Gore Airport

Gore Airport, like Wiarton, was built in support of the Pinetree Line project by Transport Canada ~1953, at the request of DND.  I'm looking for original buildings on or around the property, but so far have not been able to identify any.

Gore Bay Airprt 1:15000 - atlas.gc.ca

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

The Earlton Airport

Earlton? Yes indeed!  Documentation from the time shows the airport in Earlton was built by Transport Canada by the request of the Department of National Defence in the early 1950s to support the Pinetree Line stations, providing sufficient and properly spaced out airports to support operations.  I haven't been by yet, but I am curious to see if any original buildings are still standing.  Hangers perhaps?

At least a couple of mentions of Earlton show up in the National Archives' Pinetree Line files, with reference to fighter intercepts and planes forced to land when low on fuel.  Due to its proximity to CFB Petawawa, it was also previously used by the Canadian Forces for training.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Wiarton Airport

Wiarton Airport was not just the site of a Tragically Hip concert in 2009, it was built in support of the Pinetree Line, on the request of DND, by Transport Canada in the early ~1953. 

I've looked for people's publically posted photos of the airport and satellite images, but I cannot see any original buildings that date back to the beginning of the airport.


View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Wiarton Airport 1:15000 - atlas.gc.ca

Sudbury Airport

In the early 1950s the Department of National Defence requested that Transport Canada upgrade or create several airports in support of the Pinetree Line radar defence network; Sudbury was one of those upgraded.  In August of 2013 I drove by the Sudbury Airport and checked out the hangers that I could see from the road; I didn’t see any that looked particularly old or architecturally fitting for anything from the 1950s.
I did notice from the Satellite images that the North-East section of the airport looks like it may have had additional hangers that have been demolished.  I'll need to reference to National Air Photo Library to tell if those were hangers in the early 1950s.  Considering that section of the airport is on the far side, away from the flow of regular civilian traffic, and not near any through-traffic, it would make a good place for military hangers.


View Larger Map

View Larger Map

Department Of National Defence North American Air Defence Modernization Short Range Development Site

From my understanding, the Department Of National Defence North American Air Defence Modernization Short Range Development Site is a mock-up of a Northern Warning System facility.  As I don't plan to ever see a NWS system in place, this will likely be the closest I ever get!

I believe this test facility was built for the North American Air Defense Modernization (NAADM) project (~1987), and is/was run by Nasittuq.  I believe the land was leased from the local first nations community, but it is unclear to me how active the site is now.  Reportedly the site seems to have active video surveillance.

View Larger Map

On my trip at the end of August 2013 I tried to take the shortest road to the site; unfortunately that road was blocked by a (in hindsight satellite photo-viewable) significant amount of water on the road.  I'm unsure if a culvert collapsed and the road washed out, or what happened, but the amount of water and the distance I would have had to cross in the Suburban seemed excessive since I didn't know what was under the water, didn't have a winch, and didn't have faith my tires would provide sufficient grip - so, I turned around.  The area is quite beautiful, but I didnt want to get stuck there.

Note the lack of solid dry road in the red circle

Gorgeous area, but I didn't want to be stuck there.