Comments 1,476 to 1,525 of 1,840
re: WiFi
In the U.S., isn't a "flying club" a few people who get together to buy and operate a plane or two? In Canada, it's often a big, non-profit FBO and flight school (sometimes with a pilot shop as well), because that's the way flight training got started in Canada in the 1920s and 30s.
re: Accueil
Sounds great! I've flown over this airport a few times on trips from Ottawa to the Gulf or the Maritimes, but never thought of landing. Riding a rented bicycle around a quiet island in the summer sounds very relaxing.
Closed
Never got to fly here..and the airport is now closed :(
Restaurant?
I'm planning a flight for this weekend to YSB. I will take the notes below in consideration when parking the aircraft.
Just a quick question. Is there a restaurant in the terminal?
Accueil
Très bel accueil, location de vélo en été
Great little airport
just off the island of montreal, used more as a flight training school, but lots of private owners use it as well.
if you are looking to refuel fly 20mins west to cornwall regional, gas prices are cheaper because of less tax.
Wind farms
It's worth a trip to the Pincher Creek airport to check out the wind farms in the area. And you'll get a close up look at a wind turbine on the north side of the airport on the downwind for runway 07.
Timmies
Timmies in the main terminal. Park at shell and walk over.
cbz9
Good paved strip a long walk to town, most locals dont even know it exists
Oh oh
Gordon Plew's CFS has this one as CFJ2, but his WAS has CFJ2 as CARIGNAN/RIVIÈRE L'ACADIE in Quebec.
Wrong ID?
Gordon Plews data has 'CAB5' assigned to the Abbotsford Hospital
Blissville and Trans Canada Airlines
Here's an edited version of an article that I wrote about Blissville.
The Blissville Airport was built in the late 1930s as part of the Trans Canada Airways system. Airports and navigation systems were built approximately 100 miles (160kms) apart, covering Canada coast to coast, to facilitate air mail and eventually passenger traffic. It was located about 30 miles (50km) SW of Fredericton on a dusty gravel road and didn’t see the first scheduled TCA flight until May 10, 1941 a stop on the Montreal to Halifax route. Evidently it wasn’t too successful as the trial ended six weeks later on June 15.
On July 1, 1944 Blissville was again added to the TCA route, becoming a regional airport for SW New Brunswick, and this time it was promoted with direct cab service both to Fredericton and Saint John. The distance to Saint John was about 35-40 miles (50-60km) SE, halfway being on dirt roads. TCA pulled out of Blissville when the Airport at Pennfield Ridge was opened up to serve Saint John on April 1, 1947. The terminal/operations building was later disassembled and moved in sections to serve the same purpose at the new Fredericton Airport (YFC) until a new terminal was built there in 1963.
Over the last several decades, the Blissville Airport has been used by Forest Protection Ltd. as a base for fighting forest fires and conducting spraying operations. It is now located just inside the boundary of CFB Gagetown with a 4000 foot (1200m) paved runway and a Military Airport code – CCH3.
(adapted from article by George Brien that appeared in the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum Newsletter, Fall 2007)
If anyone interested, I have lots of info on TCA people that worked there in the mid 40's.
gnbrien@eastlink.ca
WiFi
Sometimes when I'm in Ottawa with nothing better to do, I go to the Ottawa Flying Club to leach their wifi, eat something from the snackbar and watch the planes go by. I wish my flying club had a club house.
Fuel
Self Serve fuel available, good price. Fall 2007
Sorry not a good place to stop
Vacated mouse infested house at the airport, no other facilities. Thank God there is cell phone coverage here.
Road to airport has a gate at the highway that may be locked.
RV81
It seems like such a tiny airport to have that amount of traffic with no ramp space to park them all, but I guess helicopters don't need much runway, so you could just park them on the runway?
Blissville, on CFB Gagetown
In 1981, CFB Gagetown was the location of the largest deployment of canadian troops since the Korean war, for an exercise calle Rendez Vous 81. About 10,000 troops took part in the exercise. Blissville was the centre of most helicopter activities for the duration of the exercise. At the height of RV81, 73 helicopters were based at Blissville (Kiowas, Twin Hueys, Chinooks from Canada; and Cobras and Chinooks from the US Army). A transportable approach radar (PAR) was installed to serve temporarily as the only approach aid (pre-GPS times!), with precision limits (200 - 1/2). The airport was temporarily given the ident CH3. I was flying the first aircraft (a CH-135 Twin Huey) to flight plan into CH3 under actual IMC, coming from YOY. Shortly after we changed from Boston Center to Moncton Centre, over the Maine-New Brunswick border, the controlled gave us a clearance to Chatham beacon (ident CH), which we promptly refused... I guess that the message about the temporary ident was not distributed to all controlllers.
Cap-de-la-Madeleine BCATP airport
One of the BCATP airports that does not exist anymore. No trace of the runways remains; one or two hangars were still in use in the late 1970s, but barely recognisable. The position given is approximate. The Wikipedia article mentions its existence, but does not give its location. I know the approximate location because I come from the area and one of the old hangars was used as a huge disco night club in the late 1970s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_Commonwealth_Air_Training_Plan_facilities_in_Canada
Tofino
I drove to the airport out of curiosity, when I was vacationing in the area, in 2003. A Canadian Forces team was there running tests on a UAV.
YED
This used to be the airport with the longest runway in the Commonwealth (12,000 ft). The Canadian Forces Base (CFB Edmonton / Namao), in the 1980s and 90s flew C-130 Hercules, DHC-5 Buffalo, DHC-6 Twin Otter fixed-wing aircraft and CH-147 Chinook, CH-136 Kiowa and CH-135 Twin Huey helicopters; what a waste of 12,000 ft of concrete. YED is now, probably, the heliport with the widest helipad in the world!
Accident on 13 December 2008
A Summit Air Dornier on a charter passenger flight missed the Cambridge Bay runway and landed in an icy field. No serious injuries, but lots of damage to the plane (according to a witness):
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/12/15/summit-flight.html
Cheapest Fuel
CFC has the cheapest price for fuel at the airport, more so if you're a member. If you purchase more than 500 litres of fuel a year and can handle getting your fuel between 7am and 7pm, then you are advised to purchase a yearly CFC membership.
Terminal Building
Its locked up like Fort Knox at night.......
Home Airport
This is my home airport. I fly with Future Air. Excellent service, well maintained.
Cool Airport
This airport was super easy to find, since it's right next to highway 400. At night, the airport beacon is not on until you activate the ARCAL. So keep that in mind when trying to find the airport after dark.
Two windsocks at both ends of the runway make finding the active easy!
The flight there during the fall was beautiful especially with the fall colours contrasting against the blue lakes.
Look out for the hump!
Landed on 36, then taxied to the holding bay at 18 due to landing traffic behind us. No taxiways, back track required. Nice new terminal building, coffee was on and everyone was friendly. There is a very interesting poster on the bulletin board from the RCMP asking pilots to keep a look out for marijuana plants!
Nice Airport
Has a parallel taxiway going halfway down the runway. Neat airplanes parked and a really nice little terminal.
A great place to visit!
$2million????
you're kidding right??? I'd have figure at most 400K but then again what do I know... can someone explain to me why it's listed at $2m?
Ultralight friendly and safe
I often fly a paratrike (PPG/PPC) out of the infield there, both mornings and evenings. A very safe and ultralight friendly airport, with relatively little traffic. An air-band radio is a requirement, but a lot of flexibility otherwise. Great scenery to enjoy within a short distance in all directions.
Agreed
Nice little strip, was there yesterday for precautionary trng. Ended up doing a soft field landing. Really neat place!
re: Wow!
I fully agree...it's too shame we lost its owner!
Merge with 8U3?
CKK3 and 8U3 appear to be the same airport. You merged 7S8 and CEP4, so these should probably be merged as well.
Not a full FBO
Aviation International is a flight school that runs the Guelph airport and happens to sell tie-down spots and 100LL fuel to transients, but it is definitely not a full FBO. According to the woman on the phone, tie-downs on the grass are $7/night, and you have to move your plane to and from the fuel pumps yourself (though they do the actual fueling). They have no arrangements with rental-car companies, not even a key drop-off.
For full FBO service (e.g. leave a fuel order and walk into your waiting rental car), you can fly into Waterloo (YKF) 10 nm/18km away, but you'll pay a bit more money.
City might close airport
Some city counselors want to close the airport and sell the land to developers, but local doctors want it to stay open for medevac and organ-delivery flights:
Great Aerodrome!
A blast from the past, posters inside depicting their vibrant past as an airforce base. You can almost hear the Harvards buzzing in the background, nice layout good fuel prices, great service. I haven't eaten at the cafe yet but I imagine I will soon!
Construction in summer 2008
Gatineau is having its runway resurfaced during the summer of 2008. It's going to be shut down completely overnight from 00z (8:00 pm local) until 10z (6:00 am local) starting on Tuesday 19 August 2008, and has only about 2,700 ft available during the rest of the day.
Be careful scud running
I landed here a few years ago. It's a very nice airport, but I would not recommend coming in VFR in marginal conditions unless you know the area well -- there's a high cable crossing across the Strait of Canso just to the west of the airport.
Ottawa's mystery airport
This has been a mystery airport for me for a while. I heard it mentioned on the radio a few months ago (a pilot said he was landing at "Pontiac Airpark" east of Arnprior). A search on the web turned up almost nothing, aside from a mention in some town council minutes for Pontiac, Quebec:
http://www.munpontiac.com/documents%20pdf/rapp-mtgs/angl-reg/MN070911.pdf
The only information in that document is the fact is that the airport is by Chemin River (River Road). Nothing shows up in the Google Maps satellite view, but I flew along River Road on Wednesday 6 August 2008 at 1,000 ft above ground level and found what looked like a large dirt runway (with no planes) at this location -- it was the only possible candidate. Maybe the airpark is still under construction.
re: $100 Hamburger or Breakfast
Conk: the $100 hamburger is an old aviation joke: $5 for the hamburger, and $95 for the gas to fly to the airport and back. Nowadays, it's more like a $300 hamburger.
$100 Hamburger or Breakfast
A $100 hamburger or breakfast???? Geeze-louise! This I gotta see! Will be coming up from Asheville, NC, USA in late August for the air show. I'll be sure and bring extra cash!
Great Airport!
Staff are very friendly. Lots of planes to look at! 100LL really well priced, same price as Lake Simcoe usually but with the tax allready factored in so you end up saving quite a bit of money! Beautiful location, you cant beat a nice flight over wasaga beach!
Not Very GA Friendly.
The staff there are great but the airport in general seems to be more concerned with the corporate jet scene. Avgas is expensive ~1.55L + GST. I usually go to collingwood because it is usually much cheaper! Good runway to practice on, there are two flight schools there Future Air and Canadian Flyers International.
Communications
Communications in this area can be a little tricky. Orillia is on 122.8, Lake Simcoe is on 122.7. There is always some traffic over the narrows and everyone is n their own frequency. Keep a vigilant eye out for other traffic!
Emsdale Airport
No idea what activity is going on there - last visit it was pretty desolate.
re: Update: Landing Fee
That's good news about the fee. Sault Ste. Marie (CYAM) abandoned its landing fee for small aircraft a couple of years ago, and I think traffic has increased as a result.
Update: Landing Fee
As of September 12, 2007 it seems that the County of Athabasca is no longer charging the landing fee for privately registered aircraft.
Courtesy Car
Nicest courtesy car I've seen... a brand new Impala!
I almsot forgot.....
Left Hand circuits for 07 and right hand circuits for 25. UNICOM is 123.00.
Great Airport
2100' Long.
Watch for pot hole on West side of taxiway/runway intersection aswell as at the end of 25. Hump in the middle.
No fuel available for purchase. 5 Minute car ride from Mall, Restaurants, etc.
Friendly environment. Good Location, beautiful scenery.
Hope to see you there!
re: WiFi
🔗 Fri, 13 Mar 2009
— @ptomblin at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, Canada
Yes, I've never seen a big Canadian style "flying club" in the US like I've seen at Ottawa, Oshawa (now defunct, I'm afraid) and Brampton. Didn't a lot of Canadian flying clubs get started with cheap war surplus training aircraft? I think I read a history of the Oshawa flying club that said they got a few Moths and similar trainers from the Commonwealth Training Plan.