Much has been written over the years about the early days of aviation in Newfoundland and Labrador, mostly dealing with the exploits of individual pilots. Some histories have chronicled such events as the World War Two program that saw war planes flown through Gander and Goose Bay on their way to the European war zone. Local authors with interests in specialized areas of aviation, such as the history of the flying boats that made Botwood their local base in the 1930s have delved deeply into their singular history. With the 100th anniversary of the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic looming it was felt by a number of aviation enthusiasts and experts that a central clearing house of this province’s rich aviation history would serve a useful purpose. Hence, the gala events planned to mark the remarkable accomplishment of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown provided a sterling opportunity to not only mark their historic journey but serve as a catalyst to raise the pride and knowledge of our people in the often overlooked history of early aviation in this province.

When the celebrations of June 14-15, 2019 have receded into memory it is the intention of Aviation History Newfoundland and Labrador to keep the stories and accomplishments of the many brave men and women alive by providing this web site where anyone with an interest can come to learn more and make their own contributions to the history of flight here. We hope you will find this site helpful and thought provoking and that you will add your own knowledge and memories to a growing collection of historical fact.