Gander Airport Historical Society

We are not aware if the B24 discovered at the bottom of Gander lake in 2022, will be retrieved. The B24 crashed into the lake in 1943 & still has bodies of RCAF crew on board. This story plus discovery info. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_war/Ga...

A class act by Sir Richard Branson. As a tribute to the several towns in NL assisting 9/11 passengers, Virgin Atlantic flew a B747 into Gander, invited their children for a tour of London including Buckingham Palace, each child accompanied by 1 parent.

Gander Airport WWII. The runways widths at Gander, built in 1939, were R 09-27 at 365 M (1200ft) the other 3 at 180 M (600ft). All runways lengths were approx. 1500 M(5000ft). It is assumed engineers didn’t know the accuracy of landing aircraft's approach under adverse weather conditions

During WWII the RAF was the service of choice for many Nfld. men & women. RAF 125 (Newfoundland) Sqn memorial to Nfld RAFers lost in WWII, at Gander. Royal Cooper, RAF/EPA pilot & Gander Mayor, was behind organizing this memorial. Cooper's story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_trans/...

A vintage 1955 image of the ramp at Gander showing the activity on a typical day for the airport. During 1959, just as the first jets started to fly the North Atlantic, 9,723 airplanes landed at Gander carrying a total of 407,197 passengers

In 1954 an Air France L1049 slid off a wet runway into a drainage ditch while landing at Gander. Although the airplane was a write off, the only injuries to passengers & crew were minor. The use of aircraft's reverse thrust wasn't as advanced as it is today

The log cabin on Deadmans Pond, Gander. Built during WWII by the military to provide a R&R facility for airport staff. Demolished by the airport authority in the mid 50s to reduce local activity at the pond to make way for a water aerodrome. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/d...

General Mark Milley's, the 20th chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, both grand parents were from Nfld. His great-grandfather served in the Newfoundland Regiment at Galipoli in WWI. In 2023 he attended, in St. John's, a ceremony to the memory of fallen WWI Newfoundland soldiers .

Feb 20 1941, Sir Frederick Banting was killed when the Hudson bomber he was on board, crashed here, near Musgrave Hr. NL after leaving Gander. The photo is of the actual crash scene. The saga of the crash, heard around the world, is told here ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_war/Si...

The airport's town of Gander 1945. Airport workers & families moved into the now civilian airport, living in renovated WWII military buildings, becoming an airport town. Later in 1958, a new modern present day town was completed. This story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_trans/...

This lovely young lady in 1947 became Nfld.'s first female pilot, Phyllis (Penney) Gault employed with KLM Airlines at Gander received her private pilots license on Aug 10 of that year. The @TheNinetyNines tells her story
www.ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/P... plus a great video

The people in the community of Dover NL, rushed to rescue the crew of a RCAF Digby that crash landed into the sea after departure from Gander WWII. They later assisted in pulling the Digby ashore. A typical Newfoundland hospitality story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_war/Th...

Worlds 1st civil GCA radar approach system purchased for Gander Dec 9, 1946, known as Bluejay. A WWII USAAF mobile radar unit could move about to align with the active runway. GCA radar controllers ops room was aboard a radar truck. This story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/B...

Gander airport c.1962. A snap shot of aviation in transition from propeller to jet propulsion, one era into another. It was a time of adaptation & change for Gander seeing these four types of active aircraft, a DHC2, DC3, DC7 & B707, (also a VW bus) captured together in a moment of time.

Two old ladies meet up at Gander as the sun is setting c.1980

March 10th 1947, a TWA L1049, departed Gander for Paris via the Azores, lost their navigator overboard in flight when the astrodome broke taking a star shot with a sextant. A search was conducted for the navigator, but was never found. This story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/H...

One of the more famous VIPs to visit Gander was Fidel Castro. In 1976 on a stop over in Gander he made a request to try tobogganing. The first & only time in his life & someone was around to take a priceless photo. The story ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_trans/...

Gander Lake Marine Air Base c.1953, dismantled in the 1960s, relocated to Deadmans Pond. Built as part of the original airport for water aerodrome flying boat services. Later used by the public as an R&R facility. Located at the end of the road leading to the Arrow Air Memorial

A reflection on a day in the history of Gander Airport, Sept 11, 2001 @wecomefromaway

Views from inside & outside the Gander control tower during the early 1950s. This was the 2nd tower at the airport, built & operated by the RCAF in 1944-45. The 1st was atop the Administration building. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_thirty...

Sabena crash rescue. This was the world's first civilian rescue by an helicopter. Without the helicopter, the survivors would have perished in the wilderness. The rescue was so successful, the helicopter became a world wide rescue vehicle. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/S...

Airport catering service at Gander airport providing uplift meals for EPA c.1975. Uplift catering had been carried out at the airport since 1946 when a huge staff was required to produce meals for just about all transatlantic flights using Gander.

Dinning room scene with staff at the Eastbound Inn Gander c.1941. The 1st hotel in Gander, built to accommodate civilian ferry flight crews waiting to fly the Atlantic. At first, passenger sleeper & dinning train cars, set up on a special rail siding, were in use.

Mikhail Gorbachev is considered a most significant figure in world's politic, praised for his role in ending the Cold War, was a frequent visitor at Gander during his 6 year reign as leader of the Soviet Union. Seen here having a 'cuppa' on one of his visits.

NL Hockey Hall of Fame John Murphy. Hired by TWA for his expertise with WWII RAF Ferry Command ops, became TWA station Manager at Gander till 1960, transferred to JFK. He was TWA manager at LGA later director for TWA at EWR-LGA-JFK complex www.ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/j...

Parked B17 bombers & hangers along R09 at Gander's USAAF base. Gander airport's WWII importance became realized, ferrying an estimated 20,000 bombers to the UK. A digital slide show of Gander airport during WWII ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_war/Di...

Oceanic ATC sector at Gander ACC c.1977. Aircraft separation is maintained in a non radar environment using updated info on flight data strips received from aircraft position reports via Gander Aeradio. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/C...

A view of Gander airport in a SW direction showing Runway 21 @ 10,200 ft. in length showing Gander Lake. For a slide show of Gander Airport over 80 years ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_trans/...

A flashback to the startup of post war commercial transatlantic aviation. Airport staff greet a SAS DC4 at Gander on their arrival, commencing their transatlantic flight schedule, Dec 10, 1946.

QEII visited the town in 1959, being welcomed on her arrival to officially open the new terminal. Some say this inauguration was in respect to the airport's role in WWII. Her first visit to Gander was in 1953, a lot less formal. ganderairporthistoricalsociety.org/_html_4658/Q...