HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-12-04, Page 21)1 D.ec. 1 0 9 6 7 t) 5 ,
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Thisphoto taken from the air theto
remains oftlone of the war time buildings. after fire
destroyed it. The building housed Huron Railing.before it was leyelle4 in November of
1971. (photo by Lloyd Atfieid )
'The war time activity at Sky Harbor kicked off what w4s to be over a decade of successful
aviation business in 'Goderich. Here some of the 1943 gr6una crew workers give a Tiger=
moth its 30-hour•check. (photo by Lloyd Atfield) •
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Sky Harbor was at its war time peak in 1944 and had been 'the' training site for over 5,0110.
pilots in the airforce. Here sonic of the training aircraft are lined up in front of Hangar
Number One. (photo by Lloyd Atfield)
In the mid '60'x the main E =V 3,000 Soot runway al -Sky Harbor was graded and paved to
Handle the air traffie•'the flo rishing airport,was receiving.. The paving job was to last ,'
abot t. °five years until it would, need recapping and is still.the only paved runway being
used.regularly today. (photo by Lloyd Atfield)~
•
12$ YEAR -49
THURSDAY, DECEM ER 4, 1975
• THiRD SECTION
A
From grdSSO asphalt
Sky Harbor ownership
Changes delay development
BY JEFF SEDDON
• Sky Harbor Airport, now 'a
publicly owned and operated
airstrip, has survived nearly •
50 years of ownership
changes,- natural disasters
and neglect and has,, still
wanaged to maintain a
distinctive character that
sets it apart from ,the hun-
dreds of similar small
community airports in
Canada today,
The natural boundaries of
Sky Harbor, Lake Huron and
the Maitland River; its
proximity to Goderich that
allows easy access from the'
town but does not hamper air
traffic; its location along
tourist routes to " Northern
Ontario; and the fact that' it
borders the large populated,
portion of Ontario, afford it a
huge potential as a haven for
'industrial and recreational
flying :in smaller types of.
aircraft.
Sky Harbor began in 1920 as
an idea of the, clerk of the
town of Goderich at that time.
During the post' World War I
flurry of flying activity
throughout Canada -the clerk
at that time made an official
enquiry to the Aero Club of
Canada about °the possibility
of founding an affiliated
. flying club as a mu'nicipal
enterprise, but the project
failed to materialize.
Again in 1927 Goderich htd
a chance to construct- an
airport but 'was too smoll to
make the project successful.
At that time the Minister of
National Defence, Mr.
Desbarats, sent form letters
to the mayors of Canadian
towns and cities asking about
local ,interest in founding
community airfields.
This . was the year of the
organization of the Liat
Aeroplane Club program in
Canada .and marked the first
official recognition of the
need to sustain civil aviation
by governmental support.
Goderich was at that time a
town of 4,000 and could not
„ sustain an airport. Most cities
that did take advantage of the
program we're in the -25,000
plus range.
The Trans -Canada Airway
of the 1930's by-passed
Goderich because the town
was not located eith'e'r on the
direct trans -continental route
nor aligned with the penin-
sular belt of industrial cities,
At best a municipality of, this
kind would ,have only a relier.f
, rated field, even if;it had been
on one of the direct routes.
There was obviously no
market for an individual air
link.
The first small airport to be
located in Goderich was a
private ,one established by
Cass Hough of Detroit. Mr.
Hough leased a 105 -acre field
The Sky Harbor hangar fire ifit 1970 destroyed the Number
One hangar -,that housed Most of the Sky Harbor Air Ser -
I.,
vices. The blaze was a turning point for thOeclining air-
port business. ( photo by Lloyd Atfield ).•
on the southeast corner of the
present airport site. The land
was leased from O.E.
Fleming, G.C. and from this
modest beginning enough
local enthusiasm was
generated. to - construct a
small hangar large enough to
shelter three aircraft and
install a 500 gallon gasoline
tank,
•
The • airfield was n_o •r.•'
licenced but its -convenient
`iocatii)n . from ' Toronto,
London and ::.evc'ral southern
west and north by leatsiti'g and
acquire control of the'
controversial 25 acrd strip
along the high way.
COUNTY PRO,C1-:1 D! D
. When, the leases were
cleared the county proceeded
to develop the site. Officials
decided on. an L shaped •
landing ground and the new
'`space provided for• an E -W
strip 3,000 feet in length and a
N -S strip along the western
side of the field also 3,000 feet
Michigan centres attracted • long. With the inclusion of the
north of Hough's old tract a
NW -SE strip of 3,000 feet was
added.' fly August of 1939 the'
field hadbeen smoothed.
trea<g •_and stumps removed
and a ditch filled,
The 'improvements •by the
County exactly coincided with
the Department of -National
Defence projects. to improve
likely airfields in Canada to
accommodate a vastly ex-
panded •aairforce training
program. .4.d,
On August 25, 1989 Huron
County Airport`'was offered to
the Crown for as long as it
some transient traffic. The
airstrip was scarcely a public
'venture hut diel arouse
enough enthusiasm°. and
public interest in aviati,pn -to
pave the way for the founding
of' Sky Harbor airport as a
Community \enture.
I.)uri'rag 193-38 plans were
in --the offing to establish an
official Huron County airport.
°I'he rdcuul site was one Mr.
Clough had already selected
and' partia.all.y developed,
. Goderich.'
Legal, difficulties en-
• countered- when 'establishing
the' field a public enterprise
resulted from difficulties with
thelease op the old site, son'ae
confliCt of interests, a lack of_
communication with the
Department of.Transport and
the fact the. airport had not,
nre','iously been licenced.
;+ fir,,} +e Rhe problems it was
announced in July 1938 that
Huron County Sky Harbor
Airport was to) open on July 3,0
with a rr.on•ster air ghow in-
cluding a "mass fly. in.,
aerobatics, flour bombing;'
spot landings, air races and
parachute jumps. In .spite of
the restricted space it was
announced that four Ford Tri -
'Motors and a •Lockheed were
to land.
Three days. before the.
scheduled opening a report•c>n
the dimensions of the airstrip
was firrally, telegraphed to the
,controller -of civil aviation;
The 105 acre .tract, contained
four runways, graded to a
width of 150 feet and iden-
- tified E -W 2,360 feet, NE -SW
1,700 feet, NW -SW 1,950 feet
and- "N=S 1,000 feet. High
tension wires along the
southern . . and eastern
boundaries created an, ap-
proach hazard as did scat-
tered trees elsewhere around
the perimeter,
The oroble"ms ca the licence
and the 'lease were not
resolved on, time but. the air
meet 'did take place, but on a
somewhat less 'ambitious
scale.•
After the meet a Raymond
Dean succeeded . Mr, Hough
as lessee arid, applied foil a
e licence fbr the air.,port in 'the
name of.the•Sky Harbor Air
Club. County officials . had
also made a similar ap-
plication, and r'eq,uested
authority to develop the site.
.In October 1938 a tem-
porary licence was granted to
Mr, Dean since the field was
not considered adequate for a
public licence, .Mr. "Shorty"
Finlayson began training six
pupils in a Taylorcraft air-
plane, ' •
The.i Dean IFeence drew a
great deal of public op-
. pesitipn since it prevented thea
municipality from ,par-
ticipating in airport affairs,
Public funds, it ,was pointed
out 'at -the time, would enable
the field to be .graded and
brought to the required
standards for a public
licence. As ,.a further com-
plication a vital 25 acre strip
of land. along Highway 21
belonging to Mr. Fleming was
not included in the lease and
access to the land was not
permitted by the owner.
The lease problems were
finally resolved in May of 1939
when the county of Huron
bought out Mr. Dean's in
terest in the lease for the sum
of 4440. The county also
acquired more land to the
might be needed for R°.C.A,F. form the Huron County
training. The county agreed " Flyin Training School. •
“to purchase the entire site for J.12..— Douglas was the
$11,500 to undertake further general manager and Keith
grading and clearing and to Hopkinson, who later became
remove the power lines which the owner -Manager of the
restricted approaches Co the airport, was "the wartime
oouth and,e•ast. ' chief ground instructor. By
e A new plan fpr the airport October 1940 Number 12
was prepared in 1940 by the `S.F.'''.was able to begin
Air Services.... branch of the •traintngpilots.
Department of Transport and Two standard • wooden-_
an agreement drafted bet- hangars were constructed as
ween the corporation of the well as... ,Sonne 24 wooden
County of Huron and His service buildings. all of .them
Majesty by which the ta-rrfield .alo"ng the'southern perimeter
was leased for one dollar per of the airstrip,- Additional
year for the duration of the levelling of • the land -was
war and for such time as it undertaken' and a standard.
might be required. Service aigort zoning was
The Defence department 'applied: c)ne'foot in 50 feet off
•decided to establish an the ehdsof th runway.
Elementary Fling Traln.ing
School at Goderich since the TIYAIN1 D 5,800 •
-
site was conveniently scaled
to this sort ,of operation. The The school perated until
schools were being ,operated late -,-1944. A ba k'log of pilots
on a contract basis with from the -6 sch ols. in Canada
rivilian companies or 'had accumulate'd' and some
existing flying clubs but Sky '5,800 R.C...A. '. and' Fleet Mr
Harbor lacked the personnel _Arm pilets had received their
and the experience to accept elementary training' . at
a 'contract so 'the Kitchener (continued on page 8B)
Waterloo Club "contracted.to
Harbor of its peak..
machine shop-...
0
aircraft parts •••.
rt.
radio repairs ...
772. r