Our community’s proud ties to aviation dates back more than 100-years when the first airport and flying school in Canada was built in Long Branch.

In May 1915 Curtiss Aeroplanes and Motors Company of Toronto chose Long Branch to open Canada’s first airfield and flying school to train airmen for service in World War I.

Famed aviator John A.D. McCurdy was in charge of the Long Branch Aerodrome, which was a muddy field with a small metal hangar to park three planes and a barn house. There was a grass and dirt strip for landing.

McCurdy had gained fame in 1909 for being the first person in the British Empire to fly his plane the “Silver Dart” from Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

It wasn’t long before aircraft such as the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” became a common sight over Long Branch.

In January 1917, the newly designated Royal Flying Corps Canada, opened a Cadet Ground Training School at the airport, which also provided instruction on flying boats at nearby Hanlan’s Point on Toronto Islands, the first seaplane base in Canada.

Both the school and the aerodrome closed in 1919 following WW1.

The aerodrome in WW11 served initially as Non-Permanent Active Militia‘s No 21 Training Centre and then as an army small arms training centre. After the war, the Lakeview Armoury was established on the site, but was demolished in the 1950s.

The Small Arms Limited, a large munitions factory, was constructed on the property in the 1940s to support WW11. In addition to an 81,000 square foot factory there was a water tower, several administration buildings and outbuildings. The plant was staffed mostly by women during World War II.

A plaque bearing some of the history of the aerodrome is located along the Waterfront Trail pathway.

It wasn’t until May 1914 when the first passenger airplane flight was made out of Toronto. It took about 31-minutes and 17-seconds to make the flight to Hamilton, which then was about two hours by steamboat, an hour by motorcycle or 51 minutes by express train.

The Aerodrome was actually located in Mississauga at the site of the now-gone Ontario Power Generation’s Lakeview Generating Station. It was one of several in the Toronto area, including three near Downsview.