By Andrea Arnold
Stieg Hoeg attended the McBride Council meeting on March 26 in person to present his findings regarding the Charlie Leake airport.
Stieg Hoeg, Accredited Airport Executive and former Prince George Airport General Manager, has created an 800 page legal legislative review to ensure the Charlie Leake airport in McBride is doing what it should be doing as a part of the Village’s ongoing Airport improvement project. He also conducted an operations review and a site review, and spoke to several community members.
He said that he worked to provide options to keep the airport functioning within its requirements, but at the same time, not adding more work to anyone’s schedule and staying within the law.
He wrote up an airports manual that covers the basics, the requirements of certification, and a very high overview of operation.
Hoeg said that an important aspect of the airport is a clear information flow. By providing a clear picture everyone who uses the airport will know what they can expect at the airport. He had a meeting with village administration so that they were clear as to what the expectations are for staff, as well as community members. He then created an up to date operations manual, and went through the document with the Public Works crew.
Hoeg spoke to airport users and told Council he thinks the airport could be left as-is, with a few adjustments.
He believes there is no need to extend the runway for fixed wing medi-vacs. Through discussion with pilots who say that due to the steep incline required to access the airport, they are unable to perform frequent takeoffs with a patient. The air ambulance sector is leaning heavily towards helicopter service.
As far as improvements, he spoke to Public Works Manager Brian Taphorn and the lights are being changed. Regarding the 1987-certified fuel system, Hoeg suggested it likely doesn’t meet modern environmental regulations. He told Economic Development Officer Karen Dube that the BC Airport Assistance Program may be able to help with, and in council meetings since the motion to proceed in this direction was passed at the Dec 12th meeting.
At that meeting, Council moved to support an application to the BC Air Access funding program for the McBride Charlie Leake Fuel System Enhancement Project, estimated to cost $599,780.40. A part of this direction also included the addition of a second tank for helicopter fuel that would allow for more rotary traffic to use the site.
He complimented the village staff and their willingness to work with him and hear his suggestions. He asked that council consider existing workloads, especially for the public works crew, before adding more airport responsibilities to their days.
He was surprised to hear that Spyder uses the airport to pick up McBride employees to travel to the US for business, that there are users that fly in for sledding or Tiger Moth stunt training, and a guy from PG that wants to build a hanger hotel.
Hoeg said that the flight path/GPS approach has been decommissioned. A GPS approach uses satellites and allows the approach to route around terrain before lining up with the runway.
“If it – flight path/GPS approach – is needed for industry, then industry should be the ones paying for it, not the Village,” he said.
He suggested that an airport advisory group be established to use the skills, ideas and interest available through users.
Underwing camping is an idea that he believes would bring more traffic to the airport. Hoeg says he knows of enthusiasts who fly over the Rocky Mountain Trench who would like to park for the night, and set up camp under the wing of their airplane, use facilities, splash their faces with water and refuel. The airport here could be primed for this set up, if facilities can be provided. This is something that could bring people in during the summer season. Although several people he talked to said that the runway needs re-paving, he looked at it and thinks it is good to go for another several years, even up to 10.
Hoeg does see a need for wildlife fencing, more to keep unauthorized people out than wildlife. He thinks there is provincial funding available that could help with the costs of re-fencing the area, and the people who have the hay contract for the field around the runway also said they would help with the fence installation.
The ditches could use some maintenance, but he does not recommend redigging them until the runway is redone completely.
He suggested that administrative staff get a tour of the airport once a year as orientation, or as a refresher. He also suggested that staff visit the Valemount airport to see the operation of an airport of similar size.
The discussion with councillors following his presentation one of the councillors brought out the idea of using the runway as a drag race location. CAO Jeanette McDougall said that she had recently received a call from someone asking if that was a possibility.
Hoeg said they have done that in previous years in Prince George, but that two things need to be addressed. The first is clear communication regarding the availability of the runway for aircraft, and the other is to clear time slots for possible landings. This may actually bring in more people to watch drag races, and provide a broader source of income.
