Former RCAF Station Winisk Site Airfield (ex-CYWN)

 airport, closed / former military

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Built in 1956 to support the construction and regular resupply and transport needs of RCAF Station Winisk and its thirteen Mid-Canada Line (MCL) communications relay stations, this 7,000ft gravel airstrip was heavily utilized during the 1957-1965 operational period of the station before being idled at the end of the flying season in 1965.

During its early years of operation, the airfield saw extensive use as a staging area for Transair Air, a civilian airline contracted with the US and Canadian governments to support the movement of men and material heading Northbound to aid in the construction of the eastern portion of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. As a result, the station was equipped with extensive material staging areas, a large hangar capable of housing a pair of DC-4's or DC-3's and a control tower to coordinate aircraft movements.

Once DEW Line construction completed the amount of Transair traffic dropped off dramatically and air operations at the site consisted primarily of regular fixed-wing and helicopter resupply and transport flights to and from the sector stations and nearby staging areas.

Following the end of MCL operations, the airfield continued to be used as the primary airport for the nearby town of Winisk, until its destruction in 1986 by massive flooding. Abandoned thereafter, the airstrip is no longer considered active and its identifier of CYWN is no longer listed on NAV Canada documentation.