philippe's airport comments

one of the pilots for Air Montmagny also produces and sells maple syrup from his farm. 7.50$ CAD a can and it's very good. Available from the FBO.

Good food and cheap. Right at the fuel pumps. There is also an interesting water runway parallel to the main one.

The approach is an offset localizer with curved approach lights, down into a fjord. Interesting missed approach and departure procedure too. The scenery is unbelievably beautiful. Efficient service from the airport staff, reasonable Avgas price for Europe.

This is a former RAF base from world war II which is the only one still using the original buildings. The FBO, Far North Aviation, is in the original tower. You feel very much into "Battle of Britain" here. Great service, very friendly, no hassles with the paperwork. A very nice place to land after or before crossing the pond. The approach is a LOC DME and the weather can be low, but even though it's called the Highlands there is nothing solid to hit near the airport. The local scotch (Old Pulteney) is excellent, as is the beer (the Real Mackay).

This airport is much more convenient than BIKF for GA. It's right in the middle of town. If you stay at the Loftleidir hotel, 10 meters from the FBO, you can see your aircraft from your window, although we stayed at the Hotel Holt in the center, which is very nice.

Handling and fuel is expensive, but not unreasonable.

Handling here is quick and friendly, if a bit expensive. But then again where else are you going to go in the area!

Avgas here is sold in drums at CAD$449 each (reasonable seeing that it must be shipped by sea in summer only!). You can only buy full drums, so plan to arrive with enough room in the tanks.

The fuel was much less expensive than I expected this far north, about the same as in Toronto.

The lake just east of the runway makes it possible to land a floatplane here to refuel. The airport operator has a 400 litre tank on a cart that they bring to the shore.

Bought fuel here recently from the friendly folks at Lakeland Airways. A pleasant stop, very reasonable fuel prices, and the dock is right in the middle of the town.

A recent visit showed that they hiked the price of their avgas to an unreasonable 2.50 - more than twice the rate at my home base. Given that this base is not all the way into the boonies, this is rather excessive.

Drummondville airport is also a float base - there is a dock on the river with a fuel pump just across the road near the treshold of runway 20.

The airport's owner is also the US importer for the Beriev 103, a unique Ukrainian twin engine amphibian. It seats six, floats on its hull and its wing roots, and the two engines are mounted on pods aft of the wing. There is usually one of these on the field.

A self-serve fuel pump with credit card reader is available.

This is an abandoned former cold war military runway which is still in better shape than some places where I've had to pay landing fees. It's right by highway 117 if you need to be rescued.

Popular fuel stop on your way up north.

The only seaplane base that has public fuel in the Quebec city area. Lac St-Augustin is closer to downtown but they don't take visitors anymore.

Ste-Véronique is one of the few places in the Laurentians where there is public fuel available. Lots of room, quick service.

Marina Venise is also close to downtown, but no easy public transit connexion to Montreal. 100LL available but no maintenance. There is also a helipad.

Probably the closest seaplane base to downtown Montreal. 100LL and maintenance available. Dock for about 3 planes, and a ramp an tractor. They take your plane in and out of the water if you stay longer than a few hours. About 100 yards from a bus stop; 15 minutes drive from downtown. It's just outside of the CYUL tower control zone; if you arrive via the VFR corridor to the north (over the Riviere des Prairies) below 1300 you don't need a transponder code or prior ATC clearance. Local frequency is 123.2 (uncontrolled airport).

Beware of traffic from nearby Mascouche airport (CKS3) to the north. It's advisable to monitor 122.65.

Also there is a private strip and seaplane docks between Boisvert and Masouche called Contant/Laval Aviation.

Cartierville was the site of the Canadair (now Bombardier) factory. There is still a major Bombardier plant here, but the airfield is now a golf course and residential development. Hundreds of aircraft were built here to be ferried to England in World War II.

There is at least one known case of an airliner bound for Dorval (now Trudeau) which landed here by mistake in the 1960s.

This was the site of a experimental airport set up as a federally funded research project in the 1970s to research the economic feasibility of short take-off and landing air service in downtown airports. Air Transit was an an airline operating shuttle flights from downtown Montreal to downtown Ottawa (at Rockliffe, CYRO) using specially modified de Havilland Twin Otters (series 300) that had improved spoilers and sophisticated avionics. The approach and take-off path were quite steep, as they had to clear the Victoria Bridge to the east and the power lines to the west. The crews were provided by Air Canada.

I flew once from here to Ottawa. The arriving terminal in Ottawa was the building which is now the entrance hall of the museum. I guess the economics didn't work out, as the STOLport concept didn't catch on.

It's too bad that this airport wasn't kept as a downtown GA field, as it conveniently located and isolated from residential areas by freeways, factories, and the St-Lawrence river. It's now the site of movie studios and a technology park.

This airport (actually, the co-located hydrobase) was where Canadian bush flying started... in 1919! It is still a busy field for small GA aircraft.

Two runways, one of which has an approach over the lake which is used as a hydrobase. There is a restaurant at the treshold of this runway, which also is the docking area for floatplanes. Fuel is available. Excellent aircraft maintenance facilities, including a good engine overhaul shop.

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...

Maui Aviators has instructors and aircraft for rent. It's an beautiful area to fly over, you can visit some of the smaller islands this way.

The folks at the local flight school, Victoria Flying Club, are nice and competent and their aircraft are very well kept. Very nice area to fly around if you're visiting.

Dorval Aviation, a flight school located on the field, can rent you a C172 to fly around the area following a short rental checkout with an instructor. A C172 floatplane is also available on the river northeast of Montreal.

If you park on the western ramp, there is a path that takes you through a campground and then accross the road to a beautiful footpath through the woods and a fantastic beach. Beautiful place. I'm jealous of all these west coast folks.

The local pilot's club "Les Ailes Québécoises" welcomes transient aircraft to stay for free on their ramp for up to two nights.