Canadian Warplanes (3) Saskatchewan, CFB Moose Jaw

Warplanes in Saskatchewan,

CFB Moose Jaw

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical Warplane preserved in Canada.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website.  Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplanes in Canada would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

Moose Jaw, CFB Moose Jaw, 15 Wing Military Aviation Museum, CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.  NATO Drive (6 km south of Moose Jaw at the airfield) 15 Wing Moose Jaw, Box 5000 Moose Jaw, SK S6H 7Z8.  This museum sits on the site of an active Canadian Forces airbase. Its interpretative centre attempts to elucidate the role aviation has played in Canada’s military past, present and future.

The base's airfield is named after Air Vice-Marshal Clifford McEwen and is one of only three military aerodromes in Canada to be named after an individual, Valcartier (W/C J.H.L. (Joe) Lecomte) Heliport and Cold Lake/Group Captain R.W. McNair Airport being the others.

The declaration of the Second World War saw the Moose Jaw Flying Club initially contracted to provide pilot training for the Royal Canadian Air Force; however this was soon replaced by the far larger British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) which saw the Government of Canada acquire the aerodrome and completely reconstruct it into RCAF Station Moose Jaw in 1940 with the new aerodrome opening in 1941.

Initially the Royal Air Force trained exclusively at the base under the RAF's No. 32 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) (ca. 1942) using Harvards, and later, Oxfords. No. 32 SFTS eventually broadened its intake to train 1,200 pilots for the air forces of Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, the United States and the Netherlands.

RCAF Station Moose Jaw had two relief landing fields. One was located at Buttress, Saskatchewan and one at Burdick .

In 1946 RCAF Station Moose Jaw was decommissioned and the aerodrome was returned to civilian service.

Because of rising Cold War tensions, the aerodrome was reactivated by the RCAF in 1953 as the site of military pilot training. RCAF Station Moose Jaw undertook additional construction to support its expanded personnel complement. The base was used by the RCAF and its NATO allies for pilot training, using both single-prop Second World War-era Harvards and Canadair CT-133 Silver Star jet training aircraft. By the mid-1960s these were both replaced by the Canadian built CT-114 Tutor.

In 1968 the RCAF merged with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Navy to form the unified Canadian Forces. The base's name was changed to Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw, usually shortened to CFB Moose Jaw. From 1968 until the formation of Air Command in 1975, CFB Moose Jaw fell under the direction of Training Command and served to house the Tutor Jet Training Program.

By the early 1990s, CFB Moose Jaw was operated by over 1,300 employees and made a significant economical impact on the region, but pending cutbacks in military spending spread rumours of possible closure of the base. In 1994, the Government of Canada awarded Bombardier with a 20-year contract to support the delivery of what is now the NFTCNATO Flying Training in Canada program. Many of the base's structures were renovated to accommodate new personnel and new training aircraft. Pilots from Denmark, Singapore, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Finland and many other allied nations train at CFB Moose Jaw every year, ensuring the base's future with the Canadian Forces. In 2015, Bombardier sold its NFTC contract to CAE who are currently the prime contractor.

From 1970 until its disbandment in 1993 Moose Jaw had a Base Rescue Flight flying three CH-118 Huey helicopters. During a reorganization at AIRCOM in the late 1990s, CFB Moose Jaw's various AIRCOM units were placed under a new primary lodger unit called "15 Wing"; consequently the base is now referred to as 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

5 Wing Moose Jaw is home to the following units:

15 Wing/NFTC Headquarters

2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, who execute the NFTC program in partnership with CAE

431 Air Demonstration Squadron (also known as the "Snowbirds")

23 Health Services Centre Detachment

Integrated Personnel Support Centre (IPSC)

1 Dental Detachment

15 Wing also oversees all pilot training occurring at 3 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (3CFFTS), located at Southport, Manitoba. The base is one of only two Regular Force Canadian Forces facilities in Saskatchewan, the other being CFD Dundurn, a detachment of 17 Wing, Winnipeg. (Wikipedia)

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(AHunt Photo)

Canadair  CT-114 Tutor (Serial No. 114045) on the runway forward from the CFB Moose Jaw control tower in the spring of 1982.

(John Davies Photo)

BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk, part of the NATO Flying Training Program in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan and Cold Lake Alberta.

(RCAF Photo)

Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeer, (Serial No. 13412).

Beechcraft CT-134A Musketeer (Serial No. 134230).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4118634)

Canadiar CT-133 Silver Stars on parade, No. 414 Sqn, 9 Aug 1972.

(Will Chabun Photos)

Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (Serial No. 133297), (Serial No. 21297), silver, mounted on a pylon at the main gate of 15 Wing.

(RCAF Photo)

Canadair CT-114 Tutor (Serial No. 114030).

(Alain Rioux Photo)

Canadair CT-114 Tutor (Serial No. 114036).

(Will Chabun Photo)

Canadair CT-114 Tutor (Serial No. 114036), mounted on a pylon.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3585014)

CCF Harvard Mk. 4, 20271, RU271.

(Will Chabun Photo)

Canadian Car & Foundry Harvard Mk. 4, RCAF (Serial No. 20456), C/N CCF4-247.  BOC: 17 December 1952.  SOC: unknown.  This Harvard is mounted on a pylon at CFB Moose Jaw, Alberta, 1969-1995.

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