Operations at uncontrolled airports are usually that way because there is not enough traffic to justify the expense of a tower. Some uncontrolled airports can be busy enough to desparately make one wish for one.

At one recent flight to Barrie-Orillia (CNB9), the airport turned into a “Roach Motel” or “Hotel California”: it was possible to arrive but not to leave. This came about from unlucky weather, in two ways. First, the weather was lovely that day: one of the first nice days this spring. This meant that all the flight schools were buzzing with activity, buzzing all little airports. Second, the winds were blowing from the east, meaning that runways numbered 1 to 17 were being used at airports in the area.

In the case of this day at CNB9, this meant that there were three or four airplanes in the traffic circuit, all of them for runway 10, with about thirty seconds between them. That’s okay, as long as they all only land, or perform touch-and-goes, it’s nice and orderly. Consider the point of view of someone needing to depart however. The apron is located at the far east of the airport, which is the end of runway 10. There are no taxiways to roll over to the beginning of the runway, so one would have to backtaxi on the runway itself. But taxiing so far takes several minutes, at the same time as the student traffic wants to use the runway continuously in the opposite direction.

So, this particular day, GXRP and its two operators ended up waiting at the apron/runway intersection for ten minutes, for a break in the traffic. The break never came. So I announced on the radio that I gave up, and intended to depart downwind instead, so I would not have to backtaxi. Even now the students didn’t take the hint that I’ve been wasting gas: they kept going with their touch-and-goes. After another few minutes, finally, one student decided to land, thus taking the runway for a longer time. I announced that I would let the incoming person pass GXRP, and that I’d taxi onto the runway at the same time. The clue bat smacked the next person about to land, and he announced that he’d pass beside but not on the runway. Finally, freedom! GXRP’s engines roared, and despite the undesirable tailwind, we got the heck out of there on the opposite runway direction (28).

If the touch-and-go gang had a little more courtesy, they could have extended their path, or volunteered to circle, or slow down, that frustrating delay need not have grown quite so long. If there was a control tower, the controllers would have imposed etiquette on all of us. As it happened, I had to improvise an uncomfortable technique just to escape barrietraz.