In late 1947 an aircraft took off from a 3,000-foot-long grass airstrip, with a small terminal building, at the north end of Kelowna. It was the first flight to lift off from what was then called Ellison Field. The year before, Kelowna residents voted 466 to 460 in favour of purchasing the 320-acre Dickson Ranch, a tobacco farm, for $20,000 (nearly $300,000 in 2022) to make way for what is now Kelowna International Airport.
91裸聊视频淭he people who put the proposal together and fought for it were certainly visionaries,91裸聊视频 said Sam Samaddar, airport director. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e come a long way. When I first came here, Penticton, Kamloops and Kelowna were handling around the same number of people in terms of traffic. To see Kelowna speed ahead to become the tenth busiest airport in the country, and the second busiest in the province, we91裸聊视频檝e seen some amazing growth over the years.91裸聊视频
YLW is celebrating its 75 anniversary this year. Samaddar has been at the airport for 30 years, becoming director in 2008, and sees a bright future for the facility.
91裸聊视频淚 think when we look at the next 75 years there will be lots of discussion about what happened over the last 150 years. Aviation in the Okanagan goes back to the early 1900s when they had triplanes and biplanes.91裸聊视频
The anniversary theme is 75 Trips Around the Sun, and it will be a year-long celebration, including a visit from the world-renowned Canadian Forces 431 Air Demonstration Squadron.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e confirmed with the Canadian Snowbirds that they will be here July 9 and 10,91裸聊视频 said Samaddar. 91裸聊视频淭wo shows over the water which will be a great opportunity for the community to see the Snowbirds. It91裸聊视频檚 been about eight years since they91裸聊视频檝e done a show here over Kelowna.91裸聊视频
Other celebrations will include contests and flight giveaways, as well as community contributions.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l be asking them to share their photographs of going through the airport over time,91裸聊视频 added Samaddar. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檒l probably get some beautiful, historical photos out of that as well.91裸聊视频
Samaddar also gave a nod to KF Aerospace, which started operation at YLW in 1970.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e got the KF Centre for Excellence which is a legacy project with KF, they91裸聊视频檝e been a partner with us for 53 years,91裸聊视频 he said. 91裸聊视频淎s part of that building is an exhibit that celebrates the rich history of aviation in the Okanagan. It91裸聊视频檚 a beautiful piece of architecture with working vintage aircraft that will be stored in the wings of that building.91裸聊视频
Samaddar added it also celebrates an opportunity to look at the future of YLW facilities and attract young people to aviation by showing them how an airport or airplane operates.
Read More: Kelowna91裸聊视频檚 KF Aerospace launches passenger charter service
Read More: Kelowna airport collects $3.2M in federal funding to help with COVID costs
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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