the radio properly! Quit yammering on the ATF all damn day. Other people use that frequency, you know!
Nice grass
Seasonal Air Cadet Glider Ops here. Nice place and great people.
Fuel Thumbs Up
Swan Aero=goodness
RIP
RIP PEACE AIR
Nice Scenery
Lot's of hot women in Calgary. Most of them are married, but that's okay! I'm cool with that. I can keep a secret.
The jet fuel tastes funny in Calgary.
Car rental
National and Avis rent through the public terminal, while Hertz rents through the Flite Line FBO. It was hard to get a car on the August Civic Holiday weekend -- Hertz and Avis had nothing available, and I had to guarantee a car (which is unusual) through National.
For an economy car, National charged $40/day before taxes+fees including the COPA discount. It's worth noting that the opening hours are unusual, so plan your arrival carefully (for example, National is closed from 12pm-2pm on Saturday).
FBOs
There are two FBOs on the field:
Flite Line: http://www.fliteline.ca/ (off taxiway B, if I recall correctly)
Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre: http://www.wwflightcentre.com/ (end of taxiway C)
Flite Line usually has the cheaper gas.
The longest wait ever
Not my favorite place...
Must have been due to rush hour with all the transpacific flights landing pretty much at the same time, after a very long flight from Sydney, took over an hour to go thru immigration, almost missed connecting flight to ATL... how stressful and frustrating.
Another time on the way back to Sydney from Atlanta, flying with UA via O'Hare, the connection was missed due to weather delays. Stuck there for 24 hours, UA wouldn't give me my luggage back (so I had to wear the same stinky clothes for 48hrs), only got a lousy hotel room, no compensation or apology. Compare that to SQ when in a similar ordeal I was given a pack with some clothes and toiletry, plus about US$100 cash equivalent.... Shall I also mention that I was flying business on UA and economy on SQ when this occured. I understand the operational constraints, no worries there, but when it comes to customer service UA, DL and AA have a lot to learn from asian carriers like SQ, CX or TG.
Oh well other than that I never been to LA before so I went to see the Getty museum, quite interesting really.
Delta
It was my homebase from 1997 to 2000. This airport is a model of efficiency with all its concourses linked by underground rail, everything goes fairly smoothly when you consider the huge number of passengers and rotations.
I flew in and out from Hartsfield more than anywhere else, and racked up zillions of frequent flyers miles with Delta Airlines in the process. As I remember it, Delta is your typical American carrier. Unless you fly business, you feel like cattle. Compared to Singapore Airlines, service really sucks.
Other than that it feel pretty safe and is usually on time.
Where I caught the flying bug
I was leaving in nearby Marietta at the time and this is where I took my first flying lessons back in 2000 in a C152. Nothing memorable about the place itself though.
I moved to Australia by the end of the same year, and didn't resume flying lessons until 2005.
International airport in his own mind.
Too much time on his hands and a good bulldozer
Fly Boys Cafe
Fly Boys Cafe will officially open on August 3, 2007 at 10 am
Landing Fee ($8.67)
Beware the landing fee! If you need the runway room then by all means use St. Hubert, but in my opinion, Maschouche and Les Cedres are preferable if you're going to Montreal.
For me too, only further back in time
Remember riding my bike to LP Airport in 1946. Too young to drive, I had a wad of money earned during the week as an auto mechanic (yes I was doing engine overhauls at that age and being paid the magnificent sum of something like $20.00 a week during summer vacation ).
My thought was to take a ride. When I asked the pilot signing off someone's log book how old you had to be to take lessons I was rocked to my ACE Sneakers when he said "no age limit". "You mean I could take a lesson?" the answer yes, brought the next logical question, "How much?" Think it was something like $14.00 an hour, maybe a half hour, that's what I wound up buying anyway.
"Hold on though" says the FI, "you can't just hop in and start flying" "You have to know all about aeroplanes"
"Oh, I do!" (I spent my nights and weekends building balsa models)
"OK" he smiled "Go over to that yellow plane over there (a J-3) and I'll be over to see what you know"
I passed the test so my first ride in an airplane was my first lesson in piloting.
When we landed he told me I needed a logbook available from the front office. That was when I met Mr. Gorski a fine looking older man whose friendly smile never let you forget that flying was important and serious.
There was another young pilot back than a year or two older who also soloed on his 16th birthday. His name was Breeziano or something like that we all called him Breezy. We became kind of friends but kind of competitors too. He certainly built better models than me, but I think I had the edge on Stick and Rudder.
It would be wonderful if the Gorskis were still alive they were the best of an age before the `white knuckles' took over.
Good self serve fuel prices.
Good fuel prices.
There's a good bit of IFR training here. They stack in the hold at the Stanfield VOR 5-miles to the West & than shoot approaches into CGZ.
Short and interesting
The runway here is quite short (1520ft) and has ravines at both ends, plus downdrafts. I went there with an instructor from Victoria and he told me nobody got it right on the first approach. I didn't either. Backtracking to take off, he showed be tire skid marks that went to the edge of the pavement, then disappeared in the bushes down the ravine...
Tim Horton's at north field
To add to Tony's comment, there's also a Tim Horton's (like Dunkin Donuts in the U.S.) about a 5-minute walk from the Ottawa Flying Club, so it's easy to walk over and grab a coffee or a bagel.
Great little airport
Really, really nice terminal. Leather comfey love seats for you to relax on. Cute little cafe to grab some food.
Spent some time talking to the Unicom lady (didn't catch her name) and she mentioned that it usually gets busy around lunch time on the weekends.
Really nice place.
It's near boats
Visited here many times when my son was stationed at the )verY0 nearby MCRD, San Diego. Very crowed airport, runways is too short and approaches cluttered but it is quick and convenient to the downtown and the bay and if you have to go to California this is one of the better places.
A Great Place to Visit ... Not
Let me count the times I've been through here ... let me count the ways the airport has disappointed me. A great case study in how _not_ to build an airport.
One bright spot for me, this is where my wife first entered the US back in 2001 so it will always hold a warm spot in our hearts as the true beginning of our life together.
Many should add this after 8 Sep 2007
haven't had the pleasure of visiting here yet but there's a great show scheduled for 8 Sep 2007 .. classic radials, fancy cars and lots of fun.
Airport closes at night
The airport closes some time around 11:00 pm (no takeoffs or landings allowed except medevac) and the ferry across the channel stops, so unless you can track down a water taxi you're stuck for the night. A few years ago I talked to one pilot who landed late, didn't get away in time, and ended up sleeping in his plane.
Just driving by!
That was my comment above. More photos of Chilko Lake and vicinity can be found on my Virtual Tourist pages for this area. (Darby2)
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/3bd31/de3dc/
~Darbs
Just driving by!
I made a trip by road this summer to Tsuniah Lake via the back road from Chilko Lake as I have done several times in the past. The fishing in Tsuniah was fabulous as usual.
There were two planes parked on the turf nearby.
LNY
A pleasant short flight from Honolulu.
HNL
A great airport to fly into.
YVR
Possibly the world's nicest city, and a very efficient airport.
Car rental
Car rentals are available through the Brampton Flying Club (http://www.bramfly.com/). You have to prearrange them, and a local agency (not one of the big chains) will leave the car in the parking lot for you. You drop off at the airport as well, and someone comes out from Brampton to pick up the car.
Gas pumps
The last time I was there, the pumps at Brampton were set up like an automobile gas station -- they were on an island, with a little booth in the middle for the attendant. You taxi to either side of the pumps, get a fill up, then taxi on. The Brampton Flying Club (one of Canada's biggest) is the FBO, and has a slick operation running inside.
Great War Flying Museum
The Great War Flying Museum (http://www.greatwarflyingmuseum.com/) is at this airport. On nice weekends, you can often share the circuit with a Fokker, Sopwith Camel, etc. in WWI markings.
Student pilots
This airport is a frequent destination for student pilots cross-countries from other parts of Ontario and Quebec. It's easy to find by the lake, there are no landing or parking fees, and it has an onsite FSS to give the students a hand, fuel, a long runway, and an ILS for the IFR students. The three major flight schools in Ottawa (the Ottawa Flying Club, Ottawa Aviation Services, and the Rockcliffe Flying Club) send all of their student pilots to YGK for their first solo cross-country flights, and there will sometimes be two or three Ottawa-based training planes parked there at the same time.
re: Landing Fee
I think Tony's right -- the landing fee is keeping away GA traffic. I've always chosen North Bay (YYB) instead of Sudbury (YSB) as a fuel stop, since it has no landing fee, and no ramp fee for a short stop. YYB is also a very short drive from downtown North Bay, while YSB is a long way out of town.
Druxy's on site
🔗 Thu, 09 Aug 2007
— @Bonnie at Buttonville Municipal Airport, Canada
There is a Druxy's (deli chain) in the FBO. The food isn't too bad, standard deli stuff like smoked meat sandwiches, bagels, and salads. Not gourmet, but it's better than Subway, and it's easy if you're stopping at Buttonville.