Vancouver Harbour Helipad

[deuce bigalow]

Heres a story I heard the other day that got me thinking. A guy I know who flys a 206 for a small company was refused a parking slot at the Heliport because "the 61 will be in sometime in the next few hours." Isn't it supposed to be a public facility run by an NPO with special tax breaks?

Maybe they need to look at putting in a few more pads.

I'm pretty sure there would be a lot of AIrline operators who would be real cranky if Vancouver Airport told them they couldn't park because Air Canada had all the spots.

[Rotorboy2]

Hmmm, that's interesting. I've no idea whether or not the pad is public although I've seen other operators there.

 

It would be nice if Helijet played nicely.

 

Did you mean the s-76 or the 61?

[hurler]

No kidding

 

That landing fees are steep too! Doesn't surprise me in the least .HJ has the pad all tied up and without doubt the admin there gives out special favors.

 

Which operator was refused?

[Ryan]

I see your point Deuce... the line between where Helijet ends and Pacific Heliport Services starts can be foggy at times. As far as I know both Vancouver and Victoria harbour heliports are for public use operated by PHS.

 

Helijet is of course the main user of the pads, though the Vancouver harbour gets way more traffic from other companies than we do in Victoria. Though it's rare to have all 4 pads in Victoria occupied at once I hear it's a common occurance in Vancouver... mostly due to Air Ambulances bouncing in and out all the time.

 

As far as who has the right to use the pad at any given moment, it can get tricky. Helijet runs, of course, a scheduled service 7 days a week. The schedule is approved by PHS I believe and thus grants the scheduled flights priority at certain times of the day. Think of it as a reserved spot on the pad. Is it fair to other operators.... nope.

 

Either way you roll the dice with such a small facility someone will get shafted, be it your buddy's flight or Helijet's.

 

I think the answer could be to increase the size of the Vancouver Heliport to 6 or even 8 pads. Four pads just ain't enough for a place smack in the middle of downtown Vancouver.

 

I do think the situation could have been resolved better though. Perhaps instead of being told the '61 was due in "in a few hours" he could have been told exactly when it was coming give or take 10 minutes. Then he could know what time frame he had to be out. Would be far better than just a flat out refusal.

[canuck]

I see your point Deuce... the line between where Helijet ends and Pacific Heliport Services starts can be foggy at times. As far as I know both Vancouver and Victoria harbour heliports are for public use operated by PHS.

 

Helijet is of course the main user of the pads, though the Vancouver harbour gets way more traffic from other companies than we do in Victoria. Though it's rare to have all 4 pads in Victoria occupied at once I hear it's a common occurance in Vancouver... mostly due to Air Ambulances bouncing in and out all the time.

 

Why are the air ambulances in & out of there all the time? Do they use the pad to pick up Ambulance crews? Vancouver General has pads & Childrens has a pad so why is Air Ambulance using PHS? Paitents for St. Paul's?

[Ryan]

Not sure as to why they frequent the harbour pads so much. Not being from Vancouver I'm ignorant as to the layout of the hospitals, but would guess the harbour is maybe central to them and a good place to grab fuel?

 

Also seen ambulances drive right down onto the pad and slide a patient inside a waiting bird, so perhaps it's an easy pick-up spot too?

 

I know at least one fo our Air Ambulance guys visits this site time to time. He might chime in with an answer.

[coolhand110]

The aircraft that was refused was Hayes 206. He just chose to land in the gravel lot beside the heliport. He was not refused landing, just parking for the day. His other option was to fly to YVR and park for the day and then pick up his passengers. This seems like one of those lets pick on someone today. I believe his plan was to park there for the day. With only 4 pads this can tie thing up pretty quick. The other day I landed there and the 61 was on pad 1, a 76 on pad 2 a 206 and R44 parked on pad 4 and I was given pad 3 for another 76. This left only the main H for any other aircraft. I do not believe there are any favorates played as far as landing goes. I have seen Helijet , Talon, Omega, Blackcomb and many other operators circling the harbour waiting for a pad.As for landing the Ambulances at Children's or VGH, the noise complaints have made sure that these pads are used under certain circumstances. And not only do you have St Pauls that has no pad, Lions gate on the north shore has no pad either. I have spent more time landing downtown for that hospital than any other.

 

As for the special favors Hurler is talking about, I believe all operators pay the same. I'm sure that priority is given to the airline side, but everybody pays the same for using the heliport.

 

I do not see an improvement to the Vancouver heliport for some time. It is situated on prime waterfront realestate. It will not be in its current position for long.Maybe then they will expand to have more parking spots.

 

Curtis

[Ryan]

Hehe thought you might come out of hiding Curtis. Happy New Year!

 

So what's this about the place moving in the future? If it's not for public discussion gimme a PM.

 

Ry.

[coolhand110]

Hey Ryan, Happy New Year.

Don't know of anything planned, just know that property like that can not be left as gravel parking lots and Heliports. Anything built on the site will probably include a heliport of some sort.

One other comment on the cost of using the heliport though. What do you think the cost on the lease of the property as well as maintenance, insurance, staffing etc. is there Hurler? No matter who operates the heliport, these costs are going to be passed on to whom ever uses the place. The landing area is now 20 years old.

As far as I know the vancouver heliport is public but the Victoria is prior permission I believe. I could be very wrong on that however.

[Ryan]

Yeah a person is supposed to call in by phone in advance if coming into Camel Point. Seems like about 1/2 of non-company aircraft do that though so we always try to monitor the harbour freq. too.

 

Seems to usually work out though as almost everyone knows that if you ain't in a S-76 or S-61 then you park on pad 4, and it's rarely a full house in Victoria so space isn't an issue here. :up:

 

And as for the plans to snazz up the Vancouver Harbour... what about our facility? I've seen the concept drawings made eons ago with a 2 story building, a hanger, a coffee bar and passenger lounge.

 

Guess I'll have to stick to lobbying for a BBQ for the rampies here like they have in Vancouver.