Delays occurred late last fall for the construction of the new helipad at the Portage District General Hospital. Activity's already taking place with the arrival of spring, and KF Aerospace Southport site manager Peter Fedak's getting ready to donate use of a helicopter for testing.

"I'm working on getting approval from public service to use the helicopter for that type of activity, " says Fedak. "There was a question raised about that so we've gone through some formal steps to have that arranged. I'm just waiting to hear back from them."

Fedak says they'll fly an aircraft around the helipad for an hour or two in the flight-path of the profile required. He adds it's an archaic approach, seeing as there are computer simulators to ensure all is okay, but officials are asking for an actual flight for their tests.