RCAF Station Claresholm

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". RCAF Station Claresholm was a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan station that trained pilots for World War II service. The station was located near Claresholm, Alberta, Canada.

History

World War II

No. 15 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) opened on 9 June 1941, and closed on 30 March 1945.[1] The school used Anson and Cessna Crane aircraft, and its relief airfields were RCAF Woodhouse, a few kilometers east at Template:Coord, and RCAF Pulteney, a few kilometers north. No. 2 Flying Instructor School (FIS) was established as a sub unit of No. 15 SFTS on 27 April 1942 but relocated in September 1942 to Vulcan.[2] Student pilots at No.2 FIS flew Tiger Moths and Cessna Cranes.

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at Template:Coord with a variation of 23 degrees east and elevation of Template:Convert. Six runways were listed as follows:[3]

Runway Name Length Width Surface
2/20 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
2/20 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
14/32 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
14/32 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
8/26 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
8/26 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced

Relief landing field – Woodhouse

The primary Relief Landing Field (R1) for RCAF Station Claresholm was located southeast of the community of Claresholm. In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at Template:Coord with a variation of 23 degrees east and elevation of Template:Convert. Three runways were listed as follows:[4]

Runway Name Length Width Surface
2/20 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
14/32 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced
8/26 Template:Convert Template:Convert Hard surfaced

A more accurate set of coordinates can be found at Template:Coord[5] at this location the outline of the three runways is still visible on Google Earth. The site is presently used for agricultural purposes.

Postwar

Claresholm was placed on care and maintenance status until reactivated in 1951 as a NATO training centre run by No. 3 Flying Training School (flying Harvards). The station closed again in 1958 when the school was relocated to Gimli, Manitoba. It is now the Claresholm Industrial Airport. Template:As of, hangars 2 to 4 are derelict and deteriorating.

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ "Map: Cranbrook-Lethbridge, Air Navigation Edition." Hydrographic and Map Service: Canada Department of Mines and Resources, Surveys and Engineering Branch, July 1941.
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