Aircraft Accidents & Incidents

We just finished posting a piece about Airplane Accident & Incidents at Gander during the war and up to 1960. We thank Bob Pelley for the research and hard work he did in gathering all this data. From this information we noticed there is a record (Item 2.5) of a RCAF B24 crashing and sinking in Gander Lake on Sept 18, 1944. Well Tony, she is down there so go and get her. I am sure the North Atlantic Aviation Museum will be following these events with great interest.

Listen to Stuart McLean

Reading through the 30s ERA on our website, it take some time to get your head around just what was happening with aviation and the wonderment of the fore site that came into play. Lindberg flew across the Atlantic in 1927. The biggest passenger aircraft flying at the time was the Ford Trimotor. Yet in 1932 the British Government in agreement with Canada decided to build an airport in Newfoundland during the height of a world wide depression. In 1935, in the middle of the wilderness, with the only infrastructure being a narrow gauge railway, construction was commenced on an airport with the only workforce available being mostly unskilled workers. In 1938 these unskilled workers became carpenters, electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators and mechanics and had constructed four 5000 ft runways along with a three story administration/terminal building and one of the largest hangers in the world. Named the Newfoundland Airport, later to be renamed Gander by the military, was one the largest airports in the world to handle aircraft that weren't yet built. It led to the birth of trans atlantic commercial aviation. Stuart McLean summed it all up on his Vinyl Cafe show held recently at the Arts Centre in Gander, the contribution Gander Airport has made to the aviation world. To listen to his comments, follow this link.

Frank Tibbo's Columns on John Murphy

As promised, we have posted Frank Tibbo's columns on John Murphy. Without a doubt John fits our description as an aviation pioneer for his contribution to north atlantic commercial air travel. We would also like to add John Murphy's name in joining Group Captain Foss,  Dr. Samuel Martin, and USCG Commander Stew Graham as future Gander street names to be considered.

Aviation Archaeology

As a follow up to the Gander Lake Venture of Tony Merkle, we thought everyone that has an interest in the GAHS should be of aware of the archaeological work being carried out in the Gander area dealing with aircraft crashes during WWII and some digs in and around the old airport town site. This work is been carried out by Lisa Daly, an aviation archaeologist currently completing her doctorate degree at Memorial University. Her work is available on her website and we here at GAHS recommend you take the time to view her efforts. We will be placing a link to Lisa's site on this page for future reference.

Sabena Crash Rescue Videos

We just posted links to video associated with the Sabena crash from news reels by Pathe Uk and a USCG documentary. When viewing these videos, take particular notice to one scene used in several of the videos, of a PBY landing on R32 with two very large hangers in the background. For those seeing these hangers for the very first time, these were the USAAF hangers located on the American side. Their location would be where the Airport Fire Hall and Terminal buildings are located today. Also pay particular attention as to how large these hangers where. It was an eye opener for me because I had forgotten how huge these buildings were. There must have been 8 or 9 of those hangers located on the American side. One of which was converted into a hockey stadium and used for years before relocating to the drill hall on Foss Ave. An Olympic size ice surface was no problem in these buildings.