Happy Birthday

The airport in Gander is celebrating a big milestone — marking 75 years of operations today.

Happy Birthday Gander Airport

GIA Facebook

If you go to the Gander International Airport Facebook page, there is a very nice compliment made about our website dated Oct 15. It is encouraging to get these nice ‘pat on the back’ comments and we certainly do appreciate them. It is a privilege and honour to be apart of the historical aviation community.

Airport Tour For A New York Student

Just to keep everyone up to date, our website keeps gaining  attraction internationally. Just recently we received email from a young lady in New York (city) who is seeking her Masters degree and is studying the history of Decorative Arts and Design. She is writing a paper on Gander’s International Airport and particularly the role of the lounge during the post World War II travel boom of the mid fifties into the mid sixties. She has asked for our help in providing her with historical information about this subject. She will be arriving in Gander on Dec 1 to tour the Airport Lounge and we have been invited to attend by the Gander International Airport Authority. In addition we plan on a visit to the old terminal building plus to the old admin building site, the original terminal. We will be represented by Rick Stead, our Secretary. Just goes to show how much Gander Airport is known through out the world.

Air Travel, Back In Time

If anyone is interested what air travel was like back in the ‘old’ days, have a look at the picture gallery shown in a British newspaper recently. Although the photos are those of British Airways or of its parental airlines, they do show just how the aviation world grew. I am sure there are a few pictures like these out there floating around of the old airport in Gander. Keep looking in those old shoe boxes. Thanks to George Innes for this item.

Lancaster Bomber

There are only 2 Lancaster Bombers remaining in the world that are still flying. One maintained by the RAF and the other by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Mike Mcanany sent us this link a few months ago which is posted on our website in the WWII Era. This is a video of a Lancaster flight taken over southern Ontario. Please take note of the restrictive accommodations aboard this aircraft. Also note the tail gunner's location on the aircraft at the start of the video. Vic Batston, who was a tail gunner on a Lanc during the war, said that once you got into the aircraft before take off, you were there all alone until you returned. If you had to bailout, you released the canopy which dropped away and you followed it. Because of limited space, smaller built men were recruited for this position. No protection, only plexiglass and no way out only via parachute. There were not many tail gunner survivors. Very chilling. Take a look at the video and enjoy the flight