Group wants to expand so it can accommodate air ambulances
“I think the airport’s one of the biggest secrets around Woodstock,” said Matthew McLatchy during his presentation to Woodstock Town Council on Oct. 13. McLatchy is a member of the Woodstock Flying Association, which operates out of the Woodstock Municipal Airport.
McLatchy said people are often surprised to hear that Woodstock has an airport, despite its long history.
The airport was originally located on Woodstock’s Island Park. When the Mactaquac Dam was built and flooded the park, the airport moved in 1968 to 76 Airport Road, Newbridge, where it still operates today.
The town owns the land, and Woodstock Aviation Services maintains it.
“It’s a municipal airport,” explained McLatchy.
The property currently has 10 hangars housing 30 aircraft, 18 of which are flown regularly. Individuals built and own the hangars but lease the land from the town. If they no longer want to keep their hangar, they must either move it elsewhere or sell it, and the buyer would then take over the lease.
The airport earns the town some money.
“It’s not a whole lot, but it’s something. We’re not here for free,” said McLatchy, explaining that on top of what the town makes, association members also add value to the property: “Tens of thousands of dollars are put back into the airport every year by club members, in money, in work, in different ways. So we are invested in this airport. We are proud of it, and the association is definitely working towards making it better, keeping it as good as it is and making it better.”
The association has 35 members, 17 of whom live outside Woodstock. It’s home to Environment Canada’s weather station for the area, an RCMP fuel depot where their helicopter lands regularly during operations, a place that sells aviation fuel to the public, and two certified aircraft mechanics.
McLatchy estimated that around 300 aircraft visit a year, adding value through the spending out-of-town members and pilots do while visiting.
“I’ve met all kinds of people who have just showed up like, where can I put up my plane for the night? I’m here to visit my family,” said McLatchy. “It is used by people other than people here in Woodstock.”
McLatchy said that at their most recent fly-in event, over 500 people attended, with well over 100 planes flying in.
“A lot of people got to come out and see the airplanes fly around and it was a perfect day for it,” said McLatchy. “The leaves were just popping, the sky was blue with some nice clouds, and it wasn’t windy. So everybody had a really good time.”
The airport is one of three in New Brunswick that offer flight training. They have two flight training units for both private and commercial licenses. Both schools are busy enough that they don’t need to advertise. They are also working to set up an aviation program again with the local high school.
“We’re going to be working on putting together a night course for people who are interested in learning the driving school portion of the pilot’s license and continuing on that so that we give the children, the youth their chance to get into the air as well,” said McLatchy.
McLatchy says the association has big goals for the airport’s continued growth and improvement and wants the town’s support to help make it happen.
“While we have this airport and it works very well the way it is, there are ways that we could make this airport better, and there are ways that we can really improve the services to the town,” McLatchy said.
The association’s biggest goal is to upgrade the airport to accommodate air ambulances. To do that, they would need to extend the runway, add a full perimeter fence, upgrade the lighting and instrument approach, and add dedicated ambulance access.
“We can get most of that done, but the big cost item there is the asphalt. We currently have 2,000 feet of pavement. We have room for about 5,000 feet of pavement, but we’d like to have 3,000 feet of pavement,” said McLatchy.
He asked the town to consider doing the work in more manageable pieces over a few years rather than all at once, suggesting they start by paving 500 feet this year and then another 500 in a couple of years. Meanwhile, they can look at installing better lighting.
As they continue to upgrade, they could also look into making the airport a border crossing point where pilots can clear customs, with supported hangars and taxi facilities.
“We understand that this isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight,” said McLatchy, “but in order for it to happen, we need to do something. We need to start with this and then do the next step.”
