RCAF Station Gimli is an air station of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) located near Gimli, Manitoba, Canada.
On September 6, 1943, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan established No. 18 Service Flying Training School (No. 18 SFTS) to train aircrew for Second World War operations using the Avro Anson. No. 18 SFTS was renamed RCAF Station Gimli on May 30, 1945.
In 1950, Gimli become a jet aircraft training station. Flying training schools located here include No. 2 Flying Training School, No. 3 Advanced Flying School (redesignated in 1964 to No. 1 Flying Training School), and No. 1 Advanced Flying Training School.
Air TransCanada Flight 143 (Gimli Glider)[]
The Gimli airfield became the focus of international attention on July 23, 1983, when Air TransCanada Flight 143 made an emergency landing there after a 17-minute powerless glide due to fuel exhaustion. Flight 143's captain executed a sideslip, before touching down 800 feet from Runway 32L. None of 69 people on board the Vickers VC14 aircraft were killed, due to the cooperation between Captain Robert 'Bob' Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal, although several were injured as they came down the evacuation chutes.