PART OF AERODROME, LEASIDE.
PART OF BEAMSVILLE AERODROME.
[BEAMSVILLE CAMP.]
The site of the School of Aerial Fighting was selected in the autumn of 1917. Actual preparation of some 300 acres comprising the aerodrome began, and the work of building was in full swing by December. Climatic conditions approximated those at Camp Borden some twelve months previously, it being a winter of severe cold and high winds, but so earnestly was construction pushed that the camp stood ready for occupation when the School of Aerial Gunnery, as it then was, returned from Texas at the beginning of April, 1917. This provision did not at the time include barracks for cadets and rank and file.
As will be understood, complete equipment was provided for gunnery practice, the several ranges running from 25 to 200 yards. These were furnished with a diversity of targets for surprise deflection, miniature aeroplane and disappearing target work, the type of butt here constructed proving extremely satisfactory.
Full sized silhouettes of machines, riding on anchored rafts, were also set out in Lake Ontario a mile or so from shore, it having already been established in practice over Lake Worth, Texas, that firing over the water was of great value, owing to the accuracy with which registration could be made and also the excellent opportunity given of arriving at a proper diving angle. Beamsville provided all such advantages, and practice was further stimulated by the use of a fast armour-clad launch, which, travelling at top speed, offered an unusually good target.