Monday, August 22, 2011

Lasalle Airport .an Update (sort of)--lol

Well I sent an email a while back asking about more info about the lasalle Airport,.....well it seems that 'they' would need 'more info' about the Lasalle Airport in which to get back to me with 'more info'......Yikes hahahahah I guess I wasn't clear enough in my email,or 'they' really do not get the 'concept of asking for more info'

  "Oh Well, C'est le vie"

here is a copy of my email to them & their answer back

Your request has been added to our search pile however we will require more information to perform an accurate search. Can you provide more details about the specific location you are looking for photos?
 
Please note, we have a large backlog of searches and will deal with your request as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause.
Regards,
Dan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Brown
National Air Photo Library / Photothèque nationale de l'air
Centre for Topographic Information / Centre d'information topographique
615 Booth St / rue Booth
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E9
Tel: 613-992-6210
Fax: 613-995-4568
Email: Daniel.Brown@NRCan.gc.ca


 


From: LesF Sent: July 23, 2011 11:44 AM
To: NAPL/PNA
Subject: Lasalle Airport

Hello, I am trying to find an aerial or ground photo of an airport in the 1920's to mid 1930'sWe have found some evidence as to where the Lasalle Airport was situated,but we cannot find any photos .Would you have such a thing in your archives? If so where can we see them. Thank you for any further information you can provide.We have a site called Verdun Connections & we do a lot of history type stories and we are interested in this particular airport right at this time... Again Thanks
                                           Les F                                           .
                                           Victoria BC
                                        

15 comments:

Les F said...

I do appreciate them having at least gotten back to me & I am sure they will contact me again ,should they find any further info.......so I thank them for the response,many sites do not bother to acknowledge the sender it seems... Cheers ! HF&RV

Guy Billard said...

Les,
Fantastic. I have altready written a short article on the LaSalle airport including Buzz Beurling's connection wich will be published in the near future in the SHGV revue "Les Argoulets" so if any more information turns up it may not be too late to include it. Along with Queen's Park and the LaSalle airport, they are the most interesting new discoveries on Verdun history, in my opinion.
Thanks again Les for your contribution. The LaSalle airport is the best kept secret to come out of my research as everyone I have spoken too are amazed to hear about it.
Guy

Guy Billard said...

Les,
You could send them the enclosed map showing the location of the airport.
Guy

Guy Billard said...

Les,
You could send them this map of the LaSalle airport.
Guy

Les F said...

I will do that Guy,.Thanks.I hope this helps Do you happen to know the long. x latitude. coordiantes,that would really narrow it down, If you do not off hand then I can probably get them from the Google MAps or a GPS ................ thanks again

Guy Billard said...

I have opened Album no. 58 on the LaSalle airport.
Guy

Ian Cordner said...

The Lasalle Airport was located on what became the Golf Course. It was situated on Lasalle Blvd. about a mile west of the old powerhouse which was located at the end of 8th ave. and Lasalle Blvd. Today, it is a foot bridge to Lachine Rapids park.

I remember several old hangers at the airport because I used to do distant runs around the perimeter of the golf course in the late '50's & early '60's. I recall them as being somewhat broken down and rusted and they were demolished in the late '60's along with a grand home that stood near the waterfront.

Les F said...

I beleive this is the same one that was once a family cottage ,then turned clubhouse for the Lasalle Golf Course ? Around early 70's ,I worked for a Texaco stn at 3rd & Champlain, & we would get called to tow out cars that were abandoned near the clubhouse. Then around the same time they pushed Centrale Street directly through from Bishop Power through the old gold course to about 35th av on the other side.......there was also a road that interesected with Centrale almost right in the middle this stretch.......I have heard that at night time if you raced from about 14th ? towards 35th through there it made an almost perfect 1/4mile (if you blew through the stop sign in the middle----------or so I'm told,.lol) but my friends & I wouldn't have done that...............................................
nor would we have been on the lookout for the gendarmes ,which despite their stealthy attempts,still managed to stick out like a sore thumb--but that's another story

Guy Billard said...

icord
I have added your comments to my album no. 58 as these anecdotes add to the history of the LaSalle airport.
Guy

Les F said...

This is a second email re: Lasalle Airport which includes the map from Guy
Hello Daniel Brown, thank you for your response,the only other information I can give you is this attached copy of a map indicating where in Lasalle Quebec the airport was supposed to have been. If this is what I would think is Lasalle South East, then the coordinates should be:
Lat. 45.4371 Long. -73.5979
I hope this may help,any info or photographs would be great,even photos from around that power house hydro dam that is on the map,would be of interest to us as well. I would hope that someone in those days took aerial shots around that area. We have found newspaper stories referring to airshows performed at the Lasalle Airport,so there should be something laying around somewhere,I hope.
Thank you for your efforts ,they are appreciated,I understand you have quite a case workload & backlog, so we will wait patiently for your response. Again Thanks in advance for any further info you can share with us.
LesF
Victoria BC



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Les F said...

http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/

Les F said...

Well this Daniel Brown was quick to reply to my email this morning & has now added the map to our original request:................ that's quick service,with any luck maybe we will find out more on the illusive Lasalle Airport.


Hi Les,
I added the map to your original request.

Dan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Brown
National Air Photo Library / Photothèque nationale de l'air
Centre for Topographic Information / Centre d'information topographique
615 Booth St / rue Booth
Ottawa, ON K1A 0E9
Tel: 613-992-6210
Fax: 613-995-4568
Email: Daniel.Brown@NRCan.gc.ca




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: LesF
Sent: August 23, 2011 1:14 PM
To: Brown, Daniel
Subject: Lasalle Airport


Hello Daniel , I forgot to ad this map of the Lasalle Airport location ,this is to go along with my email just sent moments ago:
copy:
Hello Daniel Brown, thank you for your response,the only other information I can give you is this attached copy of a map indicating where in Lasalle Quebec the airport was supposed to have been. If this is what I would think is Lasalle South East, then the coordinates should be:
Lat. 45.4371 Long. -73.5979
I hope this may help,any info or photographs would be great,even photos from around that power house hydro dam that is on the map,would be of interest to us as well. I would hope that someone in those days took aerial shots around that area. We have found newspaper stories referring to airshows performed at the Lasalle Airport,so there should be something laying around somewhere,I hope.
Thank you for your efforts ,they are appreciated,I understand you have quite a case workload & backlog, so we will wait patiently for your response. Again Thanks in advance for any further info you can share with us.
Les F

Victoria BC

Guy Billard said...

I have done more digging regarding Buzz Beurling having started his flying lessons at the LaSalle Airport by checking the Lovell directory and here is what I found;

1928 - 1929: Last number on LaSalle Blvd: 7671 (Bélanger H)
1929 - 1930: Last number 7439 Verdun 500 Social Club
Dominion Aircraft Co, Ltd, Rm 305, 1410 Stanley
1930 - 1931: Dominion Aircraft Co. Ltd, 7900 LaSalle Blvd
1931 - 1932: Flying & Services Ltd
Dominion Aircraft Co. Ltd
7900 LaSalle Blvd
1932 - 1933: Not Listed
1933 - 1934: No. 7730 LaSalle Blvd: Montreal Light Heat & Power Station
Eigth ave. begins
Edward ends
7905 LaSalle (Besner Elie)
8033 -
8036 Rapids View Golf Club
1934 - 1935: Same
1935 - 1936: Same

A period public notice advises that the assets of the Flyiing & Services Co. who owned the Dominion Aircraft Co.where liquidated. Also you will notice that the Rapids View Golf Club of 8036 LaSalle started their operations in 1933. I conclude from this that the golf course replaced the airport in 1933. Further research will be required to find out when the airport was opened but we can surmise that it started not long after the first world war as there where no doubt thousands of cheap war surplus aircraft that where available.
Another fact that arises is that Buzz Beurling was born in 1926 therefore would have been too young to take flying lessons although he might have hung around the airport as gopher. His biography says that he went on to the Cartierville airport to take flying lessons.
Perhaps more interesting facts will turn up on this fascinating subject.
Guy

Les F said...

Cartierville is where my oldman got his wings flying Piper Cubs........he told me his first landing he bounced 30 feet off the runway.........I would guess from that time frame that the Lasalle Airport did not exist or he might have take flying lessons from there ratherthan Cartierville. I lived in ville Lasalle from Nov 1st 1968 until I left for the west coast in the 70's ,.I never heard ,nor saw evidence of an airport in those years but do remember the club house ,as I mentioned earlier,.also I remember when they pushed Centrale through the old golf course grounds to link up with the rest of Lasalle,.....the cross road in the center from maps I look at now .would make me think Gangne was the cross street at Centrale........where we raced our cars,.of course no houses lined Centrale or anywhere else in the vicinity of the golf course in those days....Unlike todays pile of houses.
My guess is that some of the old aerials we have found over the years of the dam may have been likley taken by small craft from Lasalle,being the time frame fits...........

Les F said...

Guy, here is a very old map of roughly the same area as your map, it is listed as 1912.....but no indication of an airfield however it is a very basic type map.