Early Aviation (1920s)

The first cross-Canada flight took place in October 1920. The expedition lasted ten days and required the service of six Canadian Government airplanes, many flown by the Canadian Air Force, to fly from Halifax to Vancouver. Along the third leg of the trip, on October 9, 1920, a Felixstowe F3 flying boat flew over the Canadian Pacific Railway Station in North Bay to drop a progress report to be telegraphed to Ottawa. Although the overflight lasted no more than ten minutes, North Bay residents were awestruck at the sight of seldom-seen aircraft.

In 1921, Canadian government aircraft began to use North Bay as the gateway to the rest of Canada, landing on Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake to rest and refuel.

The first landings of government airplanes in North Bay occurred in the summers of 1921 and 1922. Piloted by Canadian Air Force personnel, an HS-2L flying boat from Ottawa was operating out of Lake Nipissing while delivering people and cargo to and from exploration and survey sites in Northern Ontario, as well as conducting fire patrols.
These two photos show HS-2L G-CYAG (like the model in the center display) on Lake Nipissing in the summer of 1922, making it the second government airplane to land in North Bay. Visible behind the aircraft and its crew is North Bay’s downtown and the CPR rail yards.

First Aircraft in North Bay (1910)

North Bay’s Air Harbour (1923)

North Bay Museum