eae —

i

TERRACE — It’s not
L.A. International, but
the Terrace Airport has
grown with the prospering
of surrounding North-
western communities, and
has succeeded to provide a
reliable, important service
to their residents.

by Philip Musselman

- Since its beginnings the
Airport has evolved with
its surroundings and has

continued to keep the area

in touch with the rest of
the province. The absence
of this facility would mean
that people would have to
travel to Prince Rupert or
Smithers in order to fly to
their destinations. In ef-
fect the airplane and the
train are the nerve center
of life in B.C.’s northern
communities.

Long ago, in 1933 the
first plane landed in the
meadows of Frank’s Dairy

Farm. The plane was forc- .

ed to make an emergency

formerly a

Doug Thom,
passenger agent at OP Airin
Terrace, is now based in Van-
couver.

stop, instead of continu-
ing on to Prince Rupert.
After this incident air traf-
fic through Terrace was
very infrequent. In 1943
the construction of the
Terrace Airport, for its
use in the Department of
National Defence’s route
‘between Vancouver and
Prince Rupert, brought

more and more aviation

Helicopters,

Terace Review - Wednesday, Pebrusiy 4 1987

Ai rport g ro ws .

into the community.

' After the war, in 1946
control of the facility was
transferred to the Depart-
ment of Transport, a tem-
porary day license was
issued and over a year
later a permanent license
was received,

In 1951 after the begin-
ning of the Kitimat Alcan
project, Canadian Pacific
Airlines began a scheduled
service at the airport. The
facility received licensing
for night operation in
1956, and in 1958 it
became a customs port of
entry. .

Upgrading to mainlin-
ing status occurred during
1957 to 1959. With more
and more traffic coming
through the area, it was no
surprise in 1968 when a
new air terminal building
was constructed, and later
in 1974 the main runway
was rebuilt. The last major
maintenance project at the
airport was the main run-
way resurfacing i in 1975.

The airport is equipped

today with three runways: .

the main runway, 1533, is

6000 ft. long and 200 ft.

wide while the other two
runways, 0321 and 0927,
are approximately 5500 ft.
long and 200 ft. wide.
Housing services like C.P.
Air, Pacific Western
Airlines, Terrace Air,
Northern Mountain
and
Okanagan Helicopters the
facility is prepared for
almost any requirement.
The charter companies

which complement the

scheduled flights of P. W.
and C.P. Air offer ser-
vices of a more private
nature. Helicopters and
smaller aircraft are
available for smailer
passenger needs and the
hauling of freight to other
communities.

Okanagan . Helicopters
is one of the largest
chartering companies for
this type of transport in
Canada. At the airport
Okanagan provides two
Bell 206B, four passenger

of snowmobiling. _ r

Winter. itione In the Terrace: area this year have ‘olven. |
mariy.local residents the opportunity to enloy the @ pleasures

Weathermen Dan Morrison, left, and George Blakey provide
local residents with hourly foracasts from the Terrace air-
port.

Tom Laurla, manager with CP Air in Terrace, converses with
company security agents Diane Moroskat (left) and Elaine

Ippel.

helicopters all the time,

while other machines can
be brought in as required.
Up. to a 26 passenger

machine can be supplied.

for larger jobs. The com-
pany makes its. head-
quarters in Vancouver,
but has offices throughout
the province. The Terrace
office does some work for
Alcan and other compan-
ies in the area, -while it also
provides a service for
passengers on demand.

Northern Moutain
Helicopters is another
charter business which has
contracts with area com-
panies as well. This
organization supplies two
Bell 206B Jet Rangers, for
the movement ‘of
passengers and freight.
The company can also
supply a Hughs 500 four
passenger machine which;
although it has the same
passenger capacity-as the
Jet Ranger it can carry a

larger load. For even.

larger. jobs a _ fourteen
passenger Bell 205 can be
acquired.
Mountain has a main of-
fice in Prince George, and

‘Northern

dary

AN es

several other branches in
the Northwest.
Terrace Air is a plane

_ charter service which

operates at the airport
with two twin engine
Cessna 402 planes that
carry 7 passengers each; a

‘Cessna 337, five passenger

plane; an amphibious
Cessna 206 three seater;
and’ a Cessna 206 four
passenger model, The

company has chartered _
and scheduled, national

and international services

and deals in both passen-

gers and freight.
The airport facility also

accommodates local or-

ganizations with the Fly-

ing Club where various -

social gatherings are held,
and the new addition of
the Air Cadets building
which houses offices and
an auditorium for Cadet

events.

With the wide range of

needs that can be filled,

Terrace residents are able

to keep in touch with the

rest of the country and
other B.C. communities
by either travel or speedy
mail and freight options.

Ron Marleau, right, and Grant Casper are employed as cargo

agents with CP Air in Terrace.

f area

ioe snowmobite is a popular Ww