TRANSCRIPT

Oshawa Air Training Center

During the War years the Oshawa airport was the site of an Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). The young pilots came from all over the Commonwealth to train in Canada. EFTS #21 in Oshawa was very successful in its training and won two different awards: one for efficient use of gas and the other for being the best air training center in Canada.

The duration of time the pilots would stay in Oshawa depended on the number of people who required training. Generally the average stay was roughly 3 months, or 10 weeks. The planes that were used to train the pilots in Oshawa were called Tiger Moths. Oshawa had seventy-five of these planes, of which a minimum of forty had to be in good serviceable condition each week. Because of the success of the air training school in Oshawa, the Oshawa airport was established and continues to operate today.