RCAF Detachment Grand Bend, located near

Grand Bend Grand Bend is a community located on the shores of Lake Huron in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Municipality of Lambton Shores in Lambton County. History Grand Bend is situated on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, was built in 1942 as part of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

. It was the primary relief aerodrome ("R1") for student pilots training with No. 9 Service Flying Training School at

RCAF Station Centralia RCAF Station Centralia was a Royal Canadian Air Force training base located just outside the village of Centralia near Exeter, Ontario, Canada. It became one of the largest training stations in Canada. It was turned over to civilian use after 1967 ...

. Grand Bend was home to No. 1 Flying Control School from 1951 to 1957. The station was used by Centralia until 1961 when it began use with

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

. It was given back to the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

in 1962 and was used by RCAF Station Centralia until the aerodrome closed in 1963. Subsequent owners of the property were Eagleson Construction, John Twynsta Holdings Ltd, POG Ltd (Pickling Onion Growers)and the Grand Bend Motorplex. File:Grand Bend 1942 Hangar.JPG, The RCAF hangar seen from the taxiway, control tower on top File:RCAF Grand Bend Hangar North.jpg, The RCAF hangar seen from the north File:Grand Bend Runway 07.JPG, Runway 07, with race track surface on left side File:RCAF Grand Bend Private Aircraft.jpg, Private aircraft area near runway 07 File:RCAF Grand Bend Main Entrance.jpg, The RCAF main entrance

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Grand Bend, Ontario at with a variation of 5 degrees west and elevation of . The aerodrome was listed with three runways as follows: The Grand Bend Motorplex uses the original runway 13/31 as a

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

track. Runway 01/19 is now an access to the

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

and also the Grand Bend Speedway oval and Grand Bend Motocross

dirt bike The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', and ''dual-purpose''. ''Sport touring'' is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the ''touring' ...

tracks. The remaining runway 07/25 of the airfield is shared by the Grand Bend Raceway, the Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Center and some local private aircraft. The only RCAF building that remains is the hangar, with the control tower perched on top. The property was subsequently owned by Bell Aerospace, Exeter plastics and P.O.G. The aerodrome is now operated as the

Grand Bend Airport Grand Bend Airport is located southeast of Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. History The airport was originally established as RCAF Detachment Grand Bend by the RCAF in 1942 as a relief, or auxiliary, aerodrome for student pilots training with No. ...

References

External links

Royal Canadian Air Force website

Bruce Forsyth's Canadian Military History Page

Grand Bend Sport Parachuting Center

Grand Bend Motorplex
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Bend

Military airbases in Ontario Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Defunct airports in Ontario Military history of Ontario 1942 establishments in Ontario