Canadian Museum of Flight

Comments

The Canadian Museum of Flight The Canadian Museum of Flight is located at the Langley Airport, and is a non-profit, volunteer driven museum dedicated to restoring, preserving and showcasing Canada's rich aviation heritage. We have something that will interest everyone. In the early 1970's, a group of aviation enthusiasts made a move to stop the exodus of historic aircraft leaving Canada for the U.S. and Europe. This group pooled their resources, to acquire as many of these aircraft as possible. The Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation was incorporated, as a non-profit society in March 1977, and was given the authority to issue tax-deductible receipts for donations. The Museum was located on Crescent Road in Surrey British Columbia. In the winter of 1996, the Museum moved its location to the Langley Airport. In the spring of 1998, the Museum legally changed its name to the Canadian Museum of Flight. The Museum and restoration site is open year round, and houses over 25 aircraft both static and flying. The aircraft range from a WWII Handley Page Hampden to a T-33 Silverstar. At the present time, the Museum volunteers are restoring a 1937 WACO Cabin. The Department of National Defence Ottawa purchased this particular aircraft new, and it was operated by the Department of Transport until 1949, when it was moved out to the B.C. Coast. It was operated by B.C. Airlines, then by a logging company. Dr. Jack Pickup of Alert Bay was the next owner, who acquired the airplane in 1953 and routinely used it as a "flying doctor" floatplane. It was donated to the Canadian Museum of Flight in 1980 by Dr. Pickup and has undergone a complete restoration to airworthiness. This restoration was done solely by the Museum's volunteers whose age range from 20 to 82. Many of our volunteers spent their career in the aviation industry just to retire and put in full time hours at the Museum. The Museum is a very "hands-on" facility. Most of our aircraft can be touched, and the children can feel that aircraft are made from not only aluminum, but also wood and fabric. We are undergoing display changes presently, and soon our visitors will be able to take a chronological walk around the Museum starting with WWI to present day, and be shown how large a part Canada has played in aviation history. The Museum over the years has been host to many events such as Wings and Wheels. Along with the aircraft and displays, the Museum has an extensive aviation gift shop with everything from posters - books - hats - t-shirts - toys - videos and much more.