By the mid-1920s, rapid development of aviation in Alberta had
slowed as it had across Canada, due to a lack of business for
the fledgling companies that had raised enough money to buy
surplus aircraft at the end of the First World War. There were
no longer cheap aircraft available from the government and not
enough revenue to replace the aging Curtiss JN4s.
The federal government was aware that aviation was in
decline, and even those expert pilots who had been trained for the war effort
were not flying regularly. At the same time, the British
government had responded to the decline by establishing a
system of aero clubs to provide pilot training, acknowledging
the importance of aviation to the economy and future war
efforts. Canada sought to establish the same kind of aero club
system that had been established in Britain.
Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) established a
program where it would provide two free aircraft to every club
that had a good
landing field, a hangar, a qualified flying instructor, an air
engineer, licensed pilots, and thirty members who wanted to
learn to fly. In addition, the DND
would provide free aircraft for every aircraft the club
purchased. For the first 30 pilots that graduated, a club would
receive an additional $100 each. The sole purpose of the clubs
was to train new pilots, so no club was allowed to participate
in commercial activities.
The program by the Department of National Defence brought a
new interest in flight to Alberta with the immediate
establishment of clubs in Calgary and Edmonton. By 1928, the
Northern Alberta Aero Club had 100 students enrolled in ground
school that would soon graduate as pilots. In Edmonton, like
many communities across the country, the municipal government
agreed to provide funds to improve the airfield, build hangars,
provide electric lighting, and other equipment as needed. All
these improvements to local airfields assisted local commercial
air companies as well. The success of the aero club was seen
when Edmonton contributed $35,000 to upgrade
Blatchford Field in 1929.
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