This website is here to assist pilots based out of the Canandaigua Airport as well as those flying here, with any issues or concerns they have regarding the airport. We added the “Pilot’s Lounge” page to highlight items of interest for pilots and student pilots. This site also strives to keep the community informed concerning any events held at the airport along with the runway expansion taking place over the next year or so.
This site is not affiliated with Ontario County, the Ontario County IDA, the Town of Canandaigua or any operation located at the airport. The FBO (Canandaigua Air Center) is generally the point of contact regarding operations. Questions about this site should be directed to Barry Orlando at d38@ows.net.
Services to Pilots: Services available at the Canandaigua Airport include Aircraft Repair, Flight Training, Car Rental (Hertz), Jet A and 100LL fuel (call for fuel service). For contact information regarding the FBO or any of these services, please click here. Visit the Pilot’s Lounge page for other information.
Construction at the Airport: Click here for updates concerning the airport expansion.
Noise Abatement: If there are questions concerning noise abatement, please know that pilots are encouraged to depart runway 31 (which points away from the city) whenever possible. We also ask pilots when departing runway 13 (which points toward the city) to turn due east upon take off as to avoid flying over the city as much as possible. We ask pilots to be responsible and to use sound judgement, FAA regulations and safety as their guide in the airspace around Canandaigua. However, transient pilots flying in the area may not be aware of these concerns and we ask the same from them as we do pilots based out of Canandaigua. We wish to be good neighbors and ask pilots to be as well!
It’s Your Airport
Your Community Airport has value and needs to be allowed to prosper like any other community asset. Please visit our “Media” section to learn more about why General Aviation is important to your community and others.
Webmaster:
Barry Orlando, Private Pilot / Advanced Ground Instructor
Email: d38@ows.net
AOPA Airport Support Network Representative
About Canandaigua Airport (D38)
Canandaigua Airport (D38) is a 3200 x 75 ft paved airstrip located just northwest of Canandaigua Lake in Central New York State. The runway orientation is 130 and 310 degrees with CTAF/UNICOM on 122.8 and field elevation is 814 ft. You can fuel up here with 100LL at a self service pump located mid-field near the FBO.
The field is in a wonderfully scenic location that is surrounded by picturesque hills and the tranquil lakes of the Finger Lakes. This field can go from calm to being full of activity from flight training, Mercy Flight Central departures to the critically injured, or an occasional twin-engine plane or small business jet. For a small field, there are many repair services for aircraft owners and flight training for anyone interested in learning to fly. When things warm up you can catch an occasional pancake breakfast here, but come early since attendance seems to be growing each year.
Presently the current runway is undergoing an expansion and is being increased from 3,200 ft to 5,500 ft and widened to 100 ft from 75 ft. There will be construction all around the airport between November 2011 through 2012 and perhaps into 2013. In some cases there WILL be airport runway closures due to the expansion.
This airport is open to the public and is publicly owned by the Ontario County Industrial Development Agency (IDA).
If you would like an informal tour of the airport, we would be happy to escort you on to the ramp and show you around. Please email d38@ows.net to schedule a time in the evenings during the week or on weekends.
Canandaigua Airport History
The Canandaigua Airport was first carved out of 50 acres along Brickyard and Thomas roads in 1948. By the early 1980s, Paul Yarnall and some partners had purchased the grass-strip, seasonal airport and soon struck up a friendship with fellow aviator George W. Hamlin IV, an attorney and president of the Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.
Together, they led a campaign to convince Ontario County officials to create a county airport. What ensued was more than a decade of controversy surrounding where the airport should be located, whether the Board of Supervisors should fund a feasibility study and if the airport should even be a county project at all.
Some citizens and county supervisors objected to it on the grounds the airport would benefit a select few. This always seems to be a re-occuring theme and the main objection in the airports creation and growth. As taxpayers we pay billions for Amtrak and don’t seem to mind even though there is no benefit or access to passenger rail service in Ontario County.
Despite opposition, Hamlin had the political connections to make it happen. That included trips to Washington to meet with officials with the Federal Aviation Administration. With help from politicians including then-Congressman Jack Kemp, they came up with a plan that worked. They sold the idea to the Ontario County IDA, qualifying the airport for FAA funds to create a year-round, full-service airport.
In late 1993, the Ontario County IDA acquired property from Chris Pritchard and Yarnall to create a 200-acre airport. Groundbreaking on the $6 million project took place June 16, 1994.
Today the airport that would benefit the “select few” benefits many around our region. From flight training and aircraft repair services to Civil Air Patrol Cadet orientation flights and both fixed-wing and helicopter emergency medical services, our airport has more to offer than what many people realize. What was once a grass strip is now a community giving everyone in our area access to general aviation…instead of only a select few.
If you have more information or history about the Canandaigua Airport, please feel free to forward your information to me for inclusion on this site. (Click Here)
