Boundary Bay Airport

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Boundary Bay Airport[1]
IATA: YDT - ICAO: CZBB
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Alpha Aviation Inc.
Serves		Delta, British Columbia
Elevation AMSL		5 ft (1.5 m)
Coordinates		49°04′27″N, 123°00′44″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
07/25	3,540	1,079	Asphalt
12/30	3,755	1,145	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft Movements			185,716[2]

Boundary Bay Airport (IATA: YDT, ICAO: CZBB) is located beside Boundary Bay in Delta, British Columbia, Canada, south of Vancouver and close to the U.S. border. The airport, which opened 11 July 1983, serves mostly general aviation and includes facilities for aircraft maintenance, flight training, parking, and Air traffic control training. Boundary Bay is Canada's fifth busiest airport by total aircraft movements, and the busiest airport by number of circuits. From this, Boundary Bay is often cited as Canada's busiest "training airport".

Due to the proximity of Vancouver International Airport, Boundary Bay hosts no scheduled passenger service, though charters frequently fly out of Boundary Bay, and many smaller airlines use Boundary Bay's maintenance facilities.

[edit] Flight training

There are several organizations that offer flight training at the airport:

• Montair Aviation
• Pacific Flying Club
• Professional Flight Centre
• Canadian Flight Centre

[edit] History

The main hangar at Boundary Bay is the only original structure left from the RCAF base.

After the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan came into effect in 1939, the Royal Canadian Air Force began looking for locations at which to train pilots for World War II. Boundary Bay was selected, and in 1940, land from three farms was appropriated for an airport. Initial construction proceeded slowly as boggy areas had to be filled with hay and gravel, but gravel roads and runways were in place for the base's opening on April 10, 1941. The 18 Elementary Flight Training School was the first unit established at the newly created Royal Canadian Air Force Station Boundary Bay. Flying De Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes, the 18 EFTS's training arrangements were unique in that air force pilots were trained by private civilian instructors. Pilots would train in conjunction with the 8 EFTS stationed at Sea Island (current site of Vancouver International Airport) and would also use facilities at the nearby Langley Airport. On May 25, 1942, the 18 EFTS was disbanded and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 5 Operational Training which ran flight operations at Abbotsford as well.

Boundary Bay's first operational squadron arrived from Lethbridge, Alberta on October 5, 1943. The 133 squadron flew Hawker Hurricanes and was tasked with intercepting Japanese fire balloons. The 133 was moved to Tofino, on July 1, 1943. As the war in the Pacific escalated, Boundary Bay would also host B-24 Liberators and Handley Page Hampden torpedo bombers. After World War II, the airport was no longer needed. The 5 Operational Training unit left the base on October 31, 1945, and the RCAF decommissioned the base in 1946.

Boundary Bay's control tower handles the busiest airport circuit in the country.

The site was left unused until it was transferred to Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in 1949. Re-established as the Vancouver Wireless Station, the site operated radio equipment for communication and gathering signals intelligence. When the Canadian Forces were unified in 1968, the site was renamed Canadian Forces Station Ladner. The downsizing associated with unification would soon hit CFS Ladner, and in 1971 it was permanently closed.

Following the closure of CFS Ladner, the site was used by the community of Ladner for picnics, public fairs and auto racing. When it became apparent that Vancouver International Airport could no longer sustain general aviation and commercial traffic, Transport Canada proposed reactivating Boundary Bay for general aviation. The airport underwent restoration, and on July 11, 1983 two of the three runways were reopened as Boundary Bay Airport. The other runway and some ramp space was made available for driver training and other events.

Since 1983, the airport has changed hands several times. Most recently, Alpha Aviation acquired the airport on December 1, 2004 and assumed management. In May 2005, the Boundary Bay Driving Centre, which had been using some of the abandoned runways since 1998, was told it could no longer use the airport on the grounds that driving activities were a violation of Alpha Aviation's lease, which is currently held by the City of Delta. Previously, the Driving Centre, had, with two RCMP officers, conducted street racing in a high profile event. Alpha Aviation has completed extending runway 07/25, at great expence to the owners, as well as over $600,000 from the provincial government. This has greatly improved the usability of the runway for corporate jets, which are expected to utilize the airport during the 2010 olympic games, held in Vancouver and Whister. Currently a new maintenance hangar is in the end stages of completion and the old maintenance hangar has been declared a heritage site. Plans are in the works to convert the old hangar into an aviation museum.

[edit] References

1. ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 15 March 2007 to 0901Z 10 May 2007.
2. ^ Transport Canada TP 1496 - Preliminary aircraft statistics 2006

• Airport Authority Website
• Bruce Forsyth's Military History Page
• Street racing no longer permitted CBC

[edit] External links

• Boundary Bay Airport Official Site
• Page about this airport on COPA's Places to Fly airport directory