Canadian Aeroplanes Limited – 1917-1918
A Curtiss JN-4 is used as an aerial ambulance by the Royal Flying Corps Canada, Camp Leaside, OntarioImage Credit: Library and Archives Canada To equip the RFC (Canada) flying schools, the Imperial Munitions Board of the UK established Canadian Aeroplanes Limited (CAL) in Toronto in December 1916 which took over the Curtiss factory on Strachan Avenue and began a major expansion plan. CAL’s first Curtiss JN-4 (Canadian) or “Canuck” trainer was completed in January 1917 and flown for the first time by American pilot Bertrand Blanchard Acosta who had been a flight instructor at the Curtiss school and went on to become a colourful aviation celebrity. In May 1916, CAL opened a new 21,831sq m (235,000 sq ft) factory near the corner of Dufferin Street and Dupont Avenue in Toronto that would eventually employ 2,400 people. The CAL factory operated 24 hours a day, with two shifts from 7 am to 7 pm and 7 pm to 7 am, with a 30-minute break at noon and midnight for meals. The OX5 aircraft engines came from Detroit, the spruce for the wings from British Columbia, and the fabric that covered the aircraft came from a mill in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. At peak, the factory produced 12 to 16 JN-4s a day for the RFC (Canada) and for the US military, where the JN-4 (Canadian) accounted for about 40 to 50 percent of the pilot training fleet in early 1918. CAL had built an estimated 1,210 complete JN-4 and spare parts equivalent to another 1,600 aircraft which were used to overhaul aircraft or repair those damaged in frequent accidents. The plant also produced 30 large twin-engine Felixstowe F-5-L flying boats for the US Navy, which had a 103 ft 9 in (31.62 m) wingspan and were delivered to the US in crates on three railcars each. The Canadian Aeroplanes Limited factory was recognized as one of the most efficient aircraft factories in North America during the war. It was the also the largest factory space in Toronto at the time. All operations ceased shortly after the Armistice in November 1918 and all the experience was lost. – Kenneth Swartz Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working together on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.
Curtiss Flying School – 1915-1916
Curtiss Aviation School, LakeviewImage Credit: Toronto Public Library Digital Archive The Curtiss Flying School opened on May 10, 1915, and attracted students from across Canada passionate about learning to fly and fighting in Europe. The training included initial instruction on Curtiss F flying boats based at Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Island and advanced training and solo flying in Curtiss JN-3s on wheels at the company airfield in Long Branch. Students paid their own tuition which was $400 (equivalent to $9,060 in 2021) for 400 minutes of training by American instructors. This was considered sufficient time for a novice pilot to pass the requirements for an internationally recognized pilots’ licence. Once a pilot had their license, the students would travel to Ottawa to enrol in the RNAS which then paid for their passage to the UK where they would also receive a reimbursement for their training. Later, the Royal Flying Corp (RFC) tried to lure the flying school’s students with similar incentives. During its two years of operation (including a pause during the winter) the school graduated 129 pilots and 35 died for their country overseas. Many other young Canadians took their flight training in the US before traveling to the UK. During 1915-1916, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. established Canada’s first aircraft factory, first flying school, first airport at Long Branch and seaplane base in Toronto harbour. – Kenneth Swartz Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working together on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Ltd. – 1915-1916
Curtiss JN-3Image Credit: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive In early 1915, the British War Office asks the Canadian government’s permission to actively recruit candidates for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), followed by the British Admiralty which requests to enlist applicants in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Candidates for both the RFC and RNAS are required to secure pilot’s certificates at their own expense. With the outbreak of war in Europe, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company Ltd. of Hammondsport, New York established a subsidiary in Toronto under the management of John A. D. McCurdy, age 29, to train pilots and build aircraft. The company opened Canada’s first aircraft factory at 20 Strachan Avenue in downtown Toronto in April 1915 and began building six JN-3 biplane trainers for its own flying school in Toronto and 12 for the Royal Naval Air Service in the UK. The first JN-3 was flown on July 14, 1915, at an airfield the company constructed at Long Branch on a former militia rifle range on western outskirts of Toronto. Production of the JN-3s was soon suspended so the company build the large twin-engine Curtiss Canada bomber with a 23.1 m (75 ft) wingspan for the UK which was based on a Curtiss flying boat design. The prototype flew at Long Branch on September 3, 1915, and was then immediately shipped to the UK for evaluation at Farnborough airfield. Eleven more aircraft were delivered to the UK in 1916, ten for the Royal Flying Corp and one for the Royal Naval Air Service, but the bomber never entered frontline military service. – Kenneth Swartz Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working together on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.
Canada’s First Exhibition Flight – September 1909
Charles WillardImage Credit: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive The first public exhibition flight in Canada took place on September 7, 1909, when American pilot Charles Willard took to the air in the “The Golden Flyer” in Toronto. American Charles Willard was a 25-year-old Harvard graduate and race car driver when he became the first student taught to fly by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. Willard took his first and only lesson July 18, 1909, and made his first solo flight on July 30, 1909. The Golden Flyer was the first aeroplane built under the Curtiss name and the very first commercial aeroplane ever sold. It was acquired by the New York Aeronautic Society in the summer of 1909 to fly at public exhibitions. The Society’s first request for an exhibition flight came from the management of the Scarboro Amusement Park in the Beach neighbourhood of eastern Toronto. Willard departed for Toronto by train with the airplane in three huge packing cases and arrived at the exhibition grounds south of Queen Street on August 28. Few people had ever seen an airplane before or understood their landing field requirements. A confined space between some buildings was provided to erect a tent to assemble the aircraft but there was no space on the exhibition grounds for a proper takeoff area. Willard decided to takeoff from an alley between some of the permanent the buildings on the fairgrounds that led to a three-foot drop over a breakwater on the shore of Lake Ontario. Since the alley only offered six feet of clearance on either side of the wing tips, Willard had 90-metre-long wooden trough built down the center of the alley to guide the front wheel landing gear to the waterfront. Willard’s first flight attempt on September 2 ended in a splash when the front wheel started rubbing against the trough preventing the aircraft from reaching the ideal flying speed. The aircraft traveled a short distance in the air and landed in the water in the dark. It required five days to dry out the aircraft and then Willard made a second attempt on September 7. This time the wooden trough was greased, and the aircraft rose into the air. Willard flew for about five minutes over the Lake Ontario but when he approached the shore for a landing, he discovered the beach was filled with people and he had to land in the lake again. Willard is considered North America’s first barnstorming pilot and the flight in Toronto the first barnstorming exhibition, He was the fifth American to fly an airplane after Orville and Wilber Wright, Glenn Curtiss and Thomas Selfridge. – Kenneth Schwartz Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills, and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.
Avro Lancaster Mark X
Unidentified aircrew with Avro Lancaster B.II aircraft DS848 QO:R of No. 438 (Leaside) Squadron, RACFImage Credit: Library & Archives Canada The four-engine all metal Avro Lancaster became the backbone of the Royal Air Force’s strategic bomber force during the Second World War and carried a devastating bomb load to thousands of enemy targets across Europe. More than 7,300 Lancasters were built in England and Canada between 1941 and 1945, including 430 produced by the 10,000 employees of Victory Aircraft Ltd. at Malton, Ontario. The Lancaster was the largest aircraft made in Canada during the Second World War. To augment British production, in 1941 a contract was awarded to the Aircraft Division of National Steel Car Co. to build Lancasters (known as Mark X’s) at their factory in Malton, Ontario (today’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport). National Steel Car Co. was already heavily involved in the production of aircraft for the war. The Canadian Government was concerned about their ability to manage the project and expropriated the Malton plant in late 1942 and formed Victory Aircraft Ltd. to do the work. For a country still largely agrarian and just recovering from a decade of depression, the challenge was immense. Over 500,000 manufacturing operations were involved in building a Lancaster which was made up of over 55,000 separate parts and over a million rivets. The first Canadian Lancaster, “The Ruhr Express”, rolled off the Victory Aircraft assembly line and flew for the first time on August 1, 1943. The work force at Victory Aircraft grew to 9,521 persons by 1944, most with no previous manufacturing experience; about a quarter of them were women. A total of 430 Lancaster were built at Malton, with production peaking at one aircraft a day. Unlike British-built Lancasters, the Canadian-built versions used licensed-built Rolls Royce Merlin engines produced by Packard Motor Car Company in the United States and all instruments and radio equipment were either Canadian or American. To ease maintenance, all major sub-assemblies of the Canadian Lancasters were interchangeable with the British version. Production of many components was subcontracted to Ottawa Car & Aircraft Ltd., Canadian General Electric Co. Ltd. in Toronto, and the Fleet Aircraft Ltd. in Fort Erie, Ontario. In addition to bombers, eight Lancasters (and one conversion) were completed at Malton as long-distance transport aircraft for the Canadian Government Trans-Atlantic Air Service and operated by Trans-Canada Air Lines Ltd. (TCA) to carrying mail and VIP passengers across the Atlantic. These “Lancastrians” were lengthened with a streamlined nose and tail cone. Range was enhanced by two 400-gallon long-range fuel tanks fitted in the bomb bay. Postwar, TCA used Lancastrians aircraft to inaugurate scheduled commercial passenger service across the North Atlantic until 1947 when the Canadair North Star airliner was introduced. – Kenneth Schwartz Today, students from Centennial College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queens University, McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto are working on collaborative DAIR projects, developing skills, and helping to build an even stronger aerospace industry for Ontario and Canada.
Working to reduce the environmental footprint of the aerospace sector
Ontario aerospace companies and their partners are helping to accelerate a green shift in aviation and aerospace through collaborative projects funded by the Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR) Green Fund. The aerospace industry in Ontario and across Canada is a key component of the shift towards a greener and more environmentally sustainable future. Green aviation technologies and processes are vital to long-term success in the effort to reach the global target of net zero-carbon emissions by 2050 – and a wide range of projects and technologies will be needed as part of a holistic approach. A first in Ontario, the DAIR Green Fund provides financial support to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) advance the technology readiness of projects that can help reduce the environmental footprint of the aerospace sector. Eight projects led by southern Ontario SMEs have been selected as Green Fund recipients in this initial round. The recipients are: Aeroflux, Brampton Processing, Burloak Technologies, Drone Delivery Canada, HEBE, Horizon Aircraft, OVA and Solid Ultrabatery. “The DAIR Green Fund-supported projects will help advance sustainable innovation in the Ontario aerospace sector,” says Maryse Harvey, Executive Director of DAIR. “Such innovation will strengthen Canadian global competitiveness, as many nations around the world pursue green transformation initiatives in aviation and aerospace.” “This important effort has enabled the creation of promising research and development partnerships, paving the way for increased collaboration which is key to our industry’s success,” added Steven Cargnello, DAIR Green Fund Manager. Government of Canada support for the DAIR Green Fund was announced on August 23, 2022. The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) is investing up to $2.6 million through the Aerospace Regional Recovery Initiative (ARRI) to support the Green Fund as well as DAIR’s Supplier Development Initiative (SDI). Both initiatives are designed to help the Ontario aerospace ecosystem increase competitiveness and sustainability. Today, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, along with Ya’ara Saks, Member of Parliament for York Centre, attended an event at the DAIR hub to celebrate the eight innovative projects that received Green Fund support. The event was held at the Landing Gear Innovation Lab, Centennial College at Downsview Campus (North York). “In order to meet our goal of becoming a net-zero economy, we must ensure that we are providing the new capabilities and technology for industries to easily make the transition. The DAIR Green Fund provides supports to businesses who are leading the charge in creating sustainable innovations that will help grow Canada’s aerospace industry. The eight businesses in southern Ontario that we are celebrating today have created environmentally friendly projects that will keep this industry competitive globally and create more jobs nationally. Our government is committed to finding new ways to move toward a greener economy that works for everyone.” – Hon. Filomena Tassi, Minister Responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario DAIR Green Fund Selection Process In the fall of 2022, the DAIR Green Fund invited SMEs to propose projects for funding. Applicants had to be located in southern Ontario to be eligible for the program. The focus of the projects included a broad cross-section of technologies and processes that can impact green aerospace or sustainability. A rigorous process based on industry best practices was used to manage the project solicitation, evaluation and selection process. A review committee composed of five (5) members with diverse background and expertise from across industry, academia and research centres was formed to assess the projects. The members of the review committee were from Innovitech Inc., the National Research Council of Canada, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, and Bombardier. Proposed projects were assessed based on weighted criteria including environmental benefits, economic impact in southern Ontario, collaboration, and project planning and management. About DAIR Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR) is a not-for-profit whose mission is to revolutionize the collaboration environment by catalyzing innovation in aerospace and beyond. DAIR supports its members by offering access to state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure to accelerate leading-edge and sustainable research and technology adoption; creating training solutions for the business and technology challenges of today and tomorrow; providing a platform for industry, academia and government synergies, to foster and advance R&D partnerships; and advocation for the aerospace industry locally, nationally and globally. About FedDev Ontario For 13 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues and creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Contacts:Samantha GloverSenior Coordinator, Outreach and Promotion, DAIRcommunications@dairhub.com Edward HutchinsonPress SecretaryOffice of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontarioedward.hutchinson@feddevontario.gc.ca