As some of you may or may not have heard, there were some significant changes made to the Springbank airport and the surrounding airspace which came into effect on February 16, 2006. There had been some concern that the airport’s control zone was now Class C airspace, but fortunately, it is still Class D.

The primary change has been the addition of a GPS IFR approach. To help manage the converging aircraft onto the IFR approach, there are two small extensions to the Class C airspace at the north and south of the Springbank control zone with a floor of 5200’ (approximately 1000’-1200’ AGL). Previously, the floor for Class C in this area was 5800’. In addition, there has been an extension to the Class C airspace to the west of the control zone with a floor of 6500’ (previously 8000’).

The new IFR approach has also required moving the training areas northwest of the control zone further west.

These changes should be easy to accommodate by club members heading to Springbank, and the addition of an IFR approach into Springbank will certainly be welcome by the pilots who are based there, as it will provide a practical and cost-effective alternative to diverting to the International in IMC.

With NavCanada’s permission, I have included a brochure detailing the changes in this month’s newsletter. A color version can be downloaded from our CUFC website or by sending me an e-mail at kbeanlan@telus.net. This brochure should not be used for navigation. Please ensure you have a current Canadian Flight Supplement and Calgary VTA when venturing into Springbank or the surrounding airspace. The changes are also detailed in Aeronautical Information Circular 34/05 dated December 22, 2005.