Goderich's Deputy mayor says Transport Canada has handed them an unreasonable deadline tp comply with an order from to correct a problem at the airport.
John Grace says trees across the highway from the airport are obscuring the landing approach on some of the runways.
But Grace says that information was contained in a document that was submitted to the Ministry in 2006.
Grace says if they don't comply, instrument landing would not be permitted at the airport.
Council will meet with some of the users of the airport later this morning to set a course of action.
Trees and debris around and near the Goderich Airport may have to be cut back.
It was brought to council's attention last night that the Airport is in desperate need of an inspection to see if all operation is up to date.
Without an inspection soon, planes flying in and out of the airport may be grounded.
Clerk-Administrator Larry McCabe says Transport Canada used to be in charge of the inspections, but the town is now involved in approving a company to check out the airport.
He says there are many other airports in smaller communities that are dealing with the same problem.
McCabe says in this case, there may be trees or other structures that are too close to the runway and they'll need to be removed or trimmed back.
The town will now contact a company to carry out the inspection and make any changes to keep the airport operating.
Any airport that has trees growing nearby
has this problem. At our small airport, every
few years a guy comes out with a transit and
tells us which trees need to be trimmed to
keep the instrument approaches valid.
It's not a big deal, really. Cutting down trees
really isn't all that hard, and most places, there
is someone who will appreciate the free firewood.
It's right up there with mowing the grass and
plowing snow - all normal parts of operating
and maintaining an airport in Canada.
Kind of my point ... how do the trees get to be so big, so suddenly, that TC would hand them an "unreasonable deadline" ... especially considering the information was in a document from 2006?
Don't airports have somebody watching to make sure trees near runways are taken care of before BEFORE they become a problem?
The problem We had at my hometown airport is that the Trees which needed trimming were on residential property, and the house owners refuesd to trim them. We ended up having to downgrade the category of approach (an NDB, I don't think it affected min's at all)
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Widow wrote:Kind of my point ... how do the trees get to be so big, so suddenly, that TC would hand them an "unreasonable deadline" ... especially considering the information was in a document from 2006?
Don't airports have somebody watching to make sure trees near runways are taken care of before BEFORE they become a problem?
In the second article you posted, it says that Goderich was supposed to get a company to look at the airport and assess the trees, or at least that's how I interpreted it. Perhaps because they took too long to find such a company Transport needed to step in?
I was last in Goderich in July and I didn't notice any abnormally high trees around the airport. Weird.
The trees in question are on private property, not the airport's. The township can't force the landowners to cut them down. At the moment we have 1 runway closed, as far as I know. It's gonna hurt the company I work for. This aught to be interesting.
Generally when you have trees growing up,
what happens is that until they are cut, you
can't fly the affected instrument approach.
I didn't think Goderich really had that much
IFR traffic ...
Also, what may happen as the trees grow is
that the runway threshold may have to be
displaced (eg moved 500 feet forward) which
generally involves some white paint, and perhaps
unscrewing some light bulbs, or more likely
restricting the runway to day only VFR use.
Again this is a nuisance, but technically shortening
a runway at one end should not be a crisis.
Worst case, the runway may lose it's certification
by Transport. However, you can still land on it.
There is no regulation that states that aircraft
may ONLY land and take off from certificated
runways (!!). If there was, I would be at the
Tribunal even more often than I am now, because
I land on grass runways, frozen lakes, etc etc
all the time. Heck I used to land on my uncle's
alfalfa field early in the season.
Isn't it peculiar how so many pilots seem to think
that aircraft are only capable of operating off of
bare, dry certified pavement runways?
I was based out of Goderich for a few years, flying cargo.
There is a fair amount of traffic into/out of the airport, as there is an aircraft painting company based there and they get lots of business from the US, which means a fair amount of medium to large corporate jets come in and out of Goderich in a regular basis. I don't know if the warbirds that come to Goderich to get painted file IFR, but I bet the jets do.
Shortening Goderich's main runway would be a pain in the ass - as it is, the runway is only 5,000' long, which can make for some interesting jet departures on a hot summer's day. To shorten it to 4,500' or less will only add to the excitement, and it could very well prevent some larger jets from being able to land there for painting. Thus the aircraft painting company (Sky Harbour Aircraft Refinishing) will lose business, which has a trickle-down effect for the whole town, as besides the Sifto salt mine and a small factory that makes road graders for Volvo, Sky Harbour Aircraft Refinishing is one of the largest employers in the entire town.
The trees are the least of your worries in Goderich .. Try the wind farm just east when its 300 feet and snowing , I need a new map
LOL
KE
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