Comments 1,126 to 1,175 of 1,839
I loooooooove it
Hi, my name is...yep, you guessed it, Arkayla, just like the airport ! I am a girl (duh) and it's pretty awesome that you guys dedicated this airport to me. So that means I'm fly ! :D
But any who, I don't want to waste your time while you read this, but while I'm here; Fabian is a b****.
re: Learning to fly at Sudbury Aviation - 1967.
Hello Dave;
Its your old friend Philip Fortin send me a message at pjfortin@telus.net.
ARNPRIOR, COPA Flight 33, Established: 1986
ARNPRIOR, COPA Flight 33, Established: 1986
re: fly in
The next fly in is June 5 2011
Runway
Asphalt surface,2000',080-260. East end slopes up.
Ft Macleod aerodrome of 1943
My dad, NLHead, flew out of this aerodrome, in 1943 in an Avro Anson, and Cessna Crane as well as the North American Harvard. I would like more pictures, information about this airport at that time. it was an important time in history. I flew out of it too as a 14 year old. very interesting, intensive time of life, which i now treasure as i look back in time.
N. Lawrence head
wow
great little place. the people I met there were friendly, and quite helpful. spent some time there,
snowed in. the ladies at the library were most helpful, and didn't mind us laying out the charts, and flight planning. the fuel guys, and flying club members we talked to were a world of help, and we really appreciate our stay.
snow
nice place, available fuel. windy. stopped in over the new year, crew plowed big berm of snow right up to the tail of my plane. called maintenance, explained I was going to have to leave in a couple days, and was assured it would be cleared. next evening I went out and hand shoveled. wasn't to bad, under 2 hours, -25 degrees, wind 25 knots gusting higher. (didn't check how cold wind chill) just darn cold. still not sure why they would do that, only plane at the tie downs. plenty of room to plow snow, and built berm on up wind side of field. ?????
re: flights to Toronto Island airport
Porter is the only airline flying scheduled service into Toronto Island right now (January 2011). They have added flights to Sudbury, so it might be worth getting in touch with them and seeing if they think there might be a market for a daily flight to Kingston as well.
Past Employee
I'm looking for information on a past employee and anyone that might of known her, can someone contact me through email, and i can explain why i'm looking for information on someone that worked for you and that has since past away. It would mean the world to me! my email is julie_sue_beaudry@hotmail.com, please put as subject "Collingwood Airport past Employee" Thank you in advance!!
flights to Toronto Island airport
Please tell me why on earth in this day and age you do not have regular commuter flights between Kingston and Downtown Toronto and/or Montreal. So many people I know who travel for work, including my husband, would fly weekly to and from Kingston over taking the train. Kingston is a wonderful place to live and having that access would be such a big draw for those who don't wish to live in the big city but must resort to working there.
We live in Kingston and I wouldn't change that for anything, but, I loose my husband to travel every week. The excessive lost hours he has accrued between airports and train stations in the last 12 years cannot even be counted at this point. Having a Kingston to Toronto Island route could knock off an hour and a half each way.
runway
"Subject to cross winds." ? Runway is 07/25...25 is aligned with the prevailing winds of the area, namely from the west.
Great little airport
This is a great little airport along side a practice area which makes it great for students to practice diversions, soft and short field techniques even during winter as this strip is well maintained year round.
hello
how long is disley airstrip?
aircraft spotting
aircraft spotting is ausome at this airport cause you can see almost any variaty of aircraft
re: gy
hey
Ogilvie River
Large stone/gravel runway, easy to locate by the river, access to Demster Highway, large mosquitoes. C-182
Original User comment...early 1970's
This strip was a mess the last time I saw it...early breakup that year. Came out in a ski mod twin otter, with the mud flying all over the sides of the plane...
Back earlier, in that winter, it was fine...we used an Electra and had Herc's in all the time...we drilled a single hole and left. (dry)...
Enjoyed an afternoon tea with Dr. Kent from BP London one day while there...he was fog'ed out of his strip and stopped by to wait it out. This was the "Head Knocker" of BP Oil's Geology Dept, found oil all over the world...very interesting guy to pass some time with...
re: Neato!
Reply to @david:
I have landed on the grass strip at Herb's on numerous occasions. The grass strip is about 500' long, with the Hwy. 34 overpass as an obstacle to the west.
The paved strip has cars and trailers parked approximately half way down the runway. They are parked there to prevent any mishaps between the incoming car / truck traffic and landing / departing airplanes.
Owners are friendly, good food, friendly staff!
BTW, I fly a Challenger II Ultralight.
Do not attempt unless you're absolutely sure you can safely get in and out of the grass strip.
gy
hello
Snowy Owls seen at airports in Ontario
Hi, I am currently looking for Snowy Owls. They seem to be a bit late this year (2011). These white owls love airports and use them for hunting grounds. If anyone sees one could you let me know. They will sit on the corner edge of a shed or will sit on the ground in the snow. Thanks and safe flying! jennifer@naturesphotoadventures.com
Jennifer
re: about the aiport at Squamish
thanks tips.....
Wifi at Ottawa Airport
I'm glad it's free because I won't pay a cent for that crap...pitiful downloading speed.
Wait a good 2-5 minutes to browse anything..video is a no-no... You can check your email, that's about it.
I guess there is nothing good that's free.
Private Airstrip
This is a private airstrip which belongs to an ex- Air Canada captain, as I was told. Runway about 2000 ft long was in a good shape in October 2010, there were glider trailers and a tug parked on the adjacent taxiway. Approach from the East is "hooked" as the neighbour does not permit to fly over his barn (seen about two thousand feet following the runway heading eastwards). Procedure known to me was to fly a curved final around the barn before aligning with the runway. Electric line at the Western threshold was buried, as far as I can remember. Also, airport call on the radio is "Great Lakes", not "Colgan".
Abandoned Airport
This is a typical WWII aeroport with its delta-shaped runways, of which only one was used more or less continuously after the war. As per my low and over in June 2010, the 10/28 and 16/34 are not landable, unless you have Tundra tires! "Unregistered" runway (the only one with something that looks like a surface) is used for drag-racing, there are cars and trailers parked near it. Overall the airport does not look as active. I have asked locals, no one even considered it as a usable airport.
Closed Airport?
This airstrip looked as dead as possible when I've passed low and over it somewhere at June 2010. The runway was only distinguishable for the surroundings by a bit different color of the grass, and buildings next to it looked abandoned.
Private Airstrip
This is a private airstrip, owner has a hangar stuck to a barn - that's about as much I was able to see when overflying the field. It is a PNR, but the surface looked too bad to land - though approaches are clear. Might be a bit tricky to find - use the square ponds on the lakeshore as a prominent ground feature, then follow the road from the Beaverton to the West.
PPR Airstrip
I have not landed there - this airstrip is PPR and when I was circling over it end of November '10, a black SUV pulled into the middle of the runway and just stood there. There were no aircrafts next to the hangar, as opposed to shown on the Google Maps. Approach from the East looks intriguing - it is a tunnel cut through the trees!
The Biggest Runway Ever! :-)
Muskoka is another popular destination for the Toronto student pilots' cross-countries. This airport sports a huge runway, good for big jets and air force machinery. You need to talk to Timmins RCO (was London, but now they only provide FISE there) to operate in their control zone. RCO guys are positive and helpful, working with lots of student pilots.
You can frequently meet some expensive and cool aircraft at Muskoka - Corvalis, Cirrus, corporate jets and so on. Terminal building is very nice, facilities comfortable. I think it's a good place to visit now and then. Check out the airport website for more details: http://www.muskokaairport.com/
Interesting Airport
Peterborough is used as one of the default cross-country destinations by Island Air flight school (and a bunch of others, I believe), so I've been there three times while working on my license. Overall perception - long, rather narrowish (for the length) runway, very friendly and useful unicom operator, cute little FBO hut and always something interesting flying around. A twin working on IFR training mission around the Peterborough NDB, Moonies, Bonanzas, Cubs, Robinsons, everything else GA landing and taking off - and ultimately a bunch of jets sitting at the airport where they get painted, refurbished! I like this airport, it has this comfortable feeling that everything is ok around it.
re: Nasty Control Zone
That was my comment; just realized I wasn't logged in.
re: Nasty Control Zone
Reply to @dazuppa: I'm not sure how long you flew around the Springbank area but as someone who's flown out of CYBW for the past decade I can assure you that your experience with ATC is not the norm. In fact, the controllers at CYBW are as friendly as they come; more so if you are friendly from the start.
CYBW is one of the busiest GA airports and serves both training pilots and training controllers. Inner/outer tower is a both a necessity and a great learning experience at the same time. If you walked away thinking otherwise then it's an opportunity missed. I've flown across the country and found that the Calgary-area airspace is second in complexity only to the GTA. If you can handle CYYC/CYBW you can handle anything.
Finally, having done training and rentals (before purchasing a PA32) at most of the schools located at CYBW, I can also say that your experience at CFC is not typical. I would consider both SATC and CFC to be the same in most respects. The biggest difference between the two is that SATC is a commerical operation whereas CFC is more of a 'club' and therefore offers a richer experience (and cheaper fuel) for all pilots.
re: Airport sold
Reply to @david: The airport has not been sold yet. The city agrees to sell. The city said the proposed sale result in $1,225,000...
Blue Younder Aviation
Wayne Winters of Blue Younder Aviation owns this airport. For those unfamiliar with Canadian ultralight aviation history, Wayne is a "daddy" of the Merlin EZ and EZ Flyer aircraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Yonder_Aviation) He's a great person and one of the pilots you learn a lot from just chatting next to the hangar door.
Runways are uneven, and you can see a gopher sitting right in the middle of them when you are taking off, but that's all right. For me, flying at Indus was a great experience and a discovery of the whole experimental/homebuilt aviation in Canada. Just stay there at Indus for a couple of hours, and you'll be surprised with a number of great people and interesting aircrafts around!
Gliders
Cu Nim is a base for the local gliders community. Those guys are serious and proficient, it's a pity that their prices are way too high for the engineless flight. I've made a simple calculation and realized that it will cost me more to fly the gliders there than airplanes out of Springbank. Sorry guys, you are nice, but business is business - even if you hold a monopoly...
Great place to fly, nevertheless, and the whole process of flying is nicely organized there. They also communicate properly, so if you are just flying by - turn on your radio and keep an ear on the frequency.
Grass Roots of Aviation
Bob Kirkby owns this nice little private field, kept in a very decent shape. Approach over the highway feels a bit hairy as you pass just over the moving cars - and you have to be low or on flaps, as the runway is really short for the elevation.
Bob is a really nice guy, do not hesitate to call him and meet in person! Maybe he'll show you some of his flying treasures. ;-)
Look out for antennas when going aroind in circuit, and keep the downwind over the field, not over the Bob's house. The airport looks easier to find on Google Maps than it is in the real life, so keep an eye on the Chestermere lake and your position related to it and the Trans-Canadian highway.
Crazy Runway
Okotoks has a challenging runway - narrow and sloped. When you arrive from the "higher" end of it (16), you will feel like dragging the plane so low you'll scratch the roofs of the cars dodging you on the road right next to the threshold! Intense.
There is also a pilots' community around the airport - they have their planes parked on one side of the house, and their cars on the other! Like a pilots' village, very cool...
Sky Wings Okotoks provides a flight training, and the guys here were nice - but renting anything in summer was next to impossible. Man, they had every weekend booked all the months to come!
Nevertheless, if you'll ever make it to Okotoks, you'll love that crazy little runway.
Best Grass Roots Airport in GTA
I hereby award Greenbank a Best Grass Roots Airport in GTA diploma. :-)
Seriously, this is a great little airport. Two grass runways, both sloped, marked with flags and very well cared of. There is a "secret" flying school there, using a 172, and a 24/7 gas pumps for the local grasshoppers community. No worries if you'll see the birds on the runway - they know this whole GA thing and will let you land or take off without any problems.
Nice and clean FBO, very scenic surroundings (especially in the Autumn), great place to fly in with friends. Such a pity that accident happened to the original airport owner, but an excellent conditions of the airport afterwards are a testament to the great job done.
If ever in doubt which grass strip to fly to East of Toronto, go Greenbank!
Good Airport
Oshawa is a Good Airport. Free from that Pearson control cloak covering almost everything around Toronto, you can take off from Oshawa and get a training area right in front of you. Fast and convenient. Rental prices are the lowest in the whole GTA, though condition of the planes is... let's say, they are very well used.
Oshawa has a useful NDB and a friendly tower, which won't punish you for inadvertently intruding their airspace (from the said training area) right away, and will be helpful and cooperating providing a flight following within their control zone when you go cross-country following the shoreline to Kingston or back.
I would suggest this airport (or actually a Durham Flight Centre) as a choice for those who want to practice the instruments flying in GTA without bogging into the airliners dodging and violent radio chat almost inevitable East of Toronto.
A Bigger Small Airport
You can't get in or out from this airport without a rental car, even though it looks like sitting in the middle of the city. Oh well, there is a bus stop next to a funerals home in front, but in winter they don't clean the snow there so you'll have to wait in a pile of snow.
Toronto Airways has one of the least interested instructors I've seen in the whole Toronto area! Like, really, if you are a potential customer (renter, student pilot, whatever), paying a hefty price, you may expect certain level of positive attitude towards you. FBO folks were nice, though.
Seneca College airplanes are also based there, and those guys are setting standards in competence and quality of flight training.
From the pilot prospective, runways are huge and comfortable. Tower is generally friendly, though if you are flying from CYKZ to CYTZ and vice versa they tend to be... a bit picky sometimes. Not really bad, just picky. Won't release you from the frequency until the last second, etc.
They have this funny little Markham airport plugged into their airspace - I'd suggest going through the CYKZ control zone instead! Markham people can pop up in front of you in a glider without warning (yeah, they have their own separate frequency for gliders, I know, but better - just fly with Buttonville radar keeping an eye on you and throwing advisories if needed).
Love and Hate Airport
Brampton is super-cute, with its nicely painted buildings, nice little restaurant and a smallish pilot shop. You can actually see some bunnies eating flowers in front of the Caledon office early in the morning.
Brampton is a mess, with its packet parking, piles of airplanes moving in all directions, super-lame unicom and traffic chat, people doing circuits of all sizes and cutting in front of each other.
Brampton flying center is all about making money. Big money with lots of international students. Membership fee, enrollment fee, fee for this and fee for that... Noticeable overload over the already not-so-cheap prices. Not good for renters.
FBO work appears like being organized back in time, and hugely deteriorated afterwards. Things like forms, flight documents, internet access and such look like they were thought out, but then dropped into "no one cares, just take it as it is" mode.
Brampton is one of the two locations in all GTA where you can actually rent a SuperCub! Checkout will cost you just about two thousand dollars to go solo (keeping in mind all the fees and taxes).
Ultralight and Skydivers base
Baldwin is a home for Toronto Aerosports ultralight flying group (http://www.torontoaerosport.com/) Airport community mostly operates Challengers (like a dozen of those), but there are also Savannah, two Merlins, and a bunch of other interesting machines on tie-downs - even a Piper twin. Ultralight people are sharing the airport with skydivers, please check the NOTAMs! Skydivers are currently using a Shorts Skywan - if it's not on the ground, it might be dropping people right over the field...
No flying over the Eastern side of the airport - there is a trailer park which habitants are not at all happy with any aircraft passing above them. So runway 01 is a RH circuit, and if you need to join a left downwind for 19 - you may have to do that from south, looking for the traffic. Always stay on the frequency and look out for NORDO aircrafts in the area.
In any case, if unfamiliar with the area, I strongly suggest calling Toronto Aerosport people on the phone and ask for advisory before attempting to land or closely overfly Baldwin. They are good people and will help.
re: Airport closed
Thanks for the update. Wikipedia agrees, so marked as closed pending any new information.
Airport closed
The town of Grimshaw decided to close this airport in 2009. The Runway is marked as closed and has several post driven into the center line at mid field.
re: Does Kaslo Airport have a call sign, like Victoria's YY
Reply to @ptomblin: Sorry, CBR2 isn't an ICAO code, it's just a Canadian code.
re: Does Kaslo Airport have a call sign, like Victoria's YY
CBR2 is its ICAO code. It doesn't have an IATA code.
Does Kaslo Airport have a call sign, like Victoria's YYJ
Does Kaslo Airport have a call sign, like Victoria's YYJ
re: I loooooooove it
🔗 Tue, 08 Mar 2011
— Anonymous Flyer at Arkayla Springs Airport, Canada
Are you the one who stole my cat ?!?!?!?!?!?! It's been missing for years. I loved that cat, it was my life and I want it back !