Ottawa Flying Club

The Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport, as it is known today, was originally known as "Hunt Club Field". It was used occasionally by private aircraft and then-new Royal Canadian Air Force.

Charles Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis aircraft at the Hunt Club Field on 2 July 1927 on a flight from New York City. This greatly raised public awareness and interest in aviation in the Ottawa region. It was so greatly raised that the airport was renamed "Lindbergh Field", a piece of history still present today in our street address.

Regular flying activities began in earnest on 14 January 1928 with the incorporation of the Ottawa Flying Club. The Club leased the land from Ottawa Uplands Ltd. for $300 a year and later received an airport licence on 26 July 1928.

In 1935, still in the Club's infancy, the airport facilities were operated by the Ottawa Flying Club and included a clubhouse, an office, one hangar, two private hangars for light aircraft, refuelling services by Imperial Oil, and a windsock. The Club’s first home was an old, two-storey white clapboard house located on the east side of what is now PAPA taxiway. At the time Club members and students were flying Avro Avians, powered by the Genet engines purchased from the Ottawa Car Company, which made streetcars for the City of Ottawa.

On 1 August 1940, the Club was asked by Transport Canada (owner of the airport since 1938) to temporarily stop training and move operations to another airport. This request was made to help support the war effort which saw the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan take over the airport for fighter pilot training in Harvard aircraft (pictured in front of the clubhouse above). The Club moved operations to St. Eugene Aerodrome where it continued normal flight training as well as provided ab-initio training for the Royal Canadian Air Force as part of the BCATP. After the war, the Club moved back to it’s original location in Ottawa.

In 1947 the Club occupied half of Hangar 1 as well as the watch office building. In 1961 the first clubhouse of it’s own was constructed. It later built an addition, which is now our upstairs lounge. The final addition to the Club came in 1978 from a grant from Wintario for the erection of our existing maintenance hangar.

Over the past 89 years the Ottawa Flying Club has graduated thousands of pilots, some of whom would later become Canadian Astronauts. Many graduates of the Ottawa Flying Club have established themselves as professional pilots in various Canadian, US, and international airlines as well as within other aviation related jobs such as Air Traffic Control, and aviation maintenance. Come see why we are Canada’s oldest flight training unit. Stop dreaming, start flying.