In Episode #29 – Porpoising, Flying in Canada, & OpenAirplane we first talked quite extensively about flying general aviation aircraft into Canada, customs, regulations, and Canadian TSA to name a few. After a recent flight to Ottawa (CYOW), Victoria added her experiences to the Canadian flying discussion in SMAC056 – Broken Airplanes, Over-Flight Permits, Pre-Flight Oversight, & Pathfinding Expeditions.
After airing SMAC056 we received listener mail that added some additional advice, tips, and information about the local Ottawa area. Today, we share with you those comments, titled “For your next visit to Ottawa, try CYRO.”
First, I wanted to congratulate you all for having such an enjoyable show to listen to on a regular basis. Really a pleasure for my commute to and back from work.
Living in Ottawa, ON, Canada, I found your recent podcast [SMAC056] very interesting. I wanted to add a few comments to your discussion for future trips to the Canadian capital. In summary, next time you plan to come to Ottawa, try CYRO (Rockcliffe Airport) instead of CYOW. CYRO is an uncontrolled field located 10 minutes away with a cab ride from downtown.
There are no landing fees at CYRO (the only thing to remember is that the circuit for 27 is with right turns, and we don’t do entries at 45 degrees downwind in Canada). The field itself is managed by the Rockcliffe Flying Club www.rfc.ca, a great club with passionate aviators like yourselves, and there is a mechanic on the field.
As pointed out during the show, the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum is also located at CYRO. The great thing is that you can actually fly into CYRO to go and visit the museum (just call ahead so that Unicom can make sure you can get into the museum).
Regarding custom clearances, you can only do it at CYRO if you have CANPASS. I would recommend stopping in Kingston or other airports close to the border without landing fees to clear customs and the continue your wait to Ottawa if you want to avoid the high costs of Ottawa International.