Marzipan
Well-known member
it's a literal perfect storm giving little chance to fly here...bad weather and horrible geography.
it's usually raining (240 days / year, historically), always a breeze, if not actually windy and due to how small our city is, the three no-fly zones from our municipal airport, hospital helipad and waterfront aerodrome / heliport, pretty much cover all of the city. we have an MAAC recognized site, whos location really confused me as it's within the 1 nautical mile no-fly zone around the hospital helipad; literally a stones throw away (50m). then I learned about exceptions for clubs with MAAC approved fields, unless there is flight activity. it's a small area though, just over 100m x 100m. there are several other sites around the same size...but all within said no-fly zones. I wonder if a club can have more than one approved / recognized site.
horrible geography as the city is on the north side of an island where everything not developed is mountain or forested. the two clear spots outside the no-fly zones are the municipal dump and a dept. of hwy gravel pit, so not an option either. going inland, the next MAAC site is a 4.5 hour drive and everything in between is steep valley walls of costal mountains with the bottom being taken up by the width of the Skeena river, which if you didn't know was a river, would think is a lake it's so wide.
so bah humbug, LoL!
how do you cope? I thought of UMX and gymnasiums, but the schools have been told no non-school events because of COVID. they want to avoid the hassle / costs of all the extra measures needed to clean up and sanitize / sterilize once they're over. I also have the impression there is something of a rift between the NCRCF and the city administration, so access to their gym / civic facilities and such are unlikely. and the golf club that hugs the edge of Mt. Hays is entirely covered by the hospital helipad zone too. Lol!
so, between work / life / weather and ballpark being free, there is not much opportunity to fly.
it's usually raining (240 days / year, historically), always a breeze, if not actually windy and due to how small our city is, the three no-fly zones from our municipal airport, hospital helipad and waterfront aerodrome / heliport, pretty much cover all of the city. we have an MAAC recognized site, whos location really confused me as it's within the 1 nautical mile no-fly zone around the hospital helipad; literally a stones throw away (50m). then I learned about exceptions for clubs with MAAC approved fields, unless there is flight activity. it's a small area though, just over 100m x 100m. there are several other sites around the same size...but all within said no-fly zones. I wonder if a club can have more than one approved / recognized site.
horrible geography as the city is on the north side of an island where everything not developed is mountain or forested. the two clear spots outside the no-fly zones are the municipal dump and a dept. of hwy gravel pit, so not an option either. going inland, the next MAAC site is a 4.5 hour drive and everything in between is steep valley walls of costal mountains with the bottom being taken up by the width of the Skeena river, which if you didn't know was a river, would think is a lake it's so wide.
so bah humbug, LoL!
how do you cope? I thought of UMX and gymnasiums, but the schools have been told no non-school events because of COVID. they want to avoid the hassle / costs of all the extra measures needed to clean up and sanitize / sterilize once they're over. I also have the impression there is something of a rift between the NCRCF and the city administration, so access to their gym / civic facilities and such are unlikely. and the golf club that hugs the edge of Mt. Hays is entirely covered by the hospital helipad zone too. Lol!
so, between work / life / weather and ballpark being free, there is not much opportunity to fly.
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