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Sunday, June 23, 2013

International Airport Proposed For Trepassey, NL.

There was a time when Trepassey was recommended to be the home of an International Seaplane Base. This was not an official recommendation but suggested by non other than the famous aviator Amelia Earhart. This information is noted in the Nfld Archive Webpage taken from the June 21, 1928 edition of the New York Times report of an interview with Amelia herself. Apparently from her experience flying into Nfld. and continuing on to become the first woman pilot to fly the North Atlantic, she proposed this location from her personal observations. At that time it was no secret that the British Government was planning an aerodrome (land or water) to be constructed in Nfld. for their proposed airmail link to North America so we assume she felt she would pass along a recommendation for their consideration. I don't think she was familiar with the frequency of fog in this area. Another feature which they found out after Botwood was established was that a seaplane base in Nfld. could not be operational 365 days of the year due to our winter ice conditions. This was a determining factor in their decision to construct a land base aerodrome.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Gander Airport Older Than London Heathrow?

Watching a video on YouTube about the initial construction of London Heathrow Airport and learned this interesting fact. Work on this new airport commenced in April 1944 and was officially opened on Jan 1,1946 with the departure of it's first flight, eight years after Gander was opened. Heathrow's first terminal was a military tent. At the time Gander was a thriving airport with it's second terminal building. The video talks about the need for such an airport with the startup of commercial aviation worldwide. Gander Airport may have set an example for this necessity. Because the British were instrumental in the construction and operation of Gander Airport, one has to wonder if any of the lessons learned at Gander were passed along. Heathrow is a different place today.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

North Atlantic Aviation Museum

A very interesting article published in the Gander Beacon last week about renovations to the North Atlantic Aviation Museum carried out in the past year especially their new project, Hangar the Hudson Initiative . The GAHS is a big supporter of the museum and would ask people living here or visiting the Gander area to drop by and see for yourself why this history is so important. If not, visit their excellent website for a look around.The people of Gander should be very proud of the NAA Museum's effort to preserve the contribution Gander Airport has made to aviation. We applaud their work.

Friday, June 14, 2013

GAHS Board of Directors

We have added another director to the GAHS.  George Innes, a director on the  Gander International Airport Authority has agreed to join our group. He brings with him many years of financial organization experience to groups such as ours and is most welcomed. This brings our numbers to 6 which is the required number to form our official BoD where it will be formalized at a meeting to be held in the near future. At this meeting a new executive will be formed from among these members.

Members of the Board are:

  • Peter Hoyles
  • George Innes
  • Rev. Marion Pardy
  • Robert Pelley
  • Jack Pinsent
  • Rick Stead


Thursday, June 6, 2013

New Addition to GAHS


Just to let everyone know Peter Hoyles has agreed to join our group to assist us in our endeavours. I met recently with Peter, along with Rick Stead, where we discussed our proposed model for the old airport town. Great interest was shown by both guys as they showed me some old documents on the original layout of the airport from the early 50s. These old plans will be vital in the model's construction  Also discussed was the potential and the need for this project to go ahead in order to preserve the airport's history. If you are in the Gander area and happen to run into Rick or Peter, say hello and pass along any comments or ideas you might have.