The Canadian Aviation Moments were submitted by Dennis Casper from the Roland Groome (Regina) Chapter of the CAHS. Spoiler alert - if you read any further than each question, you will find the answer to the questions directly below. Good luck and have fun!
The Canadian Aviation Moments questions and answers for July are:
QUESTION: What RCAF Station, although only operational for four years, had the most diverse sets of operations in both the civil and military aviation realms for the period?
ANSWER: “Lost in time and history is a small but significant RCAF station in the Ottawa area. Shirley’s Bay was only operational for four years, from 1925 to 1928, but these were important years for the RCAF in which much was learned of the new capabilities of nascent air force. Added to the youth of the air force was the fact that the station had the most diverse sets of operations in both the civil and military aviation realms for the period.”
SOURCE: RCAF Station Shirley’s Bay, by Mathias Joost, CAHS Journal, Summer 2012, Page 66
Question: What was, other than a few makeshift farmers field-type landing strips, Canada’s first airfield?
Answer: “Correctly anticipating that Canadians would be lining up to join the RNAS., McCurdy established a school at Long Branch, on the shores of Lake Ontario, eight miles west of Toronto. The site covered 100 acres and included three hangars, a landing strip, and three Curtiss F flying-boats. Other than a few makeshift, farmers’ field-type landing strips, Long Branch was Canada’s first airfield.”
Source: Dancing In The Sky – Page 28
QUESTION: Who was the first Canadian to score the first aerial victory during WWI. Where was he from, which Air Force was he with (RAF, RFC, RNAS), and when was the first Canadian aerial victory scored.
ANSWER: C - “On 14 December, 1915, a two-seater Nieuport, No.3971, of No.1 wing, R.N.A.S., Dunkirk, was patrolling over the sea between Nieuport and Dixmude, hunting for enemy aircraft which had been trying to bomb a British ship stranded on a sandbank off La Panne.” “Thus concluded the air battle in which the first aerial victory was scored by a Canadian.” “Flight Sub-lieutenant Arthur Strachan Ince was born at Toronto, Ontario in 1892. He joined the Royal Naval air service in 1915 and trained as a pilot at the Curtiss Aviation School, Long branch, Ontario, being the first to graduate on July 11, 1915.”
SOURCE: The First Canadian Aerial Victory, by H. Creagen, Journal of what is now called the Canadian Aviation Historical Society Journal, Jan. ’63, Page 4-5