CFB Borden - Air Museum

 

Location:  Simcoe County, Essa Township   N 44 16.088   W 079 54.806  
Located on CFB Borden, just off Lundy's Lane, beside the airfield.

This was the birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force.  The museum is open on weekends, houses a few planes inside along with some incredible artifacts and photos from the early days of flight.  It was here that the first hangars in Canada were constructed in 1917, and some remain to this day, renovated for other uses, and two that remain in a sad state of disrepair.  Unfortunately, although these are considered a National Historic Site, they may be torn down in an complete under-appreciation of their importance, and a lack of funding(or will) to keep them safe.
The museum itself is a great memorial to the early days of the Royal Flying Corps and should not be missed.  A small stone memorial sits outside the front doors of the museum. along with the plaque marking the Historic Site.

Marker text:
Memorial:
1 NOVEMBER 1939 - 31 MARCH 1946
THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO
THE THOUSANDS OF
MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED AT
NO. 1
SERVICE FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL
CAMP BORDEN
UNDER THE
BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
AIR TRAINING PLAN

ERECTED BY
441 (HURONIA) WING R.C.A.F.A.
26 SEPTEMBER 1993
PROUDLY THEY SERVED

National Historic Plaque:
ROYAL FLYING CORPS HANGARS
The Royal Flying Corps hangars at Camp Borden are the oldest examples of this type of construction in existence in Canada. These hangars, which are an essential element of the first Canadian military aerodrome, were erected as temporary facilities in 1917, and housed various air training schools. They witnessed the birth of Canada's national air force, the Canadian Air Force in 1920, which became the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1924.