McKnight, Ian William (Flight Lieutenant)

Missing 1965-May-16

Flight Lieutenant Ian William McKnight RCAF

Birth Date: 1922-May-19

Born: Montreal, Quebec

Parents: Son of Hilton and Vera McKnight.

Spouse: Husband of Mair(nee Owen)McKnight. Father of Roger O. McKnight. Brother of Donald L. McKnight.

Home: Montreal, Quebec

Enlistment: Montreal

Enlistment Date: 1940-August-13

Canadian Forces Decoration

Service

RCAF

Unit

CEPE- Central Experimental & Proving Establishment
Exporto Crede

Base

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Pilot

Service Numbers

D/10131

Home
Google MapMontreal, Quebec

Unit Desciption

CEPE Exporto Crede (Central Experimental and Proving Establishment)

Museum Archives Association of Ontario

From the formation of the Air Board and the Canadian Air Force, test and development work was carried on at Ottawa Air Station (at Rockcliffe and Shirley's Bay). By 1930, a special Test Flight was established at Rockcliffe. Its purpose was to carry out investigations pertaining to flight testing, electronics, gunnery, navigation, and any aeronautical work that affected training. Due to the war, the demands for test flying for research and experiment increased and, as a result, the Test Flight was reorganized into the RCAF Test and Development Establishment in November 1940 and in 1946, its changed name to Experimental and Proving Establishment. Other experimental units such has the Winter Experimental Establishment were formed during and after the war. It was decided to centralize the control of their activities in one organization. On 1 September 1951 the Central Experimental and Proving Establishment was formed by the amalgamation of the E&PE at Rockciffe, the Winter Experimental Establishment at Edmonton, and the RCAF (National Research Council) Unit at Arnprior. Headquarters of CE&PE were at Rockcliffe, with detachments at several sites across Canada. In 1957 CE&PE was moved to RCAF Station Uplands, a move necessitated by the longer runways required for testing new jet aircraft.