Suspended Flight

To commemorate its namesake, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ), located on the Toronto Islands, suspended a replica of Bishop’s plane in the atrium of the terminal building. Billy Bishop, Canada’s top flying ace of the First World War, was officially credited with 72 victories.

In 2015, the pedestrian tunnel to Billy Bishop Airport was officially opened, 10-storeys below the Western Gap under Lake Ontario. The replica of the 1916 French Nieuport 17 fighter biplane that Bishop flew on missions during World War I is suspended over the escalators that lead from the tunnel into the check-in and security area. Both Porter Airlines and Air Canada Jazz operate regional flights to destinations in Canada and the USA from the airport using much more modern aircraft.

When called to rig artifacts or other large decorative elements, JOEL Rigging works closely with the architects and engineers to ensure that both aesthetic and structural requirements are met. In the case of the biplane, we used custom designed stainless-steel fittings to ensure architectural elegance with structural integrity.