If in doubt, ask.

Lindsay is a very different airport to City that’s for sure. Technically it is an uncontrolled airport with a UNICOM frequency. Those of you who don’t fly have no idea what that means so I’ll do my best to explain. City airport (CYTZ) has an air traffic controller, they issue clearances and instructions, and although the final responsibility still lies with the VFR pilot, they do their very best not to smash you into something or someone (allegedly).  When you enter their zone they give you joining instructions and generally plot your approach for you. They may issue restrictions (occasionally they forget to cancel them, leading you to wonder just how you are meant to land and yet not go below 2000ft!). The main difference is that you talk to ATC, ATC talks to you and that’s it. No chit chat between planes whatsoever.

At an uncontrolled airport like Lindsay, everyone broadcasts on the common frequency. You make position reports; you negotiate for spacing and even the runway, a little bit like the practice area but with higher stakes. So you talk amongst yourselves and it is a lot more casual. It’s not uncommon to hear things like “Hey Mike, is that you out there, how’s it going?”
 
I know that people who learn at uncontrolled airports find places like City intimidating, for me it is the opposite. Even though I wasn’t flying the concept of such a free-for-all gave me a high degree of anxiety, in my mind it all had the potential to go horribly wrong. What I didn’t realise though is that the very casual nature of the set up works to your advantage. If you don’t know what the hell you are doing, you say so and ask what’s best to do.

A couple of examples from our flight, we landed, we backtracked but it was obvious that there were two planes lined up on the taxiway with no way past for us. So RTH asked “Hey guys, where can I pull in to let you take off?” People were only too happy to oblige with a suggestion that there was a small intersection that he could pull into. Same when we were wanting to prep for takeoff, there was no obvious run up area, so RTH wandered over and asked a group of people the best place to use.
Aviation people are a friendly bunch in general, all too happy to oblige if asked. An important lesson for me when I end up at these places on my own.