Qualla: CFB North Bay

CFB North Bay: Introduction

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Magnum x at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Somewhere beneath the granite ridges outside North Bay, Ontario, a cave the size of a five-storey building hums with the glow of radar screens. The NORAD Underground Complex sits more than sixty storeys underground, blasted into the bedrock of the Canadian Shield during the tensest years of the Cold War. From this bunker, Canadian and American operators track every aircraft entering the country's airspace -- from overseas flights to smugglers to, each Christmas Eve, Santa Claus himself. CFB North Bay is the only air base in Canada without an airfield, the only one without flying units, and arguably the most important military installation in the country. Its story stretches from a flying boat that electrified onlookers in 1920 to a satellite launched from India in 2013, and nearly every chapter involves something improbable.

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Image: Magnum x at English Wikipedia | Public domain

CFB North Bay: A Flying Boat Over Main Street

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Oaktree b, CC BY-SA 3.0. On October 9, 1920, a Government of Canada Felixstowe F.3 flying boat appeared without warning over the small town of North Bay. Few residents had ever seen an aircraft. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Leckie and Major Basil Deacon Hobbs were attempting the first crossing of Canada by ...

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Image: Oaktree b | CC BY-SA 3.0

CFB North Bay: Ferrying Bombers Across the Atlantic

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Oaktree b, CC BY-SA 3.0. In November 1940, seven twin-engine Lockheed Hudson bombers lifted off from Gander, Newfoundland, bound for Britain. German U-boats were sinking cargo ships carrying desperately needed aircraft, so the Royal Air Force proposed an audacious alternative: fly them across the ocean. ...

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Image: Oaktree b | CC BY-SA 3.0

CFB North Bay: Into the Mountain

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Oaktree b, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Cold War changed everything. Canada lay directly between the Soviet Union and the United States, meaning Soviet nuclear bombers would cross Canadian territory to strike American targets. RCAF Station North Bay was founded on September 1, 1951, and a massive building campaign ...

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Image: Oaktree b | CC BY-SA 3.0

CFB North Bay: The Squadron That Stole Radars

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit A much better place, Wayne Logus, CC BY-SA 4.0. 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron returned to North Bay in August 1972, and its specialty was chaos. The unit trained air defence personnel to fight when an enemy had jammed their radar and radio communications. Their signature trick was electronically locking onto a fighter jet's ...

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Image: A much better place, Wayne Logus | CC BY-SA 4.0

CFB North Bay: Eyes on the Sky -- and Beyond

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Oaktree b, CC BY-SA 3.0. Today, 22 Wing/CFB North Bay monitors all aircraft entering Canadian airspace and coordinates with NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs. Its responsibilities range from escorting aircraft experiencing emergencies to assisting law enforcement against smugglers to tracking Santa'...

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Image: Oaktree b | CC BY-SA 3.0