RCAF Station Claresholm

RCAF Station Claresholm
Claresholm, Alberta in Canada
RCAF Station Claresholm hangars in 2006
RCAF Station Claresholm
Location in Alberta
Coordinates 50°00′17″N 113°37′48″W / 50.00472°N 113.63000°W / 50.00472; -113.63000Coordinates: 50°00′17″N 113°37′48″W / 50.00472°N 113.63000°W / 50.00472; -113.63000
Site information
Owner Royal Canadian Air Force
Site history
Built June 9, 1941 (1941-06-09)
In use 1958 (1958)
Fate Became Claresholm Industrial Airport
Airfield information
Elevation 2,950 feet (899 m)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
2/20 3,000 feet (914 m) Hard Surface[1]
2/20 2,970 feet (905 m) Hard Surface[1]
16/34 2,950 feet (899 m) Hard Surface[1]
1634 3,270 feet (997 m) Hard Surface[1]
11/29 3,180 feet (969 m) Hard Surface[1]
11/29 2,930 feet (893 m) Hard Surface[1]
Airfields

RCAF Station Claresholm was initially 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) was opened on 9 June 1941, and closed on 30 March 1945.[2] Ansons and Cessna Cranes were the aircraft used, and its relief airfields were RCAF Woodhouse, a few kilometers east at 49°59′24″N 113°26′51″W / 49.99000°N 113.44750°W / 49.99000; -113.44750 (RCAF Woodhouse), and RCAF Pulteney, a few kilometers north.

No. 2 Flying Instructor School (FIS) opened in April 1942 but closed September 1942 and moved to Vulcan. Student pilots at No.2 FIS flew Tiger Moths and Cessna Cranes.

Aerodrome Information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at 50°00′N 113°38′W / 50.000°N 113.633°W / 50.000; -113.633 with a Var. 23 degrees E and elevation of 3,325 feet (1,013 m). Six runways were listed as follows:

Runway Name Length Width Surface
2/20 3,000 feet (914 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
2/20 3,100 feet (945 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
14/32 3,100 feet (945 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
14/32 3,100 feet (945 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
8/26 3,000 feet (914 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
8/26 3,200 feet (975 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced

[1]

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 50°00′N 113°27′W / 50.000°N 113.450°W / 50.000; -113.450 with a Var. 23 degrees E and elevation of 3,300 feet (1,006 m). Three runways were listed as follows:

Runway Name Length Width Surface
2/20 3,020 feet (920 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
14/32 3,020 feet (920 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced
8/26 3,020 feet (920 m) 100 feet (30 m) Hard surfaced

[3]

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. As of August 2011, hangars 2 to 4 are derelict and deteriorating.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Staff writer (c. 1942). Pilots Handbook of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases Vol. 2. Royal Canadian Air Force. p. 86.
  2. ↑ Hatch, F. J. (1983). The Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, 1939-1945. Ottawa: Directorate of History, Department of National Defence. ISBN 0660114437.
  3. ↑ Staff writer (c. 1942). Pilots Handbook of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases Vol. 2. Royal Canadian Air Force. p. 118.
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