Canadian Airspace

[Etienne]

Hi all

I would like to find out what the airspace in Canada is like to fly in... I don't have any maps on-hand, so it's a bit difficult for me to check.

For example, here in South Africa, we have a low-level frequency that the vast majority of GA pilots use. 124.8 for all flight below 1500'AGL. If you're going to climb above that, then there are country-wide info services that look after the advisory airspace up to FL200, where you need an IF rating to go higher. The only controlled airspace that you have to deal with is around the 6 or 7 cities with large airports and the odd major airport in the middle of nowhere. That usually requires a transponder (there are exceptions). Under the TMA's of these airports, we have special rules areas which is mostly uncontrolled, and doesn't usually require a transponder. Again, there are exceptions here, where some of the SRA's require Mode-C transponders.

I did a flight around the country in April last year, starting in Johannesburg, down to Bloemfontein, on to Port Elizabeth, then up the coast to East London, Durban and back to Johannesburg. In the whole trip, I only flew into controlled airspace twice, by using alternate airfields under the TMA or a bit further out. I also got by without needing transponder...

Will I need to fit a transponder to my aeroplane to do any sort of flying in Canada, or is it also fairly free?

Thanks
Etienne

[Hedley]

If you stay away from large airports, you will not need
a transponder/encoder. Most airspace in Canada below
12,500 is G with a bit of E.

Heck, you don't legally even need a radio for most
airports in Canada (which are uncontrolled aka ATF)
but it's a good idea. Enroute, VFR aircraft in Canada
hardly ever talks to anyone. They really don't want
to hear from you unless you're IFR anyways.

Basic VFR avionics is a 760 channel comm radio, a
handheld GPS with power from the aircraft for nav,
and maybe an intercom.

[THEICEMAN]

If you stay away from large airports, you will not need
a transponder/encoder. Most airspace in Canada below
12,500 is G with a bit of E.

Heck, you don't legally even need a radio for most
airports in Canada (which are uncontrolled aka ATF)
but it's a good idea. Enroute, VFR aircraft in Canada
hardly ever talks to anyone. They really don't want
to hear from you unless you're IFR anyways.

Basic VFR avionics is a 760 channel comm radio, a
handheld GPS with power from the aircraft for nav,
and maybe an intercom.

Ahhh...good old Canadian standards....

Was looking at the Plane & pilot magazine in the U.S.......
typical equipment setup on U.S private aircraft is a Garmin 430, HSI, Weather radar, de-ice, DME, Radar altimeter, FADEC, TCAS, etc....

Everytime I fly to the U.S, my airplane is like the gremlin of the ramp!

[Etienne]

That's good news!

Never fear! I have a radio, intercom, 3 independent gps's (you can never have too many), 2 compasses and an Efis... All this runs off a 10 amp-hour battery (good for about 5 hours), and every piece of electronic equipment has it's own internal backup battery (good for about 3 hours). And just to finish it off, I have a solar panel that supplies enough juice to power the radio and gps for as long as there's sunshine.

Oh yes, and before anyone starts bashing the gps way of flying, I also keep a map on my knee with my finger on the last verified position and a stopwatch on my arm.

So it seems as though I'm equipped well enough to brave the great expanses between the busy airports That's very good news...

Thanks for the input!

[Hedley]

bashing the gps way of flying

Huh? Everyone loves & uses GPS, to the point where
they are home-brewing their own instrument approaches.

Oops. Did I say that out loud?

Anyways, there is nothing wrong with GPS. You would
be a fool to not have a handheld GPS. I might humbly
suggest the following procedure, though, just in case
it goes blank:

1) push on the rudder pedals until the "bearing to wpt"
and "track made good" are the same.

2) write down your resulting heading (bonus points
for a heading bug) and wpt ETA from the GPS.

See, if you can remember to do both of the above,
if the GPS goes blank, all you have to do is:

A) continue to hold your heading

B) look down at your ETA

Navigation is like plumbing. There's a lot to it, but
you can learn it all in one day.

[THEICEMAN]

The garmin 430 is awsome! IFR position reports are super easy now. No need to calculate time over with Map, E6B & Timer......Press FLP button & it's all there

[Etienne]

Wow, that was unexpected!

Forgive me, we're a bit behind the times here... There isn't a single GPS approach defined. There are no DGPS or other accuracy enhancements available for aviation. GPS does not even get mentioned in our syllabus. Well, as of the 1st Jan 2008 it may be mentioned as the whole syllabus was "updated".

As a result, many full-scale wars have been waged here, with many pilots denouncing them as evil death-traps, preaching relentlessly about the weaknesses and the fallibility of the system. They have a point, but if you understand the pitfalls, and take appropriate measures to ensure you're not caught out, then I don't see a problem.

I think there is definite merit in teaching a PPL student to use a map properly, and to send them on cross-countries without a gps. However, once the can prove the can do without one they should then be taught to use a gps properly. In my opinion, the increase in safety and awareness having a gps onboard is undeniable.

It should never be used to replace proper flight planning, which is a real temptation and I think that this is the cause for concern with many of the "old-school" anti-gps pilots.

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not going to get shot for using a gps

[Hedley]

Weird. Everyone here uses GPS, both VFR and IFR.

GPS standalone approaches are commonplace,
as is the practice of overlaying existing approaches
with GPS.

Handheld units are VFR only, for IFR use a TSO'd
panel-mount unit is required, and there is paperwork
for the installation, but like a divorce, IFR GPS is
expensive but worth it.

ATC is surprised when you're IFR without an
approved GPS, and you have to turn down
direct when you are hundreds, if not thousands
of miles from your destination.

Those that have to fly IFR without a panel-mount
IFR GPS will almost always have a VFR-only panel
mount GPS in the cockpit. Gotta love that moving
map & data for situational awareness.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/gener ... /Part6.htm

[Chuck Ellsworth]

As a result, many full-scale wars have been waged here, with many pilots denouncing them as evil death-traps, preaching relentlessly about the weaknesses and the fallibility of the system. They have a point, but if you understand the pitfalls, and take appropriate measures to ensure you're not caught out, then I don't see a problem.

I have been using GPS since it first became available for airplane navigation in from the most basic hand held to the RNS in the Boeing767 and the few minutes of failure I have had were no real problem as far as knowing where I was and where I was going to.

As a matter of interest to Etienne I used GPS as my primary means of navigation in 26 different African countries and only had one runway not where the GPS showed it to be...Bamaco Mali ( it was a software error )

[Etienne]

I've had a couple of failures... One was software bug where pushing Goto then Enter caused the GPS to reboot, and the other is pretty much anytime I'm within 500m of a power-line (final approach to Baragwaneth!) it goes haywire.

I'm prepared for it going blank on me whenever I fly, and thankfully it's never been a real problem! Doesn't mean it won't fail when I really need it though, and that's why I have a paper map, a stopwatch and a compass!