Norman Rogers airport was constructed as a service flying training school, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and was designated No. 31 S. F. T. S. The whole complex included Gananoque Airport, known as No. 1 relief landing ground, a grass field at Sandhurst; two practice bombing ranges at Kingston Mills and Millhaven; a live firing range along the south shore of Amherst Island; two cine camera ranges along the canal at Wolfe Island, and another along Loughborough Lake; and, to complete the complex, a marine section located at the southwest corner of Collins Bay.
The buildings included five hangars, a control tower, a hospital, barracks, messes and all the other buildings necessary to house over a thousand staff and 160 Fleet Air Arm students, 40 of whom graduated every four months with their wings.
The airfield had a triangle of six runways, and the field drainage alone cost $3 million. The first Royal Air Force staff arrived in the fall of 1941 during the final stages of construction. The first commanding officer was Group Captain Shackleton, who is believed to be a relative of the famous explorer.
The first aircraft delivered to the school were the Fairy Battles. They were to be a first-line fighter bomber, but their performance did not live up to their name and they were soon relegated to the role of trainer.
The Fairy Battles were replaced be the ever-noisy Harvard, and eventually there were 110 on the line. During the early stages of the Second World War, when the United States was a neutral country, the first
deliveries were made by pushing them across the U. S.-Canadian border at an airfield out west. Other aircraft at No. 31 S. F. T. S. were the Avro Anson, used for navigation, the Lysander, used for drogue towing, and a Walrus amphibian used for air-sea rescue.
The Fleet Air Arm graduates went into a deck landing school on the east cost and then overseas to an operational training unit.
The author joined the staff at No. 31 in January 1944, having graduated from No. 1 Flying Instructor School at Trenton. In the spring of 1944, the Royal Canadian Air Force took over the administration and No. 31 S. F. T. S. became No. 14. After the end of hostilities in 1945, the RCAF closed the station.
In January 1946, the Department of National Defence declared Norman Rogers Airport surplus and turned it over to the Department of Transport, and in February of that year, No. 5 Hangar and two other buildings were turned over to the Kingston Flying Club. The club received a new charter, took the two club aircraft out of storage and was back in operation.
A federal corporation was set up to dispose of the vast quantity of air force equipment, and some of it was donated to the flying club, which included three aircraft, a station wagon, a truck and a great quantity of spares, clothing, parachutes, furniture, etc.
In March 1946, an airport licence was issued to the City of Kingston. The first commercial licence for a charter service was issued to H. Bruton. Although the airport licence had been issued to the city, the operation of the airport was left to the flying club.
Meanwhile, the surplus buildings were being torn down, and many postwar houses around Kingston were built with lumber and straightened nails from the airport.
In 1950, the author, who was at the time operating the air service at Gananoque, became the manager of the Kingston Flying Club. In that year, the Department of Transport offered to lease the airport to the city, but the offer was rejected. It seems that neither the city nor the township could appreciate that the legacy of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was a multi-million-dollar airport available for the asking.
Due to the lack of interest on the part of the city, the flying club took over the airport licence. The mayor was opposed to the city becoming involved.
In August 1951, the flying club offered to operate the airport for the city for a sum of $3,000, but the city was not interested at any price.
At a flying club annual meeting in 1952, Gordon McGregor, president of Trans Canada Airlines, who originally learned to fly at the prewar flying club and became a Second World War ace, promised to put Kingston on a regional Trans Canada Airline route if the surveys were positive. There were some negotiations, but the funding to bring the airport up to airline standards was never acquired. Our city was still reluctant to enter the air age.
In 1952, No. 6 Repair Depot moved in, all the hangars were re-roofed, the heating system was put back into operation and the space was used to store service vehicles and equipment.
In June 1953, the flying club negotiated a contract with the Royal Canadian Navy to house and maintain the aircraft of V. C. 921, a naval reserve squadron. The aircraft included two Harvards and an Expeditor. This arrangement lasted until 1958.
The activity generated by the squadron caused some local residents to petition against airport expansion, and in March 1955, the township enacted a bylaw restricting any expansion of the airport.
Alternate sites for an airport were suggested, and the township council went so far as to designate an area northeast of Odessa without the approval of the Ontario Municipal Board. The township's reeve was very negative about the airport. His argument was that "Norman Rogers Airport was in the wrong place because it was dangerous for aircraft to take off and land over water."
The author was present at that particular council meeting and pointed out that the site of Kennedy Airport in New York was chosen because of the unobstructed approaches over Long Island and Flushing Meadows. The reeve's argument was shot down to the point that he and a councillor visited the author's office the next morning and the author was told to refrain from interfering in township business.
In 1958, No. 6 R. D. vacated the airport and Vicom, a local machine tool company, took over its operations in return for free access to the buildings vacated. The hangars were leased to some industries, but there was criticism that the funds were going into private hands................................
