Noise Management

The City of Oshawa hosted a series of virtual workshops with community members and airport users to obtain input on the Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures for the Oshawa Executive Airport in November 2021. Thank you to all who participated in the workshops and provided their feedback. The draft procedures were developed in consultation with H.M. Aero Aviation Consulting, a professional team of individuals with significant airport-related experience, including familiarity with creating noise abatement procedures.

The Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures outlined in Report DS-21-190. View the entire H.M. Aero report: Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures for the Oshawa Executive Airport. This report, dated September 27, 2021, contains 14 Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures developed for public and stakeholder consultation.

Using the federal process prescribed by Transport Canada to develop a solution, the 14 Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures were intended to address noise, safety and air quality concerns identified in the 2021-2022 Oshawa Executive Airport Action Plan and raised during the fall of 2020 virtual workshops related to flight training aircraft traffic, circuit patterns, hours of operation and noise.

The opportunity to provide feedback on the 14 Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures has concluded. The input received in the consultation process has been used to refine how the Draft Proposed Noise Abatement will be used to refine the Draft Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures. As a result, H.M. Aero has prepared updated Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures for the Oshawa Executive Airport, which, if approved by Council, will be submitted to Transport Canada. View the entire H.M. Aero report: Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures Transport Canada Submission. This document, dated February 18, 2022, contains nine updated Proposed Noise Abatement Procedures developed using the input received through the public and stakeholder consultation process.

Runway 30, with aircraft departing northwest over Thornton Rd. and Taunton Rd., is the preferred runway when the winds are blowing from a heading of 210° to 030° at less than 5 kn.

Only police, medical and industrial emergency flights are permitted to land and take off from the airport between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Airport tenants with an aircraft based at the airport are also permitted to land during this time; however, they are not permitted to take off.

All flights during this time period require prior permission from the Airport Manager.

Aircraft departing from the airport will fly on the runway heading until they reach 1,000 ft. above sea level (540 ft. above ground level) before making any turns.

Aircraft flying into the airport will remain not less than 1,000 ft. above sea level (540 ft. above ground level) before making the turn for their final approach to land.

Flight Training Restrictions

The following flight training restrictions have been established on a voluntary basis with the tenants and training schools at the airport:

• Only 12 training aircraft are permitted to do circuit training on Runway 05/23 at any time.
• Flight training aircraft will not utilize a touch-and-go departure pattern on all runways after 4 p.m. on any Saturday or Sunday.
• Flight training aircraft are not permitted to undertake any circuit training on all runways on the Sunday or Monday of any long weekend.

• Integrated Airline Transport Pilot Licence (I.A.T.P.L.) program:
• Students are required to follow a stringent set of lesson plans where they meet skill and proficiency levels in the simulators before completing similar exercises in the aircraft. 
• This reduces the amount of time students spend in the aircraft, particularly in the circuit pattern practicing their landings. Additionally, Transport Canada provides more credit for simulator time towards the licensing requirements for those enrolled in an I.A.T.P.L. program. The minimum aircraft time for an I.A.T.P.L. program graduate is 162.5 flight hours versus 200 hours for the modular Commercial Pilot Licence (C.P.L.) graduate. This is almost 20% less aircraft time to acquire the same licence. 
• A typical modular program candidate will create 900-1200 aircraft movements (take-offs & landings) throughout the course of their training. The same I.A.T.P.L. student will create approximately 350 movements. This reduction in movements is a direct result of the use of the simulators.

Noise berms are an effective method of reducing ground based noise. The airport has established four earthen noise berms on the airport in the following locations running:

• in a north-south line and located immediately east of the large hangarminium complex to reduce the noise associated with aircraft operating in the area of the hangars
• n a northeast-southwest line and located immediately southeast of the threshold for runway 05 to reduce the noise associated with aircraft exiting and entering the threshold of runway 05
• in an east-west line and located immediately south of the threshold for runway 05 to reduce the noise associated with aircraft exiting and entering the threshold of runway 05
• in an east-west line and located immediately south of the threshold for runway 30 and extending to the eastern limit of the airport to reduce the noise associated with aircraft exiting and entering the threshold of runway 30