32Aret's profile

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.

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

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.

This airport used to be a Canadian Forces Base. The airport was used mostly for the frequent flights to and from Canada and for intra-Europe flights. In the 1980s and into the early 90s, the aircraft hardened shelters were used as an army garrison. One of the hard shelter areas was used by 444 Sqn, a tactical helicopter squadron flying the CH-136 Kiowa. I think that the ICAO code was EDAN at that time; I have no idea why it was changed. Even if the vocation of the airport changed drastically, I see no reason to change the ICAO code...

In the 1980 and 90s, this was a USAF base that flew B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers. I flew a PAR approach into there once, in a CH-135 Twin Huey, en route from YCX yo YOY. On short final, we were called "dangerously left of centerline" by the radar controller. Getting out of clouds at about 300 ft, we were about half way between the centreline and the edge of the runway... In a B-52 (wingspan = 185 ft), I agree that it would have been touchy, even on a 300 ft-wide runway; the wing-tip outriggers would have been in the daisies... but in a helicopter??? Anywhere within half a mile of the button is close enough! After "landing" on the runway (skid-equipped helicopter) we had to "roll" all the way to the high-speed turn-off, about 2/3 of the way down the runway, to air-taxi all the way back behind a follow-me truck to the transient ramp, abeam the threshold of the runway we had shot the approach to, at the south end of the airport. I guess helicopters were unusual beasts for their Operations staff.