World War II The airfield was constructed by the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) between 1940–1941 and was named
RCAF Station Summerside. It was home to
No. 9 Service Flying Training School RCAF, a flight school that operated under the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Relief or emergency airfields were located at nearby
RCAF Station Mount Pleasant and
Wellington. Airmen were trained on
Harvards. In July 1942 No. 9 SFTS moved to
RCAF Station Centralia and was replaced by
No. 1 General Reconnaissance School RCAF which flew
Ansons. No. 1 GRS was renamed to No. 1 Reconnaissance and Navigation School in 1945.
Aerodrome information The airfield was constructed in the typical BCATP wartime pattern, with runways formed in a triangle. In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as
RCAF Aerodrome - Summerside, Prince Edward Island at with a variation of 25 degrees west and elevation of . Six runways were listed as follows:
Relief landing field – Mount Pleasant The primary relief landing field (R1) for RCAF Station Summerside was
RCAF Station Mount Pleasant. The station was located east of the community of
Ellerslie, Prince Edward Island.
Relief landing field – Wellington The secondary relief landing field (R2) for RCAF Station Summerside was located north-east of the community of
Wellington, Prince Edward Island. In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as
RCAF Aerodrome - Wellington, Prince Edward Island at with a variation of 24 degrees west and elevation of . Three runways were listed as follows:
Cold War The station was closed in 1946 but reopened in 1947 with the formation of No. 1 Air Navigation School (ANS). This was a
NATO training facility. No. 1 ANS left in 1953 and the Central Navigation School was established. In 1949 No. 2 (Maritime) Operational Training Unit started operation. The influx of personnel and their families required the building of more accommodation quarters. In 1949 the base
housing was completed and named "Slemon Park" in honour of Air Marshal
Roy Slemon. During the
Cold War, the base was home to anti-submarine and coastal patrol aircraft such as the
Lancaster B.X,
CP-122 Neptune,
CP-107 Argus, and
CP-121 Tracker. Other aircraft operated from Summerside include the
CC-115 Buffalo and
CH-113 Labrador. These aircraft were operated by various squadrons and units including No. 2 (Maritime) Operational Training Unit, No. 107 Rescue Unit,
413 Transport and Rescue Squadron,
420 Air Reserve Squadron,
880 Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron (
Royal Canadian Navy), 31 Support Air Group (Royal Canadian Navy), and
415 Maritime Patrol Squadron. On 1 February 1968, the
merger of the three service branches into the unified
Canadian Forces saw RCAF Station Summerside change its name to
Canadian Forces Base (
CFB)
Summerside. In 1977, the Government of Canada formally ratified the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which mandated the creation of an
Exclusive Economic Zone extending off all coasts. This created a requirement for military enforcement of sovereignty to protect natural resources within the EEZ, such as oil and gas reserves, and
fisheries. CFB Summerside's primary mission evolved during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s into providing support for
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the government department responsible for managing Canada's ocean resources. CP-121 Trackers were used to patrol
Georges Bank and the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland to monitor foreign fishing fleets.
Search and rescue (SAR) was a secondary role which was no less important to the civilian population of the
Maritime Provinces which, relied on SAR
aircraft for urgent
medevac to large tertiary-care hospitals in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia and
Moncton,
New Brunswick, as well as for
mariners and
air crew who frequently found themselves in distress, requiring rescue. The 1989 federal budget cuts to the
Department of National Defence identified CFB Summerside as a candidate for base closure. At the time, the base employed some 1,200, and contributed about C$50 million to the province's economy each year. Local concern groups were formed to protest the closure. On 14 May 1989, about 10,000 people (more than the population of Summerside at the time) marched in protest. City streets were festooned in yellow ribbons, a symbol of opposition to the closure. About 400 Prince Edward Islanders travelled to Ottawa in June 1989 to protest at Parliament Hill. In response to this opposition, then-minister of national defence,
Bill McKnight, told the House of Commons, "there is no military operational reason to maintain that base". In 1991 the base was closed and the majority of military units were transferred to
CFB Greenwood in
Nova Scotia.
Past scheduled passenger airline service The airfield was served by
Eastern Provincial Airways during the 1960s and early 1970s which operated nonstop flights to
Moncton and the
Magdalen Islands as well as direct service via a stop in
Charlottetown to Halifax;
Sydney, NS;
Deer Lake, NL;
Gander, NL; and
St. John's, NL with
Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft and
Handley Page Dart Herald turboprop aircraft. ==Current use==