The airfield was opened on May 20, 1915, by Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors Company for the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps. Aircraft such as the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" and the Curtiss F-type flying boats soon became a common sight at the airfield. John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, the first person to fly an airplane in the British Empire, was hired as the airport's first manager.[2] The airport had a small corrugated metal hangar with space for three small aircraft [3] and a barnhouse. There was no runway, but a grass/dirt strip for landing.
Image of Curtiss airplane at Long Branch Aerodrome in 1917
In January 1917, the newly designated Royal Flying Corps Canada, opened the RFC training centre at Long Branch. The Long Branch training centre also provided instruction on flying boats at nearby Hanlan's Point on Toronto Islands, the first seaplane base in Canada. By July 1917, the flight school relocated to Armour Heights Field. Long Branch became the Cadet Ground Training School for the Royal Flying Corps. Both the school and the aerodrome closed in 1919. During World War II, the former aerodrome served initially as Non-Permanent Active Militia's No 21 Training Centre and then as an army small arms training centre.
After the war, the Lakeview Armoury was established on the site, but was demolished in the 1950s.
In 1967 Richmond College, predecessor to Canada Christian College, established their first campus here.
long, branch, aerodrome, airfield, located, west, toronto, ontario, just, east, port, credit, mississauga, canada, first, aerodrome, airport, opened, curtiss, flying, school, part, curtiss, aeroplane, motor, company, pilot, training, school, 1915, 1917, airpor. Long Branch Aerodrome was an airfield located west of Toronto Ontario and just east of Port Credit now Mississauga and was Canada s first aerodrome 1 The airport was opened by the Curtiss Flying School part of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company as a pilot training school in 1915 2 In 1917 the airport was run by the Royal Flying Corps RFC and then closed in 1919 It is recognized by the existence of Aviation Road in the Lakeview Mississauga community and a historical plaque LBAclass notpageimage Location just outside Toronto The aerodrome was one of several in the Toronto area including three near Downsview For many years it was the site of Ontario Power Generation s Lakeview Generating Station As of 2009 it became a brownfield site awaiting redevelopment Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory edit nbsp Aerial image of Long Branch Aerodrome in 1916 The airfield was opened on May 20 1915 by Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors Company for the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps Aircraft such as the Curtiss JN 4 Jenny and the Curtiss F type flying boats soon became a common sight at the airfield John Alexander Douglas McCurdy the first person to fly an airplane in the British Empire was hired as the airport s first manager 2 The airport had a small corrugated metal hangar with space for three small aircraft 3 and a barnhouse There was no runway but a grass dirt strip for landing nbsp Image of Curtiss airplane at Long Branch Aerodrome in 1917 In January 1917 the newly designated Royal Flying Corps Canada opened the RFC training centre at Long Branch The Long Branch training centre also provided instruction on flying boats at nearby Hanlan s Point on Toronto Islands the first seaplane base in Canada By July 1917 the flight school relocated to Armour Heights Field Long Branch became the Cadet Ground Training School for the Royal Flying Corps Both the school and the aerodrome closed in 1919 During World War II the former aerodrome served initially as Non Permanent Active Militia s No 21 Training Centre and then as an army small arms training centre After the war the Lakeview Armoury was established on the site but was demolished in the 1950s In 1967 Richmond College predecessor to Canada Christian College established their first campus here See also editList of abandoned airports in Canada List of airports in the Greater Toronto AreaReferences edit Development of Canadian Airports a b Long Branch Archived 2009 01 05 at the Wayback Machine Canada s First Aerodrome Long Branch Curtiss Aviation School by Liwen Chen 43 34 26 N 079 33 16 W 43 57389 N 79 55444 W 43 57389 79 55444 Long Branch Aerodrome External links editHistorical plaque Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Long Branch Aerodrome amp oldid 1186784696, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
