Northern Lake Amphibian Pilots'
Fly-In & Safety Seminar

  
Killarney Mountain Lodge is now a registered aerodrome and is listed in the Nav Canada Water Aerodrome supplement. 
For more on the history of Killarney and how this came to pass,
here's an article by the late Maury East, the previous owner of Killarney Mountain Lodge. 
Please respect the regulations for this aerodrome ( PDF) . 

WATER LANDINGS AT KILLARNEY - FROM MAURY EAST

For 130 years the only access to the isolated village of Killarney was by boat or sleigh 22 miles to Little Current on Manitoulin Island. Needless to say, the advent of flight was a boon to the community, especially during freeze-up and break-up. The comings and goings of float\ski aircraft have always been commonplace events to the traditional residents of the town.

Lately, however, a few of the newer generation and late comers have come to look upon noisy 185's Lakes and Beavers as an occasional nuisance, particularly when they arrive en masses and thunder through the center of the village landing and taking off on the channel. There have been a few complaints to the town council and to Transport Canada, and we in the aviation community are concerned that if the complaints escalate the authorities might declare the channel closed to aircraft. This would be disastrous and totally unnecessary. However, there are steps we can take as pilots to mitigate the problems.

Here are some suggestions:

See the map below.  For discussion purposes, consider that the Killarney channel is oriented east and west. We have labeled Killarney Bay (to the west) as area A; the east end of the channel as area B (see the arrow); the center of the channel, in the center of the village adjacent to the government dock in the vicinity of the 17 foot sounding is labeled area C.

Our aim is to eliminate landings, take-offs and running on the step in the main channel area C. Here are some suggestions based on my 25 years of float operations in Killarney with Luscombes, Seabees, ISO's and 185's.

West Wind - With little or no cross wind, land into wind in area B at the east end of channel. You can then taxi to our amphibious ramp located near the 19 foot sounding just past Cameron Cove.

East Wind - With a light wind one can land safely in area B, touching down just past our ramp in the Cameron Cove. Avoid running out into the open water beyond the "Entrance Rocks" because nearly invisible ground swells can be dangerous. With a strong east or south - east wind these subtle rollers can proceed westward up the channel to our ramp and must be avoided. In this case, land into wind in the area between Fish Point and the west end of the channel (area A). Then taxi approximately 3\4 statute miles through the village to Killarney Mountain Lodge. Do not run on step.

Cross - Wind from the South - This is when conditions can be challenging, with strong gusts and down drafts landing in the channel can be dangerous. Instead, land into the wind in the protected area of Killarney Bay in area A. There's lots of room and depth east of buoy number E6. Then taxi to the lodge.

Cross - Wind from the North - If the wind is light, a landing as near into wind as possible at the east or west end of the channel as described earlier is manageable. With a severe cross wind, depending on the quadrant the wind is in, a landing as close to the wind as possible in area A or B is recommended - your choice.