Comments 1,626 to 1,675 of 1,840
Home!
My home airport...where I learned to fly and my father flew from for many years before me.
Car rental
The car rental company/companies in Stratford are closed Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, so if you need to rent a car on the weekend, you might be better flying to the bigger airports at London (YXU) or Waterloo (YKF), and then driving 30-40 minutes.
Hotels hard to get in the summer
With the Stratford Festival (Shakespeare, etc.), we were unable to book hotel rooms two days before for a club flight from Rockcliffe.
FBO information
The FBO is Huron Flight Centre, 519-542-6599. I was unable to reach anyone by phone on a Saturday afternoon, despite several tries.
Nothing
There's nothing there, so it's a great place to make an unlikely pit stop between Penticton and Prince George when the weather is down at Williams Lake and you've had too much coffee for breakfast.
re: Nice Grass Runway
Thanks for the info -- I've moved the longitude a bit to the west, to the other side of the road.
Nice Grass Runway
I landed here once to practice some soft field landings. Well maintained. The landing strip is west side of the road. (the plane cursor is marking the east side)
First Visit
This was my first time to Burlington.. it was a busy airport, a few people during circuits. Unicom girl was helpful and I later found out was cute as hell.
Nice terminal with windows all around so you can see activity on all the runways.
I couldn't find a pilot registry to sign or anything...
Renovating
New hangars and restaurant open. Home of the Collingwood Classic Aircraft. Eden Flight Inc flying SportStar advanced ultralights.
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?) ...
Shell FBO very helpful
Last year I had to overnight unexpectedly due to a problem with my aircraft which took me a couple of days to sort out. The operator of the Shell FBO also owns a motel and he was very helpful - providing me with an excellent room rate and a car rental on short notice at a great price.
You can't ask for better service than that!
World's highest landing fees
This is the world's expensive airport -- http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/11/15/gtaa-051115.html
If you're a private pilot, you can get dinged with a landing fee close to CA $200 even in a light plane, and that's before ramp fees, parking, etc. If you're an airline passenger, your share of the obscene landing fee (over $13,000 to land a 747, vs around $3,000 at other Canadian airports) is tacked onto your ticket price.
The high fees have nothing to do with the fact that the airport's busy -- it has about the same traffic as Philadelphia Intl (PHL), which had no landing fee for light aircraft when I visited in 2003 and charges around US $2,000 for a 747 to land. Something's just broken somewhere, and nobody will take responsibility for the problem.
If you're coming to Toronto, use CYTZ (downtown), CYKZ (northeast), CYOO (east), CNC3 (northwest), or CZBA (west). CYTZ has a landing fee of around $10 for a light plane (watch the ramp fees at Porter, though!), and the others have no landing fee at all.
Fantastic GA airport
This airport is possibly the nicest GA airport I've ever been to. The Kingston flying club has free tie-downs, and they sell fuel at some of the cheapest prices in Ontario when they're open. For odd hours, the Esso has reasonable prices too. Also a very scenic airport, and very straightforward uncomplicated procedures. Highly recommend visiting Kingston.
Visited for the first time the other day
The airport is very scenic, especially at night. The ramp and fuel prices are tough to swallow though. The airport closes at 11pm, and the last ferry runs at midnight.
Rockcliffe Flying Club visit, 25-27 August 2007
The Rockcliffe Flying Club from Ottawa to PEI on the weekend of 25-27 August 2007. I expect that everyone will be planning to land here at YYG.
Taxi
The airport is a short taxi ride north of downtown Charlottetown -- it's been a few years, but I don't remember it being too expensive.
Rates and fees
Here's the schedule of rates and fees for the airport:
Druxy's on site
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Landed at night
🔗 Mon, 27 Aug 2007
— Anonymous Flyer at Barrie-Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, Canada
I only did a few touch and goes at this airport, at night.
ARCAL works as published ;)