Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada
Location Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Type Aviation Museum
Website www.wcam.mb.ca/index.html

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (formerly the Western Canada Aviation Museum) is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the second largest aviation museum in Canada. The collection is housed in an original Trans-Canada Air Lines (today operating as Air Canada) hangar dating from the 1930s.

History

The Western Canada Aviation Museum was incorporated in 1974 for the preservation and promotion of Canada's aviation history.[1]

The aircraft on display reflect the history of aviation development in Canada, and more specifically in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a major hub for aviation development in Canada, and includes examples of aircraft and artifacts ranging from bush planes to transport, military, private, and commercial aircraft.[1]

The museum received the Royal designation on 19 December 2014 to become The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.[2]

Exhibits

A fully enclosed flight deck to watch the landings and takeoffs at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is one of the other attractions. The collection is housed in an original Trans-Canada Air Lines aircraft hangar and includes a recreated terminal departure centre and several one-of-a-kind aircraft such as Canada's first helicopter, the CL-84 "Tilt-wing," Avrocar "flying saucer" (full-scale movie model), historic military jets, bush planes, and commercial aircraft.

Display aircraft

Avrocar model
Lockheed Electra 10A "CF-TCC" in Trans-Canada Air Lines livery.
A Vickers Vedette replica at the Western Canada Aviation Museum, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The Museum also houses an exhibit on Canadian Women in Aviation, flight simulators, a Black Brant Rocket (built in Manitoba by Bristol Aerospace), and other aviation memorabilia, such as a collection of first airmail covers (i.e. envelopes, including one signed by Charles Lindbergh and Orville Wright).[4] In 2012, an exhibit displaying Canada's role in coastal patrol was opened.

Archives and Library

The comprehensive aviation reference library housed at the Museum is one of the largest in the country, with holdings of books, magazines, technical manuals, and drawings, as well as some 40,000 photographs, films, and audiotapes, many of which cannot be found anywhere else.[4]

One item in the archives is a rare, five-minute film of Amelia Earhart embarking on her solo, trans-Atlantic flight from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, on 21 May 1932.

The library is open to the public on an appointment basis and photos, films, and audiotapes are loaned or copied on request.

Recovery and restoration

The Museum has an active Restoration Department and has returned many bent and twisted aircraft to full display condition. A team of volunteers completed a full-scale replica of a Canadian Vickers Vedette Mark V (CF-MAG) aircraft in May 2002.

Current projects include the restoration of a Bellanca Aircruiser, Fairchild Super 71, Waco, and Harvard.

The Museum has facilitated the recovery of several aircraft, including the "Ghost of Charron Lake" - a Fokker Standard Universal that has taken more than 30 years to locate. It is currently in a recovery and retrieval phase, after which it will begin its restoration.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association, Canadian Heritage Information Network, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Ogden 1986, p. 26.
  2. ↑ accessdate:December 2014
  3. ↑ Meal, Xavier. "Return Of The Super Universal". Aeroplane, Volume 29, Issue 6, 2001.
  4. 1 2 Ogden 1986, p. 27.

Bibliography

  • Hunt, Leslie. Veteran and Vintage Aircraft. New York: Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. ISBN 0-8008-7948-1.
  • Ogden,Bob. Great Aircraft Collections of the World. New York: Gallery Books, 1986. ISBN 1-85627-012-2.
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Coordinates: 49°53′44.56″N 97°13′15.52″W / 49.8957111°N 97.2209778°W / 49.8957111; -97.2209778

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