Everyone’s Plan Ends at Rockcliffe. Nobody’s Includes Ward 13.

Everyone’s Planning Ends at Rockcliffe. Nobody’s Included Ward 13.

The Ottawa Flying Club needs a new home by 2028. One answer on the table is an airstrip in our ward.

The Ottawa Flying Club’s lease on the north field at Ottawa International Airport expires in 2028, and the Airport Authority plans to redevelop that land.¹ The authority’s answer to the club’s future is that Rockcliffe Airport would welcome the club, and it has offered support to facilitate a move.¹

That airstrip is in Ward 13.

What Rockcliffe is

Rockcliffe was recognized in 2018 as Canada’s oldest active airport. The Rockcliffe Flying Club uses and maintains it beside the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.² It has one paved runway of about 3,300 feet and no control tower.³

Who owns it depends on which source you read. One says the museum owns the field.² Another says the flying club leases it from the National Capital Commission.⁴ If the public record can’t agree on who owns it, who should residents be talking to.

Why a move isn’t a fix

The club’s case is that its students train at an international airport and learn modern navigation systems that smaller airports don’t offer.¹ Rockcliffe has no tower, so moving the club changes where it trains, not what it trains in. That isn’t a criticism of Rockcliffe. It means the question to answer is what training the club keeps and what it gives up.

Runway length may matter less than people assume. The north field’s runway is also reported at about 3,300 feet.⁵

The neighbours

Housing is being built on the former base lands, which Canada Lands Company owns.⁶ That is Wateridge Village, a few steps from the airstrip. More students and more flights raise noise and traffic questions. Residents should hear about them before a deal is signed, not after.

Everyone’s Plan Ends at Rockcliffe. Nobody’s Includes Ward 13.

The Gatineau question

Ottawa-Gatineau is one capital region, and a river shouldn’t decide where pilots train. Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport has a 6,000-foot runway⁷ and already hosts flight schools.⁸ It is a serious option.

The decision is being made between an airport authority, a flying club and federal landholders, and the city’s role is unclear. Ward 13 absorbs the impact if the answer is Rockcliffe, and the region loses a century-old club if the answer is nowhere.

Published figures only. Blank means I didn’t find a confirmed figure. FAA-derived listings for Canadian airports may be incomplete.
Site	Runway	Control tower	Training already there
Ottawa Intl, north field (today)	about 3,300 ft⁵	Airport is controlled	Ottawa Flying Club
Rockcliffe	about 3,300 ft³	No³	Rockcliffe Flying Club²
Gatineau-Ottawa Executive	6,000 ft⁷	No⁷	Fixed-wing and helicopter schools⁸
Carp

Why Gatineau may be the better home

The club’s case rests on three things: instrument approaches, NAV CANADA air traffic services, and training in busy airspace. Here is how each one holds up, including where the evidence is thin.

A standard Boeing 737 cannot normally take off or land on a 3,500-foot runway under normal commercial operating conditions, as most variants require at least 5,000 to 7,000+ feet depending on weight and weather.

Instrument training

The club’s president says outlying airports lack the instrument landing systems and GPS approaches that Ottawa International has.¹ That is the strongest argument against any move, and it applies to Rockcliffe and Gatineau alike. For Gatineau the record is mixed. FAA-derived listings show no published instrument procedures,⁷ and the airport’s director general once said management had asked NAV CANADA for a GPS approach with vertical guidance.⁹ Meanwhile, the schools based there list instrument-rated programs.^10,11 Approaches are published by NAV CANADA, not by the club or the city, which is why the first ask below is a NAV CANADA commitment.

NAV CANADA and busy airspace

Gatineau’s listing shows an Ottawa Departures frequency,¹² so aircraft leaving the field work with the same Ottawa terminal control that handles the airliners. That suggests the busy-airspace experience comes from the region’s controlled airspace as much as from one runway.

Bilingual training

The Canadian Aviation Regulations already require Ottawa International’s tower to provide air traffic services in English and French, and they list Gatineau’s flight service station for bilingual advisory and relay services.¹³ So bilingual service is not unique to Gatineau. The International Pilot Academy there is affiliated with Cégep Heritage College.¹⁰

The runway and the cluster

Gatineau’s runway is 6,000 feet, almost twice Rockcliffe’s.⁷ The airport markets itself as a training hub with three flight schools on site.¹⁴ That gives the club neighbours, shared services and room to grow.

Gatineau may well be the best home. But the case rests on things nobody has published: which approaches would be available, and what the club needs to keep its standard. That is why the asks below start with NAV CANADA.

What I’d ask for

A NAV CANADA commitment. Whichever site is chosen, publish its instrument approaches and airspace arrangements before the lease ends.
Disclosure. Publish the airport authority’s discussions with Rockcliffe: who pays, what space is offered, and the timeline.
Consult first. Run a noise and traffic review with Wateridge, Manor Park and Rockcliffe residents before any commitment is made.
A real comparison. Publish the options (a partial stay at the airport, Rockcliffe, Gatineau, Carp) against stated criteria, including training quality.

Judge the outcome by how many pilots the region trains, not by whether a relocation was announced. The lease ends in 2028, inside the next council’s term. Whoever sits on it will own this decision.

Sources

Flight training at Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport (CYND)

Checked October 18, 2026 against the sources named in each row.

Organization	Type	Offerings	Fleet	Confirmation
Aéroclub Gatineau-Ottawa	Flying club and flight school, at CYND since 2011	Recreational permit, private and commercial licences Night, VOTT and seaplane ratings; flight instructor rating Instrument rating and ultralight training (third-party listing) “Pilote d’un jour” intro flight: 1 hr ground, 1 hr in the Cessna 150 Ground school online via Aero-Instruction.ca	Cessna 150 two-seater (one aircraft per a third-party listing)	ConfirmedOwn website, page dated Jan 7, 2026. Tel. 819 598-0379. Intro flight pricing is by request.
International Pilot Academy	Flight school, in Gatineau since 2015	Private, commercial and airline pilot training Additional qualification courses Partnered with Cégep Heritage College for accredited training	Not confirmed	Partly confirmedAirport page and a May 2024 news article. I could not reach the academy’s own site, so check current programs with them.
Select Aviation College	Aviation college, fixed-wing and helicopter	Integrated ATPL and commercial pilot programs Bush pilot and IFR-type certifications Helicopter training Students from 35+ countries	40+ aircraft, including Cessna, Piper, Robinson R44 and Bell 505	ConfirmedAviation trade news, June 10, 2026: 16-student spring 2026 intake at CYND.

Only Aéroclub Gatineau-Ottawa operates as a flying club. The other two are schools.
Vintage Wings of Canada is a warbird organization based at CYND, not a flying club. I did not re-verify its current status.
Gatineau Gliding Club flies from Pendleton, Ontario, not from CYND.

Campaign Video

Sunday, 18 October 2026

#573 Rockcliffe Airstrip - Where's the beef? None for small planes.