MTO Airports

[AEROMONKEY]

Hi, I was looking for some info on the MTO Northern Airports in Ontario. I'm interested in some honest comments on the facilities, staff, winter maintenance etc. ....which ones are good/Bad or need improvement.

Thanks for your help!

feel free to PM me if you like.

[glorifieddriver]

There is gravel and trees! Lots of trees! Some places have a bathroom!

[flyinhigh]

Ever since the outhouse in sachigo was replaced, all the airports are nice.

[lownslow]

Aeromonkey, are you planning on flying there or are you involved with the MTO and have the power to change things?

If flying there, the reserve airports of northern Ontario that I've flown to are all fundamentally the same; at least 3450' of gravel, decently lit, single apron and just a single spur of a taxiway leading to it. Year round maintenance is excellent, these places are often the only connection to the outside world. Still, try to be observant for deep tire ruts, I've seen the shoulders and thresholds get pretty soft and I wouldn't want to taxi through that mess myself lest I get stuck. They'll be talking about it for years on Avcanada if I ever get stuck.

I figure it's pretty important to be right on profile when landing if you're flying anything remotely hot, the best fix for a screw up is to go around. If anyone asks just say you thought you saw a fox on the runway. I basically never grease it on up there since I figure any runway floated past is unavailable for braking, but at the same time I'm not out to tear the landing gear off my machine or to startle my passengers. A good 'Klomp' like Porter does into YTZ (minus all the reverse, don't hate on your poor props!) is what I aim for and I often don't even have to touch the brakes or go aggressively into beta to get stopped in a reasonable distance.

There are usually two pads on the apron, either concrete or brick, which are there to save your props, not for a smooth surface to step out on. I always feel like a dick parking on them if I'm going to be there all day but for a quick turn I go for it. Don't let the guys from the local airlines tell you they own those pads, I've yet to see proof. If staying all day, the MTO buildings are sometimes available to book a day stay. Sometimes the guys at the MTO won't let you in either because someone else booked it first or because they didn't bother to clean the place. If the former, just make friends with whoever has it booked, I always let other crews in but YMMV. A lot of the time you won't see the MTO guy all day and I have no idea if anyone gets billed when that happens. Whatever. There are also plug-ins available if you need them but be sure to bring long cords. They also have terminals but honestly if that's your only choice just hang out in your plane.

When you go to leave, be sure to sweep out under your props (because don't hate on your props) and I'm pretty cautious of using any reverse at all because again, I like my propellers. If it's hot out I'll pick whatever seems the better option of a downhill or upwind departure if either one of those things is significant. If it's night time, treat all departures as IFR regardless of cloud cover and visibility. Even if the numbers say you should be able to see stuff, there's nothing to see. Please don't become a statistic over this one and if you're shouting at your screen calling me an idiot for this, at least accept that your one job on departure is to go up and to not hit stuff.

tl;dr: they're generally pretty decent.

Hope that helps someone at least.

[FOD_Vacuum]

MTO's in general lack pilot facilities. Heck, most terminals do too. Every time I land, I feel like I have to knock on a door or two in order to access a phone to close my flight plans. Some of the guys welcome you in, but most are grumpy and seem offended that you ask to use their phone, let alone ask to sit in the only warm place within a 300 mile radius when its -40 out. If they are grumpy up the walls, they will let you know by throwing a $55 bill towards you which I gladly forward to my chief pilot. The staff generally work around their own time. Runways have always been plowed, however. I'd say about 70% of the time they reply on the ATF frequency if you are inbound, so make sure there are no yellow vehicles on runway prior to landing, so be cautious. If you buddy up with some in Northern Ontario, next time you pop in, they may have some free caribou meat for you.

[cdnpilot77]

A box of doughnuts or a bucket of KFC go a long way in the goodwill towards future bookings/charges

[cdnpilot77]

Ps. The MTO's were always relatively clean, which is a far cry from the terminals.

The ramps were for the most part in pretty good condition but always the last places to be plowed...Andy was especially good at leaving pretty good hedgerows of snow after a big snowfall at the taxiway by the terminal.

[upintheair_]

edited

[goingnowherefast]

If you think Pikangikum is bad, you need to try some of the fishing lodge strips. Yeah there might be some grass growing around the lights, but at least it's not like riding a roller coaster with puddles big enough to make you wonder if you should have brought floats.

[FOD_Vacuum]

Try landing at Gunisao Lake (CJK2). The runway is barely maintained, there is a bend in it and the runway is smaller than the width of your wings. Tons of ruts and boulders in the way. Another one, Fishing Lake lodge is pretty much a sandpit with bushes growing on the runway. Anyway, back on topic. Kasabonika is nice. I was there today talking to the two lads who are up there for a week clearing the runway edges up nice and good. Seemed like less than a year old?

[boogs82]

If you think Pikangikum is bad, you need to try some of the fishing lodge strips. Yeah there might be some grass growing around the lights, but at least it's not like riding a roller coaster with puddles big enough to make you wonder if you should have brought floats.

As a passenger in a PC12 a few times going into Pikangikum, I've never found it that bad really. Better than some of the "asphalt" strips I've landed on.

[goingnowherefast]

If you think Pikangikum is bad, you need to try some of the fishing lodge strips. Yeah there might be some grass growing around the lights, but at least it's not like riding a roller coaster with puddles big enough to make you wonder if you should have brought floats.

As a passenger in a PC12 a few times going into Pikangikum, I've never found it that bad really. Better than some of the "asphalt" strips I've landed on.

I was trying to say that the Pikangikum runway is not bad. It isn't the best strip in the north, but it's far from being the worst.

[FighterPilot]

The main problem with Pikangikum isn't the runway it's the small ramp. Never fun on a court day trying to maneuver a 748 on the ramp with two King Airs, Navajoes and both Wasaya and Perimeter running a sched through there.