Comox Airport

The residents of Comox/Courtenay got their first exposure to aviation with the arrival on June 11, 1919 of three Curtiss JN-4s piloted by returning airmen of the Royal Flying Corps, turned barnstormers.  Vancouver Island Aerial Services was formed about a year later in Courtenay, also with an ex-military JN-4 registered for training and commercial air service.  The owners/pilots gave exhibitions and joyrides throughout the region from their base in Courtenay.

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The following year the harbour southwest of Comox was licensed as a seaplane base.  Vancouver Island Aerial Transport Company operated another JN-4 from Comox Harbour on floats from 1921 until it also crashed the following year.

 

BC Airways, established in 1928 in Victoria, continued the barnstorming tradition.  One pilot recorded carrying 103 individual paying passengers on July 1, 1928 from a 1,200 foot long field located halfway between the present Comox airport and Courtenay.

 

Comox Lake also served as a stopover and temporary base for seaplanes like this RCAF Fairchild FC2W (photographed here in 1929) engaged in local photographic surveys, search and rescue and other activities.

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In 1936 the RCAF undertook a survey to identify potential flying boat stations and airfields on the BC coast in anticipation of the Pacific conflict as World War II drew nearer.  Comox was chosen as one of five airfield locations, along with Patricia Bay (Victoria), Tofino, Port Hardy and Sandspit.  Construction of the military base began early in 1942 and although incomplete, RCAF Station Comox was commissioned on May 1, 1943.  A flying control unit was detached from Pat Bay (also initially an RAF training field) to provide contact with training flights from that location. 

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The station continued to support incoming training flights until No. 32 RAF Operational Training Unit (OTU) established its permanent base at Comox on May 26, 1944, equipped with Beechcraft Beech 18 (Expeditor) and DC-3 Dakota aircraft.  It was converted shortly thereafter to an RCAF unit, No. 6 OTU, with a corresponding increase in staff.  Training included a glider training course utilizing massive CG-4A �Hadrian� gliders, mainly carried out at Nanaimo�s newly constructed airstrip.

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No. 6 OTU was relocated to Greenwood, Nova Scotia in January 1946 and RCAF Comox reduced to a care and maintenance basis only.  In June of 1952, the government of Canada recognized the need for a permanent defence capability on the west coast.  Comox was reactivated as an Air Defence Command establishment and No. 407 �Demon� Maritime Patrol Squadron became the station�s first operational squadron, equipped with Lancaster bombers modified for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW).  407 was joined on November 1, 1954 by No. 409 �Nighthawk� All-Weather Fighter Interceptor Squadron, equipped with T-33 Silver Star and, later, CF-100 Canuck and CF-101 Voodoo aircraft.

That same year, an extensive modernization program was begun that included construction of several new buildings and hangars and extension of the primary runway to 10,000 feet.

In 1956 407 Squadron�s capabilities were enhanced by the introduction of P2V-7 Neptune aircraft.

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When RCAF Station Sea Island closed in 1964, 121 Composite Unit (KU) was relocated to Comox with its Albatross aircraft.  In July 1968 it was reformed as No. 442 Communications and Rescue Squadron.

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A second Maritime Flying unit, VU 33 moved to Comox in August 1974 from Patricia Bay with three Trackers (see photo) and three T-33 aircraft.  This consolidated all military flying activity in British Columbia at (now) Canadian Forces Base Comox and the following year all Comox�s resident squadrons were brought under Air Command. 

The RCAF units at Comox have evolved and changed with changing mandates and equipment.  As of 2022, 19 Wing consists of two flying squadrons 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron and 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron continue ongoing operations from the military side of Comox airport, supported by No. 19 Air Maintenance Squadron.

The post-war years also saw rapid development of civil aviation at Comox (designated CYQQ), sharing the field with military operations.  The Comox Aero Club was formed in 1946 and dissolved in 2012.  Commercial services have been provided by Pacific Western Airlines from the late 1950�s. The airport is now served from a separate international terminal on the southwest corner of the field, offering services to a variety of destinations with several airlines. 

 

Civilian aviation facilities are overseen by the Comox Valley Airport Commission, established in 1996.  CVAC operates on land leased from the Department of National Defence.  The F/O Cyril Cottingham Terminal, named after a locally raised pilot who was lost in a Lancaster in the North Sea in 1943, was opened in 2004.

 

Comox airport is also the home of the Comox Air Force Museum.

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