Flying Club sees big opportunities for Cold Lake

The Cold Lake Flying Club is looking to re-engage and take off again after a slowdown during COVID. 

Members from the club came to city council last Tuesday to update the municipality on what they’ve got happening right now, as well as their plans for the future. 

“One of the clubs main directives is to try and promote tourism,” said Vince Pinsky, the club president. 

Last summer, the Flying Club hosted the Alberta Air Tours at the Regional Airport, with help from the City and Chamber of Commerce. 

On Jun. 7, the hope is to hold a fly-in breakfast as well. Pinsky commented on the success in Lac La Biche of the Festival of Speed, a long standing event in the hamlet held on the lake, with skidoo races and outdoor activities, which many people from across the province and beyond fly-in for. 

He said hosting a similar event could be a big draw for the region. 

Airport experiencing similar problems with crime

However, one of the main points of the delegation was to talk about security issues at the airport. Six hangars have been broken into, four utility trailers have been stolen, as well as ATVs and tools. 

More serious though, is the potential of tampering with aircraft, which has also been seen, and is a federal offence. 

“Hangar owners have done the best they can do out there to shore up their facilities. Doors, windows with bars on them, and some alarm systems have been put in place. We’re doing everything we can do, but without help to secure the facility itself further, it’s hard to stop an axe coming through a door. And that happened just a couple weeks ago,” said Pinsky.  

Opportunities

Kirk Soroka, a former councillor, joined his fellow club members and talked about the economic opportunities that exist with the aerodrome. 

“An air terminal service within the aerodrome will deliver a service and make the community much closer to Edmonton and Calgary,” he said. “I would certainly support with all hands up in the air, to have a regional feeder that we could fly into Calgary, you check your bags here, you get on the plane, and you fly to Mexico.” 

The new national fighter jet, the F-35, also comes with significant opportunity, said Soroka. 

Whether that’s establishing a AME schoolhouse to further flight training, pursuing more commercial interests, or utilizing the space and the aerodrome that already exists, Soroka said Cold Lake is in a unique position to grow in the aviation industry. 

‘We have so much potential’

Mayor Craig Copeland said council received the delegation warmly.

In 2019, the City received a $1 million CATSA grant to assist with airport upgrades, in hopes of furthering commercial air development.

“It’s a little nugget that a lot of people don’t know about and the City has a lot of big plans out there. We’ve invested a lot of significant capital in there. But we do see this as an economic driver,” said Mayor Craig Copeland.

“What Kirk is talking about is eventually there’s a possibility is that some of those warehousing could be located at the regional airport. And so expanding that runway at Cen5 as he calls it, is on the top of the list, and we’re looking really to be honest with everybody is the provincial government needs to start investing in Cold Lake.

“We have so much potential here. We’re looking for the province to come in and things like runway extension, so there’s a lot of talk but now let’s see, you be a partner with the Canadian government on this massive infrastructure spend here in Cold Lake.”

To watch the delegation, begin at 32:50.