Comments 651 to 700 of 5,167
Film lot
Leavesden, which hosted an important military Rolls-Royce factory during World War II, was taken over as a film lot in the 1990s:
Kenya's main fighter base
This is one of Kenya's two main air bases (the other is Moi Air Base), and its main fighter base.
re: the correct name
I've corrected the name -- thanks.
Light rail into Boston
This station is about 4 miles from the west side of the field, and just over 2 miles' drive from the east side, on the Newburyport/Rockport light rail commuter line into Boston. The fare to Boston's North Station as of July 2009 was $6.25 ($3.10 senior/disabled), and you can take the subway from there to other parts of Boston.
re: Permission to Land and park
The Canada Flight Supplement gives the town contact number (705) 842-2117 for the airport.
Disputed island
Taiwan runs this small military island on the airport to support its claim.
re: Fiddymint field gone!
Reply to @ptomblin: Yes, it's still in the database, but if you look closely at the satellite pic, you can see a network of residential roads starting on the right, then fading out where an older picture of the airport is stitched in. Switch from satellite to map view, and the roads continue right onto the airport property. I think we have to conclude that the FAA record just hasn't been updated yet (nobody bothered to tell them). I'm going to switch the airport to 'closed', at least for now.
Control tower coming in December 2009
Fredericton is currently a mandatory-frequency (MF) airport with a flight services station. It's the busiest non-towered airport in Canada, and Nav Canada has announced that the airport will be getting a control tower (presumably class D) in December 2009 with 12 full-time controllers:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/07/09/air-traffic.html
Formerly RAF Gütersloh
This airstrip was formerly RAF Gütersloh. The British Army took it over after the RAF's withdrawl, and now uses it as a helicopter and signals base.
Spent a night here 2009-07-07
I flew a relative here from Ottawa, then had to stay for the night because of thunderstorms along my route. Karine at Aeropro was very friendly, and between my French and her English, we managed to communicate. They found a tie-down spot for me, and there was no charge for the night's parking, since I'd already bought gas.
Fuel prices 2009-07-06
(By phone 2009-07-06)
100LL AvGas: CA $1.42/litre + tax = CA $1.60/litre (CA $6.04/US gallon)
No landing, ramp, or similar fees.
Avis doesn't need a deposit
For car rentals at the Waterloo airport this weekend, Hertz was sold out and National was demanding a credit-card guarantee with a $50 penalty for cancelling with less than 24 hours notice. Avis, however, let me book with no deposit and no problem.
Fuel
The Fort Severn Airport does not sell 100LL AvGas. The airport manager believed that the local First Nation might sell it by the barrel (1 barrel=37 US gallons), and suggested calling the band council secretary at (807) 478-2572.
100LL is available from the pump at the Churchill Airport, 262 nm to the northwest, and at the Moosonee airport, 378 nm to the southeast.
Taxis by ferry dock
There are often taxis waiting for fares by the mainland ferry dock, especially if a Porter flight is due in.
Fond-ish memories
I remember many evenings spent in LAX terminal 2 in the late 1990s, waiting to catch the red-eye back to Toronto to connect on to Ottawa and get back to my young family. I hear a lot of horror stories about LAX and Air Canada now, but back then, before the merger with Canadian, Air Canada never left me stranded or let me down. I'd fight my way back to LAX from Long Beach through the rush-hour traffic, drop off my rental car, then find a plug, huddle in a safe warm corner, and work on my computer for a few hours, generally grabbing a bite from the Wolfgang Puck franchise restaurant thingy and happy knowing that I was on the first stage of my trip home.
I've been through terminal 2 a few times since, but not for the red-eye. Air Canada still generally leaves on time, but I'm not rushing back to young kids and a tired spouse any more, so it's more leisurely, and the terminal is just another dingy terminal.
Concord crash site
On 25 July 2000, Air France flight 4590, a Concord, had just taken off from nearby Charles-de-Gaulle Airport (CDG) with its fuel tank on fire. It attempted to divert to Le Bourget, but was not able to make it, and crashed into a hotel short of Le Bourget.
Musical Ride horses
This is where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police graze the horses for their famous Musical Ride. I guess that the airplanes passing 50-100 feet over the horses constantly get them used to loud noises, so that they don't startle easily.
Seasonal Barbeque
Tony runs a seasonal barbeque (and other food) with very reasonable prices. The original grill was destroyed in May 2009 by a tree during a tornado, but club members have been working to build a new space for the grill.
Road to the airport
This is the only road into the main part of the airport (and yacht club). It's now called "Airport-Marina Drive," not "Polaris Drive", and turns off the Rockcliffe Parkway about a kilometre east of the Aviation Museum exit. There is also pedestrian access through the museum, but only to the museum's own ramp, not to the rest of the airport.
Fees at Trans-Capital
When Trans-Capital sold Esso fuel, it used to be a great deal for parking. Now, unfortunately, the parking charges are virtually the same as Porter's. Updated by phone 2009-06-29, confirm by calling Trans-Capital at (416) 361-1100. All prices Canadian:
Ramp fee (under 20 minutes, single-engine piston): $20
Ramp fee (over 20 minutes, single-engine piston): $25
Overnight parking (single-engine piston): $35
Trans-Capital no longer sells fuel, but the Porter FBO fuel truck will come over and fuel your plane there. No point, really, since you might as well just park at Porter.
Fees and fuel update for Porter FBO
Updated by phone 2009-06-29. Call the Porter FBO at (416) 203-2424 for confirmation. All prices Canadian.
Fuel (100LL): $1.60/litre + GST (CA $6.06/US gallon)
Ramp fee (single-engine piston): $25
Overnight parking (single-engine piston): $35
Note: parking and ramp are mutually-exclusive -- you don't have to pay both.
Need heliport location
Borgo Maggiore has an international heliport, but I have not been able to find an identifier or location for it. Right now, this airport is pointing to the main traffic circle in the centre of Borgo Maggiore, which almost certainly is *not* a heliport.
Please help if you know or can find the location.
Former civilian airport
This was formerly Bangladesh's main civilian airport. When Zia International Airport (DAC) opened in 1981, the Bangladesh Air Force took over operations at Tejgaon, and it now operates as part of BAF Base Bashar.
New Ottawa-area airport
@bcrosby noticed this in a recent CFS: it's a 2,800 foot grass strip near Manotick, just south of the Ottawa airport. Prior permission is required from the owner:
Chris Hope, +1 613 489-3178
re: US military airport
The Wikipedia article suggests that private civilian flights are allowed, but I'm in Canada, and too far away to test that myself.
re: Rochefort ???
Thanks - that must have been in the original data source. I've corrected it, based on the French Wikipedia article.
re: Burke
Reply to @jerryp: Looks like it's close to Progressive Field as well. I might fly in for a baseball game this summer.
More history
1,400 transient planes in one year during the 1930s:
re: Kingston's first airport, 1929-1942
Two more factoids about the Kingston Airfield:
Until 1931, the Kingston Airfield was also a regular stop-over point for airmail flights between Toronto and Montreal.
Billy Bishop (Canada's most famous World War I flying ace) was a frequent visitor and honorary member.
Kingston's first airport, 1929-1942
This was the (approximate) location of the Kingston Flying Club's original 1,200 ft grass strip, in what is now the Kingscourt subdivision, with St. Mary's Cemetary on the airstrip's its eastern boundary. The club lost its license after a crash in 1942. After World War II, the club resumed operations and moved to the newly-built military airfield that is now Norman Rogers Airport (CYGK).
Runway photo
Contact info
Via Baracca, 2
27055 Rivanazzano (PV)
Tel. +39 0383 91500
re: Don't depart IFR on a VFR day!
Normally, a control tower will put your IFR clearance on request with center, then clear you to taxi to the active while they're waiting for the clearance to arrive for them to relay to you.
re: Have been there.
The nearest airport I know with airline service is Loakan Airport (BAG RPUB), about 70 km to the west-southwest, but you might be able to charter a small plane from there the rest of the way in.
re: location on map, nice to have in my neighborhood!
It looks like @ptomblin has moved it to the correct location. I'd be nervous using that strip with the trees so close.
re: Where was RCAF Station Fingal?
You can see the runway outline clearly in the Google satellite view above. Switch to map view for driving directions.
Lancaster
Once when I was in the air over CYTZ, the Lancaster from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum flew 500 feet under me: beautiful plane. Someone told me that it's one of only two airworthy Lancs left in the world
re: status
Right now the Behala Flying Club operates a flight school here, but the government is planning to expand the airport to handle commuter airline flights:
Apparently closed
I've marked this air base as closed, since it's clear from the satellite photo that a road has been built through it.
re: It's closed
Thanks -- the Wikipedia article confirms that the base was decommissioned in 1999, and that, after a long debate, they decided to convert it into a park. I'm changing the airport status to 'closed'.
India's only foreign airbase
While this airbase is in Tajikistan, it's operated by the Indian Air Force, and is their only foreign base.
re: YORKIE PUPPY
Here's a story about the Africa puppy scam:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/05/puppy_scam.html
re: YORKIE PUPPY
This is not the official site for Douala Airport, but I should warn you that I've heard about quite a few scams offering to ship puppies from African airports.
Albanian Air Force Academy
This is the home base of the Albanian Air Force academy, though training flights now go out of Kuçovë Air Base.
U.S. Predator base
The U.S. military appears to be using Gjader now as a base for its Predator UAVs:
Storage tunnels
This is no longer an active air base for Albania, but it includes a series of storage tunnels that still contain military aircraft such as F-7s:
Blog entry about this airport
Here's a blog entry from a family working in Haiti, apparently as missionaries, though the content is purely secular. Passengers arriving at PAP have to walk a long distance outside to the terminal, which is not always possible during rainy season due to flooding:
http://bleshblog.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/pouring-raintroubled-pap-airport/
re: Province's name
Thanks for the correction: I see that the previous Khorasan Province split into three parts in 2004, so I'm updating the site to reflect that.
re: Reopened in 2006
... however, most scheduled airline traffic has moved to K50 Airport, further from the city, for safety.
Bomb scare
🔗 Sat, 01 Aug 2009
— @david at LaGuardia Airport, United States
Early in the morning of 1 August 2009, LaGuardia was evacuated because of a passenger carrying a fake bomb, resulting in huge delays:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/08/01/laguardia-evacuted.html