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ISSUE 579 - April 2019
Over 9,000 Total Ads Listed
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| North Atlantic Aviation Museum - Part I |
By Kevin Moore, Contributing
Editor & Photographer
Watford, Ontario, Canada |
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| Sitting alongside the highway, the North Atlantic Aviation Museum in Gander is easy to miss... if you're not looking for it.... but it houses some unique aviation history. |
| Few people outside of those who have visited Gander, Newfoundland & Labrador have probably heard of the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. Those who have would likely call it a diamond in the rough. You might also think Gander an unusual place for an aviation museum but Gander actually has a storied history in aviation from the late 1930s to September 9, 2001. |
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| The unassuming building that is the North Atlantic Aviation Museum could easily be missed if not for the large tail section of a Douglas DC-3 protruding from above the entry doors. |
| Gander was a stopping off point for many aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean for years. It was the last place in North America where aircraft could fuel up before making their way eastward and the first fuel stop for those heading westward. Today, modern jet airliners can easily cross the Atlantic but Gander is still a stopping point for smaller aircraft that aren't capable of carrying the necessary fuel to get them across the pond from their home base to their destinations. |
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The first flight at Gander Airport was made by Captain Douglas Fraser
flying a de Havilland Fox Moth in 1938. |
| The first flight into Gander, Newfoundland occurred on January 11, 1938 by Captain Douglas Fraser of Imperial Airways in a de Havilland Fox Moth, on skis, flying for the Newfoundland Government. Fraser flew search & rescue missions, carried mail, did survey work, collected weather data and flew seal spotting as well as flying excursion flights. |
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| During World War II many aircraft were flown across the Atlantic to Allied forces in the UK and Europe including the Avro Lancaster, left, and Boeing B-17, right. |
| During World War II, aircraft stopped in Gander, known as RCAF Station Gander, for fuel before making their way out over the Atlantic Ocean and their next fuel stop, possibly in Greenland, Iceland or Ireland. Avro Lancasters, B-17 Flying Fortresses, P-51 Mustangs, DC-3 Dakota/C-47 Skytrains and many other aircraft types, often flown by the women of the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) and WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), were built in Canada and the United States and flown across the Atlantic to join in the efforts of the Allied Forces fighting the Germans. |
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| The US Military, left, held a large presence at RCAF Gander during World War II. Another aircraft that used RCAF Gander as a fuel and rest stop during World War II was the de Havilland of Canada Mosquito, right. |
Gander became an integral part of Allied operations during World War II but was also considered a liability should it fall into enemy hands so the US government offered their services. Gander grew exponentially during the height of the war and housed as many as 10,000 Canadian, British and American military and civilian personnel assisting in the war effort including anti-submarine patrol aircraft flying in support of shipping convoys in defending against German submarines. Over 9000 Allied aircraft made the flight across the Atlantic during World War II. |
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| Many aircraft flew across the Atlantic with civilian airlines post-war including the DC-3, DC-4, Boeing Stratoliner as well as other aircraft. |
| RCAF Station Gander had four runways and, within the first four years of being built, became the largest airport in the world at the time. Post-war, transatlantic airline flights utilised Gander as their last fuel stop before flying to Ireland and beyond with the first official flight by American Overseas Airlines flying a DC-4. |
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There are 5 complete aircraft in the collection including a Beech 18 Expeditor, left,
and a CF-101 Voodoo, right. |
| The NAAM first opened its doors in 1996 and is dedicated to preserving and displaying Gander's role in transatlantic aviation. The museum is home to 5 complete aircraft as well as the nose and tail section of an early model DC-3. The museum also houses several aviation engines and artifacts on display for visitors to see and read about, including a very dark day in aviation, 9/11. |
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One of the most identifiable aircraft in the collection is the Vickers PBY-5A Canso, seen here in the colours of the Newfoundland governments Forestry Service firefighting water bomber. |
| The museum's PBY-5A Canso operated in Newfoundland as a water bomber, fighting forest fires in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canso was the Canadian version of the Catalina and was built by Boeing Aircraft in Vancouver, British Columbia using US made parts and by Canadian Vickers, built from the ground up with the first Canadian Boeing Canso flying in July 1941 and the first by Vickers in December of 1942. In total, 730 Canso/Catalina aircraft were built in Canada. After World War II, many Canso and Catalina aircraft were used in a fire fighting role as water bombers and the museum's example served in that role with the Newfoundland government Forestry Service from 1966 until 1987. |
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The Lockheed Hudson was the first aircraft purposefully flown across the Atlantic Ocean by the RAF to determine whether doing so was a viable option to get aircraft to England in support of the war effort. |
| The Lockheed Hudson is a IIIA (A-29) and was donated by Field Aviation to a group of volunteers in Newfoundland who wanted to create a monument to World War II, Royal Air Force Ferry Command crews. Hudsons served as coastal reconnaissance bombers and with RAF Ferry Command and was the first aircraft flown across the Atlantic during the war. They were used by the RAF, RCAF, Royal Navy and the USAF, as well as other military forces, and served as bombers, torpedo aircraft, trainers and in the aforementioned reconnaissance role. |
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| Next week we'll return to Gander, Newfoundland to have another look at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum including displays inside and outside the museum. |
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An early ATC panel (left) and radar (right),
helping keep track of flights departing and arriving at Gander. |
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| An early training aid to assist with flight training for aircrews, a link trainer, left. An early airport beacon used at Gander Airport for many years, right. |
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Former Newfoundland Forestry Service PBY-5A Canso, looking a little weathered. |
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