Vanderhoof residents are invited to learn more about their local airport this Saturday while participating in free family activities.
The Vanderhoof Airport will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 for ‘Airport Day’.
Among the activities planned are a by-donation barbecue lunch, a SkydiveBC parachute drop, and a touch-and-go demo by local pilots in various aircraft.
“Most people don’t know it’s there and the critical component for the airport in Vanderhoof is the medevac capacity, and that’s something that we’re talking about trying to make the airport a regional airport rather than a municipal airport because it does actually serve the whole of the regional district,” said Paul Collard, President of the Vanderhoof Airport Development Society.
“Medevacs from Fort St James, Fraser Lake, Fort Fraser even as far as Burns Lake come to Vanderhoof because we have an airport with better facilities and technical capacity for those aircraft to land here.”
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Numerous improvements have been made over the year, including work on the airport apron and taxiways as well as the crack sealing of the runway, Collard said.
There is currently a big push for toilet facilities to be installed at the airport, although the District of Vanderhoof will be supplying portable washrooms for the day.
An ‘Airport Day’ was held in 2019, attracting many people despite the rainy weather. This year, it will serve as an opportunity for the public to take a behind-the-scenes look of their local airport and as a substitute for the Vanderhoof International Airshow that was postponed until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses and organizations based at the Vanderhoof Airport will also be available to answer questions. A few of those include Guardian Aerospace and RDS Aviation that Collard said provide maintenance service to aircraft from across northern B.C.
“Airport Day is a way of keeping the airport on top of people’s minds and actually showing what happens up there,” Collard said.
“It’s a very valuable part of the municipality. It’s not a place for boys with their toys as a lot of people think. It’s an integral part of our economy and especially the medical system.”
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