Aerodrome
An aerodrome or airdrome is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither. Aerodromes include small general aviation airfields, large commercial airports, military airbases; the term airport may imply a certain stature. This means that all airports are aerodromes. Usage of the term "aerodrome" remains more common in the Ireland and Commonwealth nations. A water aerodrome is an area of open water used by seaplanes or amphibious aircraft for landing and taking off. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization an aerodrome is "A defined area on land or water intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival and surface movement of aircraft." The word aerodrome derives from Ancient Greek ἀήρ, δρόμος, road or course meaning air course. An ancient linguistic parallel is hippodrome, derived from ἵππος, δρόμος, course. A modern linguistic parallel is an arena for velocipedes. Αεροδρόμιο is the word for airport in Modern Greek.
In British military usage, the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the Royal Air Force in the First and Second World Wars used the term—it had the advantage that their French allies, on whose soil they were based and with whom they co-operated, used the cognate term aérodrome. In Canada and Australia, aerodrome is a legal term of art for any area of land or water used for aircraft operation, regardless of facilities. International Civil Aviation Organization documents use the term aerodrome, for example, in the Annex to the ICAO Convention about aerodromes, their physical characteristics, their operation. However, the terms airfield or airport superseded use of aerodrome after World War II, in colloquial language. In the early days of aviation, when there were no paved runways and all landing fields were grass, a typical airfield might permit takeoffs and landings in only a couple of directions, much like today's airports, whereas an aerodrome was distinguished, by virtue of its much greater size, by its ability to handle landings and take offs in any direction.
The ability to always take off and land directly into the wind, regardless of the wind's direction, was an important advantage in the earliest days of aviation when an airplane's performance in a crosswind takeoff or landing might be poor or dangerous. The development of differential braking in aircraft, improved aircraft performance, utilization of paved runways, the fact that a circular aerodrome required much more space than did the "L" or triangle shaped airfield made the early aerodromes obsolete; the city of the first aerodrome in the world is a French commune named Viry-Chatillon. The unimproved airfield remains a phenomenon in military aspects; the DHC-4 Caribou served in the U. S. military in Vietnam, landing on rough, unimproved airfields where the C-130 workhorse could not operate. Earlier, the Ju 52 and Fieseler Storch could do the same, one example of the latter taking off from the Führerbunker whilst surrounded by Russian troops. An airport is an aerodrome certificated for commercial flights.
An air base is an aerodrome with significant facilities to support crew. The term is reserved for military bases, but applies to civil seaplane bases. An airstrip is a small aerodrome that consists only of a runway with fueling equipment, they are in remote locations. Many airstrips were built on the hundreds of islands in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. A few airstrips grew to become full-fledged airbases as strategic or economic importance of a region increased over time. An Advanced Landing Ground was a temporary airstrip used by the Allies in the run-up to and during the invasion of Normandy, these were built both in Britain, on the continent. A water aerodrome is an area of open water used by seaplanes or amphibious aircraft for landing and taking off, it may have a terminal building on land and/or a place where the plane can come to shore and dock like a boat to load and unload. The Canadian Aeronautical Information Manual says "...for the most part, all of Canada can be an aerodrome", however there are "registered aerodromes" and "certified airports".
To become a registered aerodrome the operator must maintain certain standards and keep the Minister of Transport informed of any changes. To be certified as an airport the aerodrome, which supports commercial operations, must meet safety standards. Nav Canada, the private company responsible for air traffic control services in Canada, publishes the Canada Flight Supplement, a directory of all registered Canadian land aerodromes, as well as the Canada Water Aerodrome Supplement. Casement Aerodrome is the main military airport used by the Irish Air Corps; the term "aerodrome" is used for airports and airfields of lesser importance in Ireland, such as those at Abbeyshrule. Spaceport
Great Slave Lake
The Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres, the tenth-largest lake in the world. It is 20 to 203 km wide, it covers an area of 27,200 km2 in the southern part of the territory. Its given volume ranges from 1,070 km3 to 1,580 km3 and up to 2,088 km3 making it the 10th or 12th largest; the lake shares its name with the First Nations peoples called Slavey of the Dene family by their enemies the Cree. Towns situated on the lake include Yellowknife, Hay River, Behchokǫ̀, Fort Resolution, Łutselk'e, Hay River Reserve and Ndilǫ; the only community in the East Arm is Łutselk'e, a hamlet of about 350 people Chipewyan Indigenous peoples of the Dene Nation and the now abandoned winter camp/Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Reliance. Along the south shore, east of Hay River is the abandoned Pine Point Mine and the company town of Pine Point. Indigenous peoples were the first settlers around the lake after the retreat of glacial ice.
Archaeological evidence has revealed several different periods of cultural history, including: Northern Plano Paleoindian tradition, Shield Archaic, Arctic small tool tradition, the Taltheilei Shale Tradition. Each culture has left a distinct mark in the archaeological record based on type or size of lithic tools. Great Slave Lake was put on European maps during the emergence of the fur trade towards the northwest from Hudson Bay in the mid 18th century; the name'Great Slave' came from the Slavey Indians, one of the Athapaskan tribes living on its southern shores at that time. The name was influenced by Cree disdain for this rival tribe, with whom they shared a sordid history; as the French explorers dealt directly with the Cree traders, the large lake was referred to as "Grand lac des Esclaves", translated into English as "Great Slave Lake". British fur trader Samuel Hearne explored Great Slave Lake in 1771 and crossed the frozen lake, which he named Lake Athapuscow. In 1897-1898, the American frontiersman Charles "Buffalo" Jones traveled to the Arctic Circle, where his party wintered in a cabin that they had constructed near the Great Slave Lake.
Jones's exploits of how he and his party shot and fended off a hungry wolf pack near Great Slave Lake was verified in 1907 by Ernest Thompson Seton and Edward Alexander Preble when they discovered the remains of the animals near the long abandoned cabin. In the 1930s, gold was discovered on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, leading to the establishment of Yellowknife which would become the capital of the NWT. In 1960, an all-season highway was built around the west side of the lake an extension of the Mackenzie Highway but now known as Yellowknife Highway or Highway 3. On January 24, 1978, a Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite, named Kosmos 954, built with an onboard nuclear reactor fell from orbit and disintegrated. Pieces of the nuclear core fell in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. 90% of the nuclear debris was recovered by a joint Canadian Armed Forces and United States Armed Forces military operation called Operation Morning Light. The Hay, Slave and Taltson Rivers are its chief tributaries.
It is drained by the Mackenzie River. Though the western shore is forested, the east shore and northern arm are tundra-like; the southern and eastern shores reach the edge of the Canadian Shield. Along with other lakes such as the Great Bear and Athabasca, it is a remnant of the vast glacial Lake McConnell; the lake has a irregular shoreline. The East Arm of Great Slave Lake is filled with islands, the area is within the proposed Thaydene Nene National Park Reserve; the Pethei Peninsula separates the East Arm into McLeod Bay in the north and Christie Bay in the south. The lake is at least frozen during an average of eight months of the year; the main western portion of the lake forms a moderately deep bowl with a surface area of 18,500 km2 and a volume of 596 km3. This main portion has a maximum depth of 187.7 m and a mean depth of 32.2 m. To the east, McLeod Bay and Christie Bay are much deeper, with a maximum recorded depth in Christie Bay of 614 m On some of the plains surrounding Great Slave Lake, climax polygonal bogs have formed, the early successional stage to which consists of pioneer black spruce.
South of Great Slave Lake, in a remote corner of Wood Buffalo National Park, is the Whooping Crane Summer Range, a nesting site of a remnant flock of whooping cranes, discovered in 1954. Rivers that flow into Great Slave Lake include, it is a 6.5 km road that connects the Northwest Territories capital of Yellowknife to Dettah, a small First Nations fishing community in the Northwest Territories. To reach the community in summer the drive is 27 km via the Ingraham Trail. From 2014 to 2016, Animal Planet aired, it takes place on Great Slave Lake, details the lives of houseboaters on the lake. List of lakes of Canada Mackenzie Northern Railway Canada.. Sailing directions, Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie River. Ottawa: Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans. ISBN 0-660-11022-9 Gibson, J. J. Prowse, T. D. & Peters, D. L.. "Partitioning impacts of climate and regulation on water level variability in Great Slave Lake." Journal of Hydrology. 329, 196. Hicks, F. Chen, X. & Andres, D.. "Effects of ice on the hydr
Diavik Diamond Mine
The Diavik Diamond Mine is a diamond mine in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. Diavik Diamond Mine is an industrial complex set in a sub-Arctic landscape, it consists of four kimberlite pipes associated with the Lac de Gras kimberlite field and is located on an island 20 km2 in Lac de Gras and is informally called East Island. It is about 220 km south of the Arctic Circle. In the 2015 satellite image below, one can see the two main open pits, waste rock pile, an airstrip capable of landing aircraft as large as 737s and C-130s; the complex houses processing and boiler plants, fuel tanks and sewage processing facilities, maintenance shop, administrative buildings, accommodations for workers. It is connected to points south by an ice road and Diavik Airport with a 5,235 ft gravel runway accommodating Boeing 737 jet aircraft; the mine is owned by a joint venture between the Rio Tinto Group and Dominion Diamond Corporation, is operated by Yellowknife-based Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group.
Commercial production commenced in 2003, the lifespan of the mine is expected to be 16 to 22 years. It has become an important part of the regional economy, employing 1,000, producing 7 million carats of diamonds annually; the area was surveyed in 1992 and construction began in 2001, with production commencing in January 2003. In 2006, the ice road from Yellowknife to the Diavik mine, neighbouring mines, froze late and thawed early; the Diavik mine was unable to truck in all the supplies needed for the rest of 2006 before the road closed and arrangements had to be made to bring the remainder of the supplies in by air. Subsequent annual ice road resupply has been completed as planned. On July 5, 2007, a consortium of seven mining companies, including Rio Tinto, announced they are sponsoring environmental impact studies to construct a deep-water port in Bathurst Inlet, their plans include building a 211 km road connecting the port to their mines. The port would serve vessels of up to 25,000 tonnes.
In March 2010, underground mining began at the mine. The transition from open pit to underground mining was completed in September 2012. In September 2012, Diavik completed construction of the Northwest Territories' first large scale wind farm; the four turbine, 9.2 megawatt facility provides 11 per cent of the Diavik mine's annual power needs and operates at 98% availability. Diesel fuel offset is about five million litres per year. Diavik operates the world's largest wind diesel hybrid power facility at its remote off-grid mine; the wind farm, operational down to −40 °C, sets a new benchmark in cold climate renewable energy. In 2015, $US350 million was announced to fund development of a fourth kimberlite pipe ore body, known as A21. Construction of the A21 rockfill dike is expected to be complete in 2018 with first diamonds expected in the fall of that year. To build the dike, Diavik will use the same technologies as were used to build the A154 and A418 dikes. In December 2015, Rio Tinto announced discovery of the 187.7 carat Diavik Foxfire diamond, one of the largest rough gem quality diamonds produced in Canada.
The Diavik Foxfire was bestowed an indigenous name, Noi?eh Kwe, which, in the Tlicho First Nation language means caribou crossing stone. In October 2018, a yellow diamond of 552 carat was found at the mine; this is the largest diamond found in North America. Ekati Diamond Mine Snap Lake Diamond Mine Official website 1991 Discovery of Diamonds in the Northwest Territories Photos of Diavik Mine at Google Images
Deline
The Charter Community of Délįne is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is 544 km northwest of Yellowknife. Délįne means "where the waters flow", a reference to the headwaters of the Great Bear River, Sahtúdé. According to early records, a trading post was established in this general area as early as 1799 by the North West Company, but it did not last many years. In 1825, Peter Warren Dease of the Hudson's Bay Company erected an outpost here as the staging area and winter quarters for Sir John Franklin's second Arctic expedition of 1825–1827, it became known as Fort Franklin. Sir John Franklin's diary records that his men played ice sports similar to what we now call hockey; as such, the modern-day town promotes itself as one of the birthplaces of the sport of ice hockey. The HBC returned and established a post called Fort Norman a short distance west, across the lake narrows, from John Franklin's original post, between 1863 and 1869, relocated Fort Norman to its current location at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Bear Rivers.
Fort Franklin as a modern era trading post of the HBC was not established until in the 19th century. It was constructed at one of the most productive Dene fisheries in the Mackenzie River drainage basin and was for the benefit of the Dene people who lived in near isolation along the shores of Great Bear Lake; the area became prominent when pitchblende was discovered at the Eldorado Mine, some 250 km away, on the eastern shore, at Port Radium. During World War II, the Canadian Government took over the mine and began to produce uranium for the then-secret American nuclear bomb project. Uranium product was transported from Port Radium by barge across Great Bear Lake where a portage network was established along the Bear River, across the bay from Fort Franklin, where many of the Dene men found work; as the risks associated with radioactive materials were not well communicated, it is believed that many of the Dene were exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation, which Déline residents believe resulted in the development of cancer and led to premature deaths.
The name of Fort Franklin was changed on 1 June 1993 to Délįne, which means "where the waters flow", a reference to the headwaters of the Great Bear River, Sahtúdé. Nearby Saoyú-ʔehdacho, the largest National Historic Site of Canada in the country, was designated in 1997 and is jointly administered by Parks Canada and the Déline First Nation. In March 2016, a tank truck fell partway through the ice road just a few days after the government had increased the allowed maximum weight limit to 40,000 kg on the road; the truck, 3 km outside of Déline, close to the community's fresh water intake as well as a major fishing area, contained 30,000 l of heating fuel and was one of 70 truck loads intended to resupply the community. The fuel was removed from the truck by 8 March. John Franklin's 1825-1827 outpost was excavated by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in 1987; the excavation uncovered beads and buttons indicating the extent of trade between the Dene and Europeans. The site is protected by the Northwest Territories Archaeological Sites Regulations.
In 1996, the site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Délįne belongs to the Sahtu Dene Council. Through the council, they completed negotiations with the Government of Canada for a comprehensive land claim settlement in 1993. Pursuant to the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, Déline subsequently negotiated a self-government agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada; the Final Self-Government Agreement was ratified by a majority vote of Déline's membership in March 2014. The Final Self-Government Agreement was signed by its leadership, by the Government of the Northwest Territories and by the Government of Canada in February 2015, enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in March 2015, enacted by the Parliament of Canada in June 2015 through Bill C-63; the Final Self-Government Agreement is a Treaty within the meaning of ss. 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, once in effect, will cause much of the Indian Act to cease to apply to Déline's citizens.
The population at the 2016 census was a increase of 12.9 % from the 2011 census. In the 2016 Census, there were 495 Indigenous people made up of 485 First Nations, Sahtu Dene people speaking North Slavey and 10 Métis people.. In 2017, the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 510, with an average yearly growth rate of -0.4% from 2006. List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories Déline Airport Déline Water Aerodrome John Price, "Our own atomic victims," Victoria Times-Colonist Welcome to Délįne Village of Widows Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center Destination Deline
Fort Simpson
Fort Simpson is a village, the only one in the entire territory, in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an island at the confluence of the Liard Rivers, it is 500 km west of Yellowknife. Both rivers were traditionally trade routes for the Hudson's Bay Company and the native Dene people of the area. Fort Simpson is the regional centre of the Dehcho and is the gateway to the scenic South Nahanni River and the Nahanni National Park Reserve. Fort Simpson can be reached by air and road and has full secondary and elementary school service; the Mackenzie Highway was extended to Fort Simpson in 1970-71. The central section of the community is on an island near the south bank of the Mackenzie River, but industrial areas and rural residential areas are located along the highway as far as the Fort Simpson Airport, just beyond, the Liard River ferry crossing. Population is 1,202 according to the 2016 Census, a decrease of 2.9% from 2011 and 890 identified as Indigenous peoples.
Of these the majority, 770, of the residents are First Nations with 20 Inuit. The main languages are South English. In 2017 the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 1,174 with an average yearly growth rate of -0.5% from 2007. Fort Simpson was first started as a fur trading site in 1803 named Fort of the Forks; the Village of Fort Simpson was a permanent settlement in July 1822 when the Hudson's Bay Company constructed a trading post, naming it for George Simpson the Governor of Rupert's Land. Until 1910 Fort Simpson was "a company town", with some participation by the Anglican and Roman Catholic Missions; the Dene know it as Liidli Kue. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1969. Pope John Paul II attempted to visit the community in September 1984 as part of his Canadian tour, but was prevented from landing due to fog, he did so in September 1987 near the end of the tour of the United States, making a side trip to Fort Simpson. There are two main annual festivals.
The first, held in March is known as the "Beavertail Jamboree". This is a winter carnival which includes traditional games, snowmobile races, talent shows; the other festival is the "Open Sky Festival", held annually on or around the Canada Day long weekend. The Open Sky Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival which has occurred annually since 2001. Festival events include musical and other performances as well as traditional Dehcho Dene Crafts, visual arts, new media exhibitions and demonstrations; the Open Sky festival is hosted by the Open Sky Creative Society, a multi-disciplinary arts organization serving artists working in the Dehcho region. The Dene of the community are represented by the Liidli Kue First Nation and the Métis by Fort Simpson Métis Local 52. Both groups belong to the Dehcho First Nations. Fort Simpson has warm but short summers. July temperatures are unusually warm for such northerly areas, which demonstrates the extreme continental nature of the area's climate. However, the heat turns into long and harsh winters when daylight hours turn drastically shorter.
Transition seasons are short, the year is on average dominated by the winter and to a lesser extent, summer. The average monthly temperatures range from −24.2 °C in January to 17.4 °C in July. Most of the precipitation falls during the summer months; the highest temperature recorded in Fort Simpson was 36.6 °C on 25 July 1994 and 13 July 2014. The coldest temperature recorded was −56.1 °C on 1 February 1947. List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories Fort Simpson Island Airport Fort Simpson Island Water Aerodrome Fort Simpson/Canadian Helicopters Heliport Fort Simpson/ Heliport Official site
Heliport
A heliport is an area of land, water, or structure used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of helicopters, includes its buildings and facilities. In other words, it is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift platforms. Designated heliports contain one or more touchdown and liftoff area and may have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. In some larger towns and cities, customs facilities may be available. Early advocates of helicopters hoped that heliports would become widespread, but they have become contentious in urban areas due to the excessive noise caused by helicopter traffic. Other terms used to refer to a heliport are: Helistop - A term sometimes used to describe a minimally developed heliport for boarding and discharging passengers or cargo. Helipad - A term oftentimes confused with heliport or helistop; the only reference of this term in the U. S. by the FAA is found in the Aeronautical Information Manual Pilot/Controller Glossary of Terms, which says: A small, designated area with a prepared surface, on a heliport, landing/takeoff area, apron/ramp, or movement area used for takeoff, landing, or parking of helicopters.
In other words, the TLOF. Helideck - Used to describe the landing area on a vessel or offshore structure on which helicopters may land and take off; the airspace surrounding the heliport is called the Primary Surface. This area coincides in size with the designated take-off and landing area; this surface is a horizontal plane equal to the elevation of the established heliport elevation. The Primary Surface is further broken down into three distinct regions; these are, the Final Approach and Takeoff area and the Safety Area. The TLOF is a load-bearing paved area centered in the FATO, on which the helicopter lands and/or takes off; the FATO is a defined area over which the pilot completes the final phase of the approach to a hover or a landing and from which the pilot initiates takeoff. The FATO elevation is the lowest elevation of the edge of the TLOF; the Safety Area is a defined area on a heliport surrounding the FATO intended to reduce the risk of damage to helicopters accidentally diverging from the FATO.
In a large metropolitan and urban areas a heliport can serve passengers needing to move within the city or to outlying regions. Heliports can be situated closer to a town or city center than an airport for fixed-wing aircraft; the advantage in flying by helicopter to a destination or to the city's main airport is that travel can be much faster than driving. As an example, the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City provides scheduled service to John F. Kennedy International Airport and is used to move wealthy persons and important goods to destinations as far away as Maryland; some skyscrapers feature rooftop heliports or helistops to serve the transport needs of executives or clients. Many of these rooftop sites serve as Emergency Helicopter Landing Facilities in case emergency evacuation is needed; the U. S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles is an example. Police departments use heliports as a base for police helicopters, larger departments may have a dedicated large heliport facility dedicated such as the LAPD Hooper Heliport.
Heliports are common features at hospitals where they serve to facilitate Helicopter Air Ambulance and MEDEVACs for transferring patients into and out of hospital facilities. Some large trauma centers have multiple heliports. Heliports allow hospitals to accept patients that may be flown in from remote accident sites where there are no local hospitals or facilities capable of providing the level of emergency care required; the National EMS Pilots Association has published multiple white papers and safety recommendations for the enhancement of hospital heliport operations to improve patient safety. While heliports can be oriented in any direction they will have definitive approach and departure paths. However, heliports are not numbered in the same way. Recommended standard practice by both the Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization is to orient an H in the center of the TLOF in line with the preferred approach/departure direction. An information box should be included in the TLOF area which provides the maximum gross weight the heliport is rated for as well as the maximum size helicopter the heliport has been designed to accommodated, based on the Rotor Diameter and Overall Length of the largest design helicopter that will service the heliport.
Under normal conditions it is standard practice to paint the maximum gross weight a heliport is designed to support in thousands of pounds. Along with the maximum helicopter dimensions in feet. Arrows are oftentimes painted on the heliport to indicate to pilots the preferred approach/departure paths. Other common markings can include radio frequencies, company logos and magnetic north. To conduct nighttime operations at a heliport it must have lighting installed that meets specific aeronautical standards. Heliport perimeter lights are installed around the TLOF area an may be flush mounted on the TLOF itself or mounted just off the TLOF perimeter on short metal or concrete extensions. One alternative to lighting the TLOF if certain criteria is met is to light the area of the FATO instead; some locations, due to environmental conditions, illuminate the TLOF and FATO. Lighting should never constitute an obstruction that a helicopter may impact and for this reason in the U. S. heliport lighting is not allowed to extend above the TLOF
Fort Liard Airport
Fort Liard Airport is located adjacent to Fort Liard, Northwest Territories, Canada. North Cariboo Air offers charter services from the airport. Past three hours METARs, SPECI and current TAFs for Fort Liard Airport from Nav Canada as available
