Not to be confused with Port Stanley Airport

Port Stanley Airport

Port Stanley Airport is a STOLport in the Falkland Islands, two miles outside the capital, Stanley. The airport is the only civilian airport in the islands with a paved runway...

, Falkland Islands

Stanley Airport is located in Stanley

Stanley, Nova Scotia

Stanley is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Hants County, located in the Municipal District of East Hants. Stanley is most renoun for being the birth place of the acclaimed Canadian poet Alden Nowlan.- History :...

, Hants County

Hants County, Nova Scotia

Hants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia which was the home of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Alden Nowlan and Noel Doiron. The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, approximately 12 NM northeast of Windsor

Windsor, Nova Scotia

Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...

.

History

Stanley was built as RCAF Station Stanley in March 1941 to train pilots as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan , known in some countries as the Empire Air Training Scheme , was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, during the Second World War...

. The airport was the base for the Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

's No. 17 Elementary Flying School which trained thousands of pilots for the Second World War. The school operated two dozen de Havilland Tiger Moth

De Havilland Tiger Moth

The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...

 aircraft to train pilots along with a Link Trainer

Link Trainer

The term Link Trainer, also known as the "Blue box" and "Pilot Trainer" is commonly used to refer to a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930s and early 1950s by Ed Link, based on technology he pioneered in 1929 at his family's business in Binghamton, New York...

, an early flight simulator equipped with gauges to simulate a real aircraft. At its peak Stanley trained four 30-student classes simultaneously for six weeks of flight training before graduates passed on to advanced training at other bases. The station was closed in 1944 as the war came to a close but was taken over in 1968 by the Dartmouth Aircraft Association, which upgraded the runways and built some hangars. The association evolved into the Stanley Sport Aviation Association.

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources used the airport's large World War II maintenance hangar after the war before turning it over to Stanly Sport Aviation. This distinctive wood hangar had a control tower at one corner and was once the largest building in Hants County. It was demolished in 2006 due to deterioration of the structure.

Today

At present, the airport is home to Stanley Sport Aviation Association, a group of private aircraft owners and aviation enthusiasts who lease and maintain the field. The airport still has three runways built in the standard BCATP triangular pattern, although the wartime paving has been replaced by grass. The number of runways, close proximity to Halifax and the absence of landing fees make it popular with aviation enthusiasts. Every year over the Labour Day

Labour Day

Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for...

 weekend, SSA hosts the annual Stanley Fly-In, which first took place in 1971 and is touted by the club as being the oldest fly-in in Canada. This fly-in is well known in the region, and attracts about 100 aircraft and 2000 visitors from across Canada and the north-eastern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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External links

• Stanley Sport Aviation