| Neepawa Airport | |
| Tc: | CJV5 |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Town of Neepawa |
| Location: | Municipality of North Cypress-Langford, near Neepawa, Manitoba |
| Timezone: | CST |
| Summer: | CDT |
| Elevation-F: | 1,277 |
| Coordinates: | 50.2325°N -99.51°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Manitoba#Canada |
| Pushpin Label: | CJV5 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Manitoba |
| R1-Number: | 04/22 |
| R1-Length-F: | 3,507 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Footnotes: | Source: Canada Flight Supplement |
Neepawa Airport is located 1.7NM west of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada, immediately north of the Yellowhead Highway.
The airport is operated by the town of Neepawa.[1] It is used by owners of light and ultralight aircraft, chiefly for pleasure flying and crop dusting. The airport has also been employed for hanglider training.[2] The property supports several light industrial enterprises.
The present-day airport building was originally the RCAF Station Neepawa, constructed during the Second World War under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). It was one of many dozens of Canadian airports once used to train pilots and other air crew for the Royal Air Force and other British Commonwealth air forces.[3]
Tens of thousands of eager BCATP trainees from across the globe spent time in and around small towns throughout Canada, often experiencing severe winter weather for the first time. Their lives in Manitoba, on and off base, are dramatized in the 1993 film For the Moment, starring New Zealand actor Russell Crowe.[4] [5]
After the war until the 1960s, the original control tower was operated in support of civil aviation by the Canadian Department of Transport. Other airport facilities, including a hangar and a rifle range, continued for some years to serve Squadron 9[6] of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the local militia organization. Many of the original wooden buildings have since been demolished.