The Brantford Airport is an historic BCATP site

Thousands of young WWII pilots and aircrew from Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand trained here as part of the wartime British Commonwealth Air Training Program.

More specifically, the Brantford Airport was the base for No. 5 S.F.T.S. (Service Flight Training School) undergoing training on Avro Anson aircraft. The Anson was a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft that was "rescued" from obsolescense by the great demand to train multi-engine pilots for their future Bomber Pilot Roles.

As you can see in the photo above, the Brantford Airport was created as a "double-sized" field, for training in parallel operations. Each of the three triangulated runways had a "twin" for simultaneous takeoff and landing operations. The facility at this site was officially opened November 11, 1940.

A bit of interesting trivia...

On the right side of the picture you can see the single anomaly to the triangulated, parallel runway sets (each built on the order of 2,600 feet long) is a visible portion of the extended 5,000 foot Runway 05/23. This extension was planned, approved, and created, for a visit by the Queen of England in 1984! The original 4,000 foot strip was not long enough for her arriving aircraft... Thanks for the extension Elizabeth! Today it serves to allow all typical Business Jets to comfortably use the facility and serve local Corporations!

These days, the interior set of (prior) Runways serve only as Taxiways (at very, very, low speeds), as the asphalt has degraded most significantly over the many decades since WWII.

Visiting Pilots - a long-time VFR Landmark has faded away...

Several years ago I heard a visiting pilot comment "Brantford's easy to spot - you just look for all the School Buses". Yes, there used to be a sea of Chrome Yellow School Buses in various stages of completion to look for on the horizon. They created a semi-irridescent "visual beacon" to guide you to the field! However, no more... Blue Bird has closed the factory, and the "yellow beacon" is now sadly gone.

These days, a new landmark stands out first in the distance. You may hear local pilots calling on the ATF "Over the Chocolate Factory. Joining left downwind zero-five." The "Chocolate Factory" refers to the new Ferrero Rocher Plant. It stands out in sizable, white clarity by day, and its lighting will be visible long before you ever see the Runway Lights by night. So, just spot it (WNW corner of the City), and look 3NM SSW for the field...

Visiting Pilots - a long-time VFR Landmark is beginning to light back up!!!

Sept 2009 Update:

Over the past couple of months, the chrome yellow "beacons" have begun to reappear! The former Blue Bird plant has been brought back to life (to an unknown degree), with a new company name (that I do not recall at this moment) on the top of the signage!

Mind you, it's a "lake of buses" as opposed to the former sea as this is written... but the water level seems to continue to rise!

Your inbound "visual beacon" may in fact make a comeback!!

What's happening right now?

Have a peek at the BFC webcam below...