CFB Wainwright Airfield 13

Military operational changes and redundancy. Airfield 13 was an 'austere' or tactical landing strip within a large training area. Its closure was not due to economic reasons or a specific incident, but rather a shift in military training requirements and aircraft capabilities. As training doctrines evolved, this specific type of unpaved, remote strip was likely deemed no longer necessary for the exercises being conducted at CFB Wainwright, which is served by the larger, fully-equipped Wainwright Airport (CYBF / Field 21).

The site is no longer an active airfield and has been absorbed into the CFB Wainwright training range. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows the faint, overgrown outline of a single runway in a large, open field. There are no remaining airport infrastructure, such as buildings, hangars, or markings. The land is part of an active military training area and is likely used for ground vehicle manoeuvres or other non-aviation training purposes. The runway is unmaintained and is slowly being reclaimed by prairie vegetation.

CFB Wainwright Airfield 13 was a tactical, unpaved landing strip used to support large-scale military ground exercises. Its primary purpose was to simulate a forward operating location or an airhead in a combat zone. It would have been used by military Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo or DHC-4 Caribou, for exercises involving troop insertion/extraction, aerial resupply, and casualty evacuation. The airfield played a role in enhancing the realism of training for both Canadian Armed Forces and visiting allied forces, including the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS), by integrating air support into ground manoeuvres.

None. There are no known plans or logical prospects for reopening Airfield 13. The primary aviation needs of CFB Wainwright are fully met by the main Wainwright Airport (CYBF), which has paved runways and full services. Re-establishing a remote, unpaved strip like Airfield 13 would serve no practical purpose for current military operations and would require significant investment for no clear benefit.