The flight crew were very happy with the hospitality and care shown to them by Wawa Airport staff, and said that it is a delight to fly in and out of our airport. They hope to come back. -Brenda Grundt
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Wawa aviation fans had a treat on Monday morning when a Gulfstream G550 landed at the Wawa Municipal Airport. This is a $58 million dollar aircraft, with a maximum speed of Mach 0.885 – that’s more than 585 miles per hour (941 km/hr). This is said to be the gold standard in business aviation, so it is appros that this aircraft belongs to Barrick Gold Corporation, the world's largest gold producer.
They were in Wawa to visit at their mine in Marathon, Ontario. From Barrick's website "The Hemlo property consists of David Bell, an underground mine, and Williams, an underground and open pit mine, located approximately 350 kilometers east of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The Williams and David Bell mines share milling, processing and tailings facilities where ores from the two mines are co-mingled and fed to a standard grind, leach and carbon-in-pulp extraction mill. In 2012, Hemlo produced 206,000 ounces of gold at total cash costs of $978 per ounce. Hemlo’s proven and probable mineral reserves as of December 31, 2012 were 1.2 million ounces of gold."
One might ask why did they land in Wawa, and not Marathon. Simply put, Marathon's runway length is 3933/3735 feet versus 4429/3740 feet at Wawa. This aircraft needs 2,770 feet to land, and Wawa's runway length offered a little bit more room. That being said, the pilot did call to confirm weather at the airport and conditions before departing for Wawa. Even the wingspan of the Gulfstream could have caused problems. Our runway is 98' wide and the wingspan of the Gulfstream is 93.6 ft.
Wawa-news had the opportunity to peek inside the cabin, wow! Travelling in this would be very, very comfortable. I didn't presume to sit in one of the plush, leather seats, but I can imagine falling asleep in one of them. In fact, the flight attendant told me that often times the passengers will do just that, fall asleep in the chairs - before she has a chance to make them up into small beds. She has a cosy, leather chair in a small cabin just beside the galley. This plane is equipped with a galley, coffee machine, stove, microwave, and fridge for travelling comfort.
But not only are the passengers spoilt, the pilots are also well looked after. A first for me to see, was the heads up display. The cockpit has all kinds of new features, and very interesting a 3D weather radar display. Too soon, though, the passengers arrived at the airport, and I took my leave of this beautiful plane. A few minutes later, after a pre-flight check, the plane began to taxi to the runway, taxiing down to the far end, then reving it's engines, Rolls-Royce's at that, took off and headed to it's next destination.
Story, Photos, Video: http://www.wawa-news.com
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