Flying School exhibit

A new exhibit at Discovery North Bay is showcasing some war-time military history involving North Bay.

The Royal Air Force Flying School operated locally from June 1942 until the end of September 1945 and taught pilots and navigators how to handle the aircraft and deal with issues while flying over the Atlantic Ocean.

22 Wing Heritage Officer Captain Doug Newman says back then flying over the ocean was a daunting task.  “Before the Second World War had begun, there had only been about 150 attempts and one third of those didn’t make it.  It was described as attempting to go to the moon today.”

Meantime, Newman says once the school closed much of the records and artifacts were either lost or destroyed.  “There’s literally nothing left so what we’ve done is gather photographs, some artifacts and we’re going to showcase this to the North Bay public, it’s never been seen before.”

He says a couple propellers were donated to the Algonquin Regiment during the war and a double hanger at the airport, which is still used today by a civilian company, was built for the flying school.

The exhibit at Discovery North Bay is running through the summer.