Comments 1,051 to 1,093 of 5,167
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.
Phones
I connected here on my way from Heathrow (LHR) to Vaasa, Finland (VAA) in the mid-to-late 1990s. My strongest memory from the time is that the phones were unbelievably expensive and difficult to use (I couldn't get to the toll-free Canada Direct number). Finland was a huge contrast at the time, since they'd already deregulated, and phone calls were even cheaper and easier than in Canada.
Comair 5191
This is the airport where Comair 5191 overshot the runway on takeoff and crashed on August 27 2006. The regional jet was cleared to take off on runway 22 (7,000 ft) in the early morning darkness, but the flight crew mistakenly used runway 26 (3,500 ft) instead, and the jet was not able to get airborne and clear the trees at the far end.
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.
re: I hope it stays
Brantford makes a big deal out of being the one-time home of Alexander Graham Bell -- in addition to his work on the phone, Bell was one of Canada's earliest and most important aviation pioneers and advocates, so it would be especially sad if Brantford's airport closed. How about renaming it to Brantford/Alexander Graham Bell Airport?
re: Bushplane Museum
Fun for home *builders*, that is.
re: Bushplane Museum
I can second Flying Celt's recommendation of the Bushplane Museum. It's downtown, near the Station Mall and the bridge to the U.S., and has a small but very nicely chosen collection of planes. They're not too crowded, and there's a lot to do, including climbing into some of them. They have a Taylor Cub that was found on Baffin Island many years after it disappeared. There's a special focus on forest fire fighting, and a good selection of kids' activities. Restoration is going on right on the museum floor, and a sign welcomes you to visit the work area, so it would probably be especially fun for home buildings.
Light rail
Thanks for the fuel info, Tony.
There's talk at Ottawa city council about building a light rail line as far as the village of Carp. If that ever happens (and it would be years away), CYRP could become a fairly important Ontario GA airport.
Breakfast every Sunday
The Brockville Flying Club has a fly-in breakfast every Sunday. It's hard to find official info, but I think it's 8:30-11:30 am. I hope to try it out tomorrow.
Special landing/takeoff procedures
Because there's a high ridge just east of the airport, the normal procedure for landing on runway 12 is to do a wide left downwind, then follow the river valley through the town on a slant left base. Because of a hill SE of the airport, you won't see the runway until you're almost lined up on final. For departure from runway 30, just reverse the procedure (unless your plane has a very good climb angle) -- instead of trying to outclimb the ridge, make a gentle right turn after takeoff and follow the river valley southeastwards until you're high enough to get over the hills. Note also that there are trees off both ends of the runway. If you're in a low-powered plane like a Cherokee or Cessna 172, it might be a good idea to take off when the air is cool (e.g. not midafternoon on a summer day), and to be a fair bit under maximum gross weight (you can top up your fuel at Pembroke [YTA] and Peterborough [YPQ], which are both only 62 nm away and have long paved runways), though the gravel runway is a good length at 2,200 ft. It's a fun airport for a pilot, but note the previous comment for a passenger's perspective.
Up on a hill
This airport is up on a hill, several hundred feet above the city below and Lake Nippising. That's both a good and bad thing -- once, I was able to depart VFR when the city was completely fogged in, because the hill was above the top of the fog with blue skies above. On the other hand, if there's a low ceiling, it will be lower here than in the city.
Failed reliever
This airport is a join military-civilian facility in Illinois, but the civilian part (MidAmerica) was designed to server as a reliever for St-Louis (STL), just across the state line. However, it has never attracted any major airline service, and has been controversial as a result. The east runway (on the right of the image) is the one civilian one, maintained by St. Clair Co, IL., while the west runway is in the military base.
Future congestion?
This is the main airport for Sao Paulo. Unfortunately, it may get more congested if authorities decide to shut down its reliever, Congonhas (CGH), after the TAM Airbus crash there on July 17, since GRU will have to pick up the extra domestic flights.
Airport may close
After the fatal TAM Airbus crash on July 17 2007, some Brazilian officials are talking about closing the airport completely for evaluations and maybe resurfacing. Sao Paulo's main international airport is Guarulhos (GRU), but I think that CGH is used a lot for domestic flights, like La Guardia (LGA) in New York. Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070719/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/brazil_plane_crash
World's busiest airport (for a week every summer)
This airport is normally quiet, but for a week every summer it hosts the annual EAA AirVenture Fly-in (often referred to as "Oshkosh"), and briefly becomes the world's busiest airport by aircraft movements. The fly-in this year is next week, starting on July 23. Here's the web site:
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.
re: Alexis Park Inn
I've never been to the airport, but I remember Jay well from the aviation Usenet groups -- he seems like a good guy, and I'm glad to hear that the hotel is still working out well.
re: Disneyland?
I think Long Beach (LGB) has better facilities, but I'm not sure of the costs. I have a friend who did flight training there a while ago, so it at least used to be GA-friendly, but things might have changed.
Ferry is free
The new ferry is free, at least so far. If you fly in with four people, that's a significant saving at $5.50/person.
Porter FBO
I tried out the Porter FBO yesterday. The fuel was expensive, but they waived the ramp fee because I was a COPA member (I think that the offer's good only for summer 2007). It's not a bad FBO, aside from the cost ($35/night tie-down, etc.).
Musharraf plane attack
This seems to be the air base where President Musharraf's plane was fired on on Friday 6 July 2007.
Upper Canada Village
Upper Canada Village, a reenacted 1867 village, is located right across the highway within walking distance. There is also a golf course near the airport. Note that there's no fence or security of any kind, and your plane will be in clear view of the highway.
No civilian traffic
I called a couple of times when a relative lived in Trenton, and the base does not allow any non-emergency civilian traffic (unless on military business). It's too bad, because Trenton's the only decent-sized airport along the 401 between Kingston and Oshawa, unless you count Peterborough a fair bit to the north.
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.
Skydiving
There is a lot of skydiving at Gananoque, so it's important to keep a sharp eye out if you're landing here.
Avoid Heathrow
Tim Bray has a blog entry on why you should avoid Heathrow at all costs:
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2007/07/03/Avoid-Heathrow
Fuel stop?
I'm thinking of using Killarney as a fuel stop between Ottawa and Sault Ste. Marie.
Vehicles on runway
This airport has a long grass runway sloping towards the lake. When I was back-taxiing a few years back, I came face-to-face with a pickup truck using it as a shortcut (luckily, I wasn't in my takeoff roll).
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.
Fort
I've overflown this airport, and the historic fort is clearly visible from the air at 8,000 ft.
Very nice airport
This is a nice airport to visit, though I miss being able to get fuel at TransCapital.
Aircraft parking update
I landed at CYAM today, and two of the (already limited) tie-down spots behind the old firehall are now reserved for Soo Aviation, the new flight school at the airport, leaving only, I think, three for transient aircraft. That means you'll almost certainly have to chock your plane on the apron near Maratech, the FBO.
On the bright side, ATC was as friendly and helpful as usual.
Aircraft parking
There are a few tie-down spots for light aircraft on the far side of the old firehall. Otherwise, you can have the plane chocked on the apron near the FBO.
Car rental
The only car rental companies actually at the airport are Enterprise and Budget -- the others are in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, a long way away.
Fuel
There is a 24-hour, self-service fuel pump, as at CYRP. It was NOTAM'd O/S for a long time, but the NOTAM's gone now, so presumably the pump is back in operation.
Approaches
The NDB approach is to 06, but the GPS approach is to 24 -- watch for the risk of head-on, opposite-direction traffic over the runway when people are practicing simulated approaches.
Runway lighting
Note that the runway lighting ARCAL is *not* on the same frequency as the ATF. Use 122.7 MHz for the ATF, but 122.9 MHz to activate the lights.
Ground Transportation
The FBO will give you a lift to the Long Island Railroad station in Farmingdale (a couple of miles away), and you can take a train right to Penn Station in Manhattan for a few dollars.
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).
Great War Flying Museum
🔗 Sat, 28 Jul 2007
— @david at Brampton-Caledon Airport, Canada
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.