U.S Airspace issue resolved.

Canadian GA and business aircraft can again take shortcuts over U.S. airspace on their way to Canadian destinations. The FAA has amended a NOTAM issued a couple of weeks ago that made such overflights illegal without special security measures. As we reported last week, the NOTAM, apparently issued at the request of the TSA, cancelled the decades-long agreement between the two countries that allowed Canadian aircraft to transit U.S. airspace without security or Customs requirements. The NOTAM caught authorities and groups on both sides of the border by surprise and caused some major headaches for private and commercial operators who had to take long detours around the U.S. border or risk interception by U.S. authorities. It was apparently all a mistake but one that took two weeks to resolve, said Canadian Owners and Pilots Association President Bernard Gervais. "The subsequent 15 days required relentless discussions and communications between COPA, AOPA, IAOPA, Canadian Business Aviation Association, Air Transport Association of Canada, FAA, Transport Canada, and more," Gervais said. "This event was apparently an oversight, a mistake and unfortunately normal protocol between TSA/FAA and our Transport Canada Civil Aviation Security was skipped or forgotten." Gervais said the matter has been a learning experience on both sides of the border. "COPA received assurance that such an event would not repeat itself without proper coordination," he said. "Canadian and U.S. staff pulled together in an amazing collaboration to resolve this issue."

Live Web Cam: Delta Heritage Air Park (CAK3)

Greetings All,

Winter seems to have me flying a bit less, so adventures are somewhat limited. During this cabin fever season I came across the link to the Delta Heritage Air Park Live Webcam which I had heard about forever, but never got around to actually checking out.


The link is below. To use it, follow the instructions. It's very easy.

Click the "remember log-in" button so you don't have to fill in the log-in info every time you want to use it.

This webcam is a very handy tool to let you know what the conditions are like at CAK3. A great thing to check if you're headed to the pancake breakfast, a fly-in, or meeting friends there before heading out on an adventure of your own.

http://www.deltaheritageairpark.org/videoCam.html

If there's a grey Mazda 3 parked next to the RAA hangar, that will usually mean that I'm there, or airborne.

The Webcam is mounted to the building that houses Mary's Place (Coffee shop) and is pointed North. In view you can see the fuel pumps, the windsock, and the RAA hangar on which the windsock is mounted.

The RAA hangar, as well as the paved taxiway running across the webcam view in the foreground are roughly aligned with the grass runway (25/07). The white picket fence aligns approximately perpendicular to that. This is a good tool for judging the conditions at CAK3, and you can get good idea of the crosswind component, but obviously decisions to land in any sort of adverse conditions lie solely with the PIC. Just sayin'.

While we wait for Spring to arrive, feel free to pass along any tools or pieces of knowledge that we can post here to help make 2016 a safe and enjoyable year for us all.

Happy winter flying!

Cheers,

David M