Lupin Airport

Lupin Mine Airport
Summary
Airport type Private
Operator Echo Bay Mines Limited
Location Lupin Mine
Time zone MST (UTC−07:00)
  Summer (DST) MDT (UTC−06:00)
Elevation AMSL 1,608 ft / 490 m
Coordinates 65°45′33″N 111°15′00″W / 65.75917°N 111.25000°W / 65.75917; -111.25000Coordinates: 65°45′33″N 111°15′00″W / 65.75917°N 111.25000°W / 65.75917; -111.25000
Map
CYWO
Location in Nunavut
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01T/19T 6,400 1,950 Gravel

Lupin Airport (IATA: YWO, ICAO: CYWO) was an airport located at Lupin Mine, Nunavut, Canada that was operated by Echo Bay Mines Limited. The airport closed sometime after the mine closed in 2005, but the runway is still present on the property.

History

In the 1950s and 60s this area was known as Contwoyto Lake. Nearby (at location 65 degrees 29' 12.61"N, 110 degrees 21'1.33"W) is an island where there was a small (four person) camp operated by Pacific Western Airlines of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (since merged with Canadian Pacific Airlines, subsequently bought by Air Canada). Operating expenses for the facility were paid for by the Canadian Federal Government. The island was unofficially known as Alcatraz Island and the smaller one West of it was called Wolf Island.

During the 60s there was a Quonset hut for living quarters and a small shed which housed a diesel generator, a backup generator, fuel, and a small tractor. There was no official landing strip, just a dirt strip for emergencies. Planes landed on the lake using floats in the summer and skis in winter. There was a very short emergency strip on land, but it was really too short for safety. The main function of the station was to operate a radio beacon (sending WO in Morse Code for radio-location purposes) and a secondary but very important function was to radio weather observations hourly to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

References

  1. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 19 July 2018 to 0901Z 13 September 2018.
  2. Synoptic/Metstat Station Information Archived 2011-12-01 at the Wayback Machine.


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