RCAF Station Penhold

RCAF Station Penhold was a Second World War British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) station located near Penhold, Alberta, Canada.

RCAF Station Penhold
Near Penhold, Alberta in Canada
RCAF Station Penhold
Coordinates52.177°N 113.890°W / 52.177; -113.890
Site information
OwnerDept of National Defence (Canada)
Site history
In use1941-4;
Garrison information
OccupantsNo. 36 SFTS (1941-44)
Airfield information
Elevation2,950 ft (900 m) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
2/20 3,000 ft (910 m) Hard Surface
2/20 2,970 ft (910 m) Hard Surface
16/34 2,950 ft (900 m) Hard Surface
16/34 3,270 ft (1,000 m) Hard Surface
11/29 3,180 ft (970 m) Hard Surface
11/29 2,930 ft (890 m) Hard Surface
Airfields

History

World War II

In 1939, farmland was purchased and land cleared for the future base. In 1940 the base opened as a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Manning Depot with one building. Five hangars and 31 other buildings were under construction well into 1941 including barracks, service buildings and administrative buildings. Six hard surfaced runways 900 to 1075 metres long made up the airfield. Two additional hangars were built for a total of seven. In August 1941, the base was handed over to the Royal Air Force and on 28 September 1941, No. 36 Service Flying Training School was transferred from Britain. It was one of several schools established as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.[1] The school was disbanded on 3 November 1944.[2] and the base was officially handed back to the RCAF who began the process of closing the base. The station was operated and administered by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed at 52°11′N 113°54′W with a Var. 24.5 degrees E and elevation of 2,850 ft (870 m). Six runways were listed as follows:|}[3]

Runway Name Length Width Surface
2/20 3,000 ft (910 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced
2/20 2,970 ft (910 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced
16/34 2,950 ft (900 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced
16/34 3,270 ft (1,000 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced
11/29 3,180 ft (970 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced
11/29 2,930 ft (890 m) 100 ft (30 m) Hard surfaced

Relief landing field – Innisfail

The primary Relief Landing Field (R1) for RCAF Station Penhold was located northwest of the community of Innisfail. For more information please see Innisfail Aerodrome

Relief landing field – Blackfalds

The Secondary Relief Landing Field (R2) for RCAF Station Penhold was located west of the community of Blackfalds, it was located at 52°23′09″N 113°54′13″W[4]

Cold War

It re-opened in 1952 as a RCAF flying school training pilots for member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The airfield closed 1965 and in 1966 the City of Red Deer took over operation of the airfield, naming it the Red Deer Industrial Airport. The station was also home to a Pinetree Line radar station and the provincial emergency government headquarters bunker for the province of Alberta.

The remainder of the base continued in operation as CFB Penhold, although it was downgraded to a detachment of CFB Edmonton in 1990. In 1994 the base was decommissioned and closed.

Post Closure

Mynarski Park, the residential portion of the base, was renamed Springbrook in 1995 when private developers purchased the lands from the Department of National Defence. The operational area of the base near the airfield was sold to a different developer which referred to the area as Harvard Park.[1] In 1999, airfield operations were taken over by the newly-created Red Deer Regional Airport Authority, a partnership of the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County, and the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce. The Royal Canadian Air Cadets operated the Penhold Air Cadet Summer Training Centre at the former base until the Centre was closed in 2014.[5]

Present day

The aerodrome is now operated as the Red Deer Regional Airport

References
  1. http://www.paulpettypiece.com/penhold_base.htm
  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. 111.
  4. "Royal Canadian Air Force second central registry and file classification system : C-5883". Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  5. "End of an era: the doors have closed on Penhold Air Cadet summer training centre". Red Deer Advocate. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
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