Armour Heights Field
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Armour Heights Field was home to a Royal Flying Corps airfield near Toronto, Canada during World War I, and was one of three in the area. Many RFC (later, Royal Air Force) pilots trained in Canada due to space availability. The airfield was opened in July 1917, but closed in 1919 as the war had ended. It was later developed as a residential development and remains as such today.
In 1917, an airfield was constructed near the site of the present Avenue Road and Route 401 interchange, and early the following year, the School of Special Flying opened. Student pilots received instruction on the basics of flight, aerial reconnaissance and aerial combat. However, the school had a short life as it closed around the time the Armistice was signed, on November 11, 1918.
In 1919, Bishop-Barker Airplanes Limited, founded by World War I Royal Flying Corps veterans William "Billy" Bishop and William Barker, took over the Armour Heights aerodrome. This business venture was also short-lived, closing in 1921, and one of Canada’s busiest airfields at the time was simply abandoned.
