FS2004 Scenery--Northern Canada Mining CYOA And CHB3

FS2004 Scenery--Northern Canada Mining CYOA And CHB3 in Canada. These are two airfields in northern Canada, serving two mining operations. The furthest north is Hope Bay CHB3 in Nunavut. It is in a sheltered inlet less than 3 miles from the northern mainland coast and around 65 miles southwest of Cambridge Bay. The owner is given as Hope Bay Mining Ltd, and their operation mines gold out of a tunnel rather than open cast. The present tense may now be incorrect as the company was recently bought by an American company. The airfield is incorporated into the road that leads north to the sea; traffic is halted by traffic lights when a flight is expected. The runway is 3,000 feet of gravel aligned 01-19 and with PAPI at both ends. The second airfield CYOA serves the Ekati diamond mine and is some 265 miles southwest of Hope Bay, in the Northwest Territories. Ekati was the first Canadian diamond mine and is 195 miles northeast of Yellowknife and less than 20 miles north of a later mine, Diavik (by Sid and Pete). CYOA reflects the relative value of the two mining operations and is far better equipped than Hope Bay. It can be described as an airport while Hope Bay remains an airfield. The runway is 6,400 feet of gravel aligned 36-18 (only in FS2004; in 2018 it is now 02-20 with the wandering magnetic north) with PAPI and strobe approach lights at both ends. The scale of the mining operation can only be described as huge. By Roger Wensley.