Bancroft Community Airport

Flew here today for their annual fly-in breakfast. It's a gravel strip, with a well-compacted chip surface. In all the years of doing a breakfast, we were told this was only the second time they needed to use R12.

The approach to R12 was challenging, in the that topography on final is quite high. Stay focused on the runway and not the topography under your feet. Manage your speed and use full flaps. Consider a short-field approach profile, just so you're focused on getting the wheels down early. If you decide to reject the landing, make your decision earlier since the departure is also quite "fun".

Departing R12 is not that challenging. Unless you are light, high-powered, or have a STOL a/c, you'll do a normal takeoff but then turn SE (as stated in the CFS) and fly over the town as you gain altitude. Start the departure run on the grass before the R12 runway threshold, so your a/c is moving and there is less chance of sucking up a stone chip into the backside of your prop.

And in-between the landing and the departure, Bancroft is an attractive town with friendly people.

I had to divert to Bancroft during a XC. What a great approach and departure! Reminded me of flying floats all over again. Lots of fun, and friendly people.

Because there's a high ridge just east of the airport, the normal procedure for landing on runway 12 is to do a wide left downwind, then follow the river valley through the town on a slant left base. Because of a hill SE of the airport, you won't see the runway until you're almost lined up on final. For departure from runway 30, just reverse the procedure (unless your plane has a very good climb angle) -- instead of trying to outclimb the ridge, make a gentle right turn after takeoff and follow the river valley southeastwards until you're high enough to get over the hills. Note also that there are trees off both ends of the runway. If you're in a low-powered plane like a Cherokee or Cessna 172, it might be a good idea to take off when the air is cool (e.g. not midafternoon on a summer day), and to be a fair bit under maximum gross weight (you can top up your fuel at Pembroke [YTA] and Peterborough [YPQ], which are both only 62 nm away and have long paved runways), though the gravel runway is a good length at 2,200 ft. It's a fun airport for a pilot, but note the previous comment for a passenger's perspective.

As a reluctant small plane flyer, I found the landing, but particularly the take off a bit scary at this airport. There is a very tall rock formation (cliff?) at one end of the runway, and one has to climb quickly, and navigate past it. Coming in to land, we executed a number of steep turns to position ourselves, and I really hate that tilty feeling ... Still, when you land, you're in Canadian Shield topography, with a beautiful view all around. Don't miss the ice cream at the Dairy on the far side of town!!!