When selecting a flight school to become either a private or commercial pilot, location matters. How will the airport the school is located at enable the student to maximize their training time and investment to earn their pilot license? Genesis Flight College was established at Collingwood Airport (CNY3) because it provided some key elements to enhance pilot training.
1. Practice Area – Local practice areas are key to minimizing costly transit time and maximizing training time. Genesis is in an area of Ontario with minimal traffic as well as great scenery, enabling practice areas to be easily accessed.
2. Airport atmosphere – Airport facilities at a training airport are important. CNY3 has friendly staff for fast fueling and a restaurant within the terminal building called Jimmy’s Kitchen for a great breakfast or lunch. Less travel time to off-site restaurants saves the student time away from the flight school.
3. Airplane Traffic – Aircraft time is billed based on engine time. The busier an airport is, the more time is spent waiting for a runway, which reduces flight time and increases aircraft cost for the student. CNY3 has light aviation traffic not related to Genesis (although busier on weekends), which means more flight training time and less waiting time.
4. Runway – length and lighting – When practicing landings, a long runway is ideal. Collingwood Airport (CNY3) has a 5,000’ x 100’ runway that provides ample landing runway for Genesis’s aircraft for students learning the landing procedure. The ample length also enables instructors to have students do stop-and-go landings and takeoffs to provide less taxi time and more flight training time. CNY3 also has lighting to facilitate night training, a requirement for a commercial licence. A variety of instrument approaches are available for instrument students to practice their instrument skills.
5. Access to nearby airports to practice landings and approaches – During training, it is necessary to make cross-country flights and practice instrument approaches for IFR students. Genesis is centrally located with a variety of towered (controlled) and non-towered (uncontrolled) airports in the area, providing the student with numerous airport options for their training.
