Slave Lake Airport on Par with Cities?

November 10, 2003

Airport on Par with Cities?
M. Partington-Richer
Slave Lake Lakeside Leader, Canada

Planes flying into the Slave Lake airport could be taking a decidedly more
direct and quicker route in coming months if the Airport Commission
decides to spend $30,000 on a GPS (global positioning system) approach
next year.
So says Airport manager Ken Skahl who explains the new system is based on
satellites, and uses ‘points in space’ to help pilots guide their planes
onto the runway.
The new system would allow aircraft to fly in with much lower ‘cloud
ceilings’ and remove the need for planes to first get a reading from the
beacon at the airport, then fly out about seven miles to set up a landing
approach.
The GPS system would be a boon to pilots in many ways, says pilot Ken Kehoe.
He often flies medivac planes for Slave Air. “It’d be big boost for us and
the community.
“Time is definitely a factor,” he says. So is fuel consumption and traffic
congestion.
Unless it’s a perfectly clear day, planes currently flying into this
airport are obliged to fly over the beacon at the airport to set up their
approach, then backtrack at least seven miles to begin that approach.
The GPS system uses ‘way points’, and for certified planes, it’d simply
mean drawing a bead on the closest ‘way point’ and flying straight into
the airport.
“It’s like cross-hairs on a gun,” says the pilot. And whereas pilots
currently need 600 feet of space between clouds and the runway to land,
the new system would allow them to land with just 250 or 300 feet of
‘space’.
On the other end of the scale, says Kehoe, “if there’s a stiff wind
blowing from the east we have to approach from the opposite end and have
1,200 feet.
“With GPS we could land at 300 feet from either side of the runway.”
The decision rests on the community’s Airport Commission that’s made up of
councillors from both the Town and the Municipal District of Lesser Slave
River and members at large. It’s currently headed up by Karl Gongos.
He says the decision on capital spending also comes with guidance from the
Town and the M.D. the two bodies that contribute to the airport’s capital
budget.
The Commission has many things to consider as it makes its call, says
Gongos, not the least of which is the well being of residents in the
region – and the fact that “there were 12 times the past year that the
medivac plane could not land.”
At this point the GPS is an unplanned expense, he explains, and spending
the money on GPS will mean other spending will have to be delayed.
Capital expenditures on the drawing board could include building a new
terminal building, the purchase of a snowplow truck or sweeper, lighting
or runway upgrades.
“And we’d have to consider if we do this, what is there down the line that
we don’t do?” If powers that be ultimately decide to purchase the new
system, Gongos said it could be in place in as little as three months.
The move was prompted when the operators of the current system “went belly
up.
“We’re now on a tentative basis and have to decide if we (should ) spend
money on an obsolete system, or spend a little more money and get modern
technology that’s going to last us 20 years.”
He says the Commission could make its decision as early as January.
Bottom line, he says, “Slave Lake provides the major air ambulance service
for northern Alberta, and we want as friendly skies as we can get.”



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