Wanted: Club Membership Clubs in St. John’s, NL?

[Matt]

I know... this is Pilots of AMERICA and I am asking about Canada... I was just hoping someone here may have some insight. It looks like I’ll be moving to St. John’s for a few years and I am struggling to find anything online about flying clubs or rentals there. It seems pretty straightforward to convert my FAA cert to Canadian, but I can’t seem to find a plane to rent closer than Gander (3.5 hrs drive away it looks like). Any pireps on the GA scene in St. John’s or nearby? I would hate to not fly during my 2-3 years there...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Brad Z]

I know... this is Pilots of AMERICA and I am asking about Canada... I was just hoping someone here may have some insight. It looks like I’ll be moving to St. John’s for a few years and I am struggling to find anything online about flying clubs or rentals there. It seems pretty straightforward to convert my FAA cert to Canadian, but I can’t seem to find a plane to rent closer than Gander (3.5 hrs drive away it looks like). Any pireps on the GA scene in St. John’s or nearby? I would hate to not fly during my 2-3 years there...

Thanks in advance.

You're probably not finding much because there isn't much. Maritime Canada is not particularly conducive to VFR flying, and is otherwise ice-ridden IFR much of the year. It's also one of the poorer provinces of Canada with a relatively small population, so there's not a lot of recreational flying otherwise. It's also worth noting that it's an island surrounded by very cold water and inhospitable terrain, so there's not much to fly to without being in the middle of nowhere. If you haven't already done so, check out COPA (https://copanational.org/en/places-to-fly/) for more information. There doesn't seem to be as much shared information on GA in Canada online (my Canadian wife jokes that they are perennially 15 years behind the US for everything) so there may be flying clubs or partnerships that are advertised via airport bulletin board or word of mouth. You might ask around when you get there and find someone who can hook you up.

I've never flown in NL, but I've done plenty of flying around NB, PEI, and NS and light GA is minimal compared to the US. I hope you find otherwise, but I suspect you'll find little in the way of flying schools or clubs there.

 

[Matt]

You're probably not finding much because there isn't much. Maritime Canada is not particularly conducive to VFR flying, and is otherwise ice-ridden IFR much of the year. It's also one of the poorer provinces of Canada with a relatively small population, so there's not a lot of recreational flying otherwise. It's also worth noting that it's an island surrounded by very cold water and inhospitable terrain, so there's not much to fly to without being in the middle of nowhere. If you haven't already done so, check out COPA (https://copanational.org/en/places-to-fly/) for more information. There doesn't seem to be as much shared information on GA in Canada online (my Canadian wife jokes that they are perennially 15 years behind the US for everything) so there may be flying clubs or partnerships that are advertised via airport bulletin board or word of mouth. You might ask around when you get there and find someone who can hook you up.

I've never flown in NL, but I've done plenty of flying around NB, PEI, and NS and light GA is minimal compared to the US. I hope you find otherwise, but I suspect you'll find little in the way of flying schools or clubs there.

I figured that might be the case, but was hoping there was some hidden GA scene I wasn’t finding. I know the weather isn’t VFR a lot, but was hoping for a way to fly around during the summer when it’s a bit better.

Thanks for the info! Maybe I’ll just save my money while I’m there and pay cash for a plane when I move back to the states.

 

[Brad Z]

I figured that might be the case, but was hoping there was some hidden GA scene I wasn’t finding. I know the weather isn’t VFR a lot, but was hoping for a way to fly around during the summer when it’s a bit better.

Thanks for the info! Maybe I’ll just save my money while I’m there and pay cash for a plane when I move back to the states.

I was just looking and I noticed that Gander surprisingly has a flight school (http://evasair.com/gft/planetraining/). It's 3 1/2 hours away and it's probably expensive, but it might be an option to get some air time. Good luck!