Comments 176 to 212 of 212
Closer to Chandler
This airport is actually closer to Chandler (a much larger community) than to Percé. It's a small rural strip that's not always attended, but doesn't have the landing fees, etc., of the larger Gaspé airport to the north:
Great place for practice.
We use this airport quite a bit for practice work. No landing fees for single engine, easy MF to help with radio work. Very quiet area and is just about 3-5 minutes from Rockliffe. Nice long runway and a decent place to park and eat.
No food
There is no food available at Baie-Comeau except for some junk-food vending machines and a coffee machine. There is a room that used to be a cafeteria -- it still has tables and a microwave -- but there's nothing served there any more. Staff told me that the nearest food is in town, about 18 km away (I think).
Fees
Baie-Comeau has both a landing fee and a terminal fee. The security guard collects it, before she or he lets you back onto the field through the locked door. I think that they're around $15 each, but they were waived for my Hope Air flight. You pay for gas from the FBO inside the terminal near the checkin desks, so you can't just stay outside to avoid the fees.
Using the mandatory frequency
Baie-Comeau is a mandatory-frequency airport, with a remote transmitter run by Mont-Joli; however, unlike other MF fields, Mont-Joli does *not* want you to make any traffic calls on the MF (they chastized me over the radio when I announced that I was taking the runway for departure) except what they ask for.
FBO Notes
The Petro-T FBO also offers free parking if you fill up with them. The 100LL is 10 cents cheaper if you self-serve. Nice lounge. First ramp off Twy D.
Home of Canadair
Cartierville was the site of the Canadair (now Bombardier) factory. There is still a major Bombardier plant here, but the airfield is now a golf course and residential development. Hundreds of aircraft were built here to be ferried to England in World War II.
There is at least one known case of an airliner bound for Dorval (now Trudeau) which landed here by mistake in the 1960s.
A STOL experiment
This was the site of a experimental airport set up as a federally funded research project in the 1970s to research the economic feasibility of short take-off and landing air service in downtown airports. Air Transit was an an airline operating shuttle flights from downtown Montreal to downtown Ottawa (at Rockliffe, CYRO) using specially modified de Havilland Twin Otters (series 300) that had improved spoilers and sophisticated avionics. The approach and take-off path were quite steep, as they had to clear the Victoria Bridge to the east and the power lines to the west. The crews were provided by Air Canada.
I flew once from here to Ottawa. The arriving terminal in Ottawa was the building which is now the entrance hall of the museum. I guess the economics didn't work out, as the STOLport concept didn't catch on.
It's too bad that this airport wasn't kept as a downtown GA field, as it conveniently located and isolated from residential areas by freeways, factories, and the St-Lawrence river. It's now the site of movie studios and a technology park.
Birthplace of bush aviation in Canada
This airport (actually, the co-located hydrobase) was where Canadian bush flying started... in 1919! It is still a busy field for small GA aircraft.
Two runways, one of which has an approach over the lake which is used as a hydrobase. There is a restaurant at the treshold of this runway, which also is the docking area for floatplanes. Fuel is available. Excellent aircraft maintenance facilities, including a good engine overhaul shop.
True grass roots aviation
This little airport is one of the nicest, and friendliest places to fly in/out of in the country. An active COPA wing operates here and there is always an interesting mix of ultralights, homebuilts and general aviation machines of all types - some real classics.
There is a certified ROTAX service center located here, and the Jabiru Canada agent is based here too (or was until recently - has Gord moved to his Lancaster home airport now?) ...
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.
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.
Air Montmagny
This airport, a bit over 30 nautical miles west of Quebec City, is the home of Air Montmagny, which must have one of the shortest regular air routes in the world -- during the winter, when the ferry to the island isn't operating, they fly passengers back and forth to Île-aux-Grues Airport (CSH2), less than 4 nautical miles (7 kilometers) away. I made an unscheduled stop here for fuel in summer 2006 after a long diversion around a thunderstorm, and if I remember correctly, Air Montmagny also operated the FBO.
Approach over the Water
I did a Hope Air flight from Montreal to Baie Comeau. We filed IFR and the passengers got a little restless when we flew the DME Arc out over the water to approach from the East. They could see lots of water below us and ahead of us, and the aircraft seemed quite low. After we turned inbound, they saw the runway and relaxed a little. I was just glad they waited until we were on the ground before telling me that the approach over the water made them very nervous.
Shopping
There is a very large shopping centre (mall) a short taxi ride away. I used to take an aircraft here for an annual inspection and my significant other would take advantage of the time in Montreal for some serious clothes shopping, the kind of shopping that you cannot do in Eastern Ontario. (This sounds wierd, but an ex-Montrealer would understand what I meant.)
Restaurant
A convenient pit stop if you are flying between Ontario and the Maritimes. A nice airport restaurant, fuel and maintenance services available if required.
Nice Restaurant
There is a very nice restaurant here - but lots of traffic on the weekend. It gets busy with departures waiting to backtrack, cadets trying to launch gliders, inbound traffic joining the circuit, and lots of radio traffic in both official languages.
Training Airport
I did some IFR training at Mirabel. It's almost a shame that such a large, sprawling airport is largely closed (many taxiways, one runway, no passenger service, etc). At least it provides the local flight schools with a great place to train for ILS approaches and not worry about all sorts of commercial flights coming and going.
Right IN Mont-Tremblant
When visiting Mont-Tremblant in the summer months this grass field only minutes away should be your preferred strip. There are modest landing fees and no night flying.
No More Restaurant
When I went in 2006 the restaurant in the a/p bldg. was closed. Short car ride (call taxi) to "La Crémaillère", an excellent French Restaurant/Inn in neaby village of Messines (3 or 4 km SW of a/p), with adjacent bike/ski trail.
Good Place for Lunch
Whoops, scrub the last comment, it was meant for Lachute, not Mont Laurier. Mont Laurier has a nice little snack bar/restaurant right beside the ramp, great for breakfast or lunch. Look for the Piper on a post. It is alot nicer to eat there now that there is a no smoking law in Quebec!
Good Place for Lunch
A great little airport, close to Montreal and Ottawa, run by nice people. The restaurant is great, or you can borrow a bicycle to ride into town.
Permission required
I came in here in 2005 for a Hope Air flight. There is a civilian terminal, but because it's a military airport, you need prior permission to land. I called the operations and got a special authorization code to provide on first contact with ATC (they never asked for it, because they were expecting me).
Chicoutimi airport is nearby for regular civilian traffic, along with several other, smaller airports in the Saguenay/Lac-St-Jean area.
re: Free aircraft parking
I was thinking about flying my family from Ottawa to Quebec City in my Warrior for a couple of nights -- the free parking is excellent news.
Visiting pilots
Dorval Aviation, a flight school located on the field, can rent you a C172 to fly around the area following a short rental checkout with an instructor. A C172 floatplane is also available on the river northeast of Montreal.
Free aircraft parking
The local pilot's club "Les Ailes Québécoises" welcomes transient aircraft to stay for free on their ramp for up to two nights.
Trudeau's legacy
Flew out of Mirabel once, on my way to Italy (via Amsterdam). Huge beautiful terminal. It has since been closed to passenger planes, now strictly used for freight (UPS, FedEX, etc.), I believe.
Canada's PM at the time, Pierre Elliot Trudeau decided that Montreal was going to be the largest city in Canada some day (Toronto ended up winning that title), so confiscated farmland north-west of Montreal to build the airport. It never had the anticipated traffic, and was closed a number of years ago to passenger traffic.
Ironically, the power's that be decided to re-name Montreal's commercial airport, Dorval, to Pierre Elliot Trudeau, after Trudeau died.
The best way to get to Gaspe!
Gaspe is a beautiful part of Canada, but it's so far away!!! Flying over the interior, all one sees are a few logging roads ... most of the settlement is on the shores of the peninsula. The airport staff were helpful ... the place was not busy at all. Car rental at the airport was no problem.
Good fuel stop
This airport is a very useful fuel stop for flying between Ontario/Quebec and the Maritimes, since it's not far west of the Maine border.
No landing fee
No landing fee, and reasonably-priced fuel.
Dining
This is a nice little Quebec city, with a lot of good restaurants downtown by the Richelieu River -- well worth the cab ride from the airport.
Nice FBO
The FBO here is extremely friendly -- they lent me a crew car even though I didn't need gas (I left a donation for the airport anyway).
Poor food
Montreal's a great city for food, but don't bother with the airport -- there's not much there, especially once you're through security. Bring something with you.
Intl/domestic transfers
They make you go out into the public area and then line up for security again when transferring from an international to a domestic flight -- it can be pretty frustrating when the security lineup is long and you have a tight connection.
Landing fees
Unfortunately, CYUL has brought in landing fees for private planes as of 2007. I think it's around $40 or so even for a light single (!!!).
Fees and alternative airport
🔗 Wed, 02 Jan 2008
— @david at Michel-Pouliot Gaspé Airport, Canada
I don't remember all the fees and fuel prices from my visit in the summer of 2006 -- they weren't onerous, but they were enough to annoy. On the other hand, it's a well-maintained, all-weather airport with easy access into the town of Gaspé as well as the Gaspesie region. For a less expensive alternative, there's Du Rocher-Percé (Pabok), which is slightly closer to the tourist town of Percé:
http://www.ourairports.com/airports/CA-CTG3/