Hayter piloting museum for two decades

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This article was published 09/02/2019 (2451 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Piloting the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum has been Stephen Hayter’s passion for the last 20 years.

“It’s hard to fathom that much time has passed,” Hayter, the museum’s executive director, said Friday.

Hayter was the first person hired full-time to oversee the museum at Brandon Municipal Airport. He started the job in February 1999.

Before he started, the museum, which opened in 1980, was run by volunteers, who still play a vital role in the unique museum’s operation.

During the Second World War, aircrew personnel from Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada were all trained under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which operated bases across the country, including Brandon.

The Brandon museum is the only one dedicated to telling the story.

Hayter learned his profession in the museum management and curatorship program at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough, Ont.

He was born in Toronto but moved to Brandon after his father was transferred here with the CNIB in the early 1980s.

Hayter was working for a furniture refinisher when the provincial government designated the museum a Manitoba signature museum. That designation required the hiring of a full-time staffer.

“I had the background, and I had the interest, and so I applied for the position, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

When he started, there was only the hangar, and part of it was being rented out to Maple Leaf Aviation.

“So we were a much smaller venue, though we were still substantial with our aircraft and the story that we tell,” Hayter said.

All that changed after the terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Security issues at airports all across Canada changed, and our property, as a result, changed,” he said.

Before 9/11, there was no barrier to prevent vehicles from driving onto the runways, so it was determined fencing was needed. That changed access routes, making it more difficult for traffic to reach the museum.

John McNarry, who now chairs the museum board, renegotiated the lease with the city, changing the shape of the property to include the canteen and medical building and giving it easier access from the highway.

A capital campaign was launched, which helped raise money to restore the canteen and move living quarters called an H-hut (so named because of its appearance from the air) donated by CFB Shilo onto the property, as well as a motor transport garage, which once sat on the Douglas satellite field.

The H-hut now houses the museum’s library and archives.

Over a period of about 10 years, the museum restored all but the medical building, which is on the list for renovation, Hayter said.

“We want to save it. It’s a historical building.”

The museum also rents space to CASARA, the Canadian air search-and-rescue body, as well as being the new home of the Brandon Model Railway Club, which is located in the H-hut.

“They’ll be kind of value-added,” he said. “We’ll be able to direct visitors to them, and tours can go over there, as well.”

Hayter is currently overseeing the refurbishment of more than 10 aircraft engines obtained from an Ottawa museum.

“It was a phenomenal find for the museum,” he said.

They are also restoring a Fleet Finch biplane used to train pilots during the Second World War.

Hayter said only 27 of these planes were made.

“It’s being restored to such a high level,” he said. “It’ll be one-of-a-kind, and it’ll fly, hopefully, this summer.”

The museum comes under the umbrella of the City of Brandon, he said, and receives funding from the province because of its heritage designation.

Volunteers are the backbone of the museum, he said.

“All that’s happened at the museum is a result of the teamwork between the staff and the volunteers,” Hayter said.

Unfortunately, as veterans and longtime volunteers are dying off, it’s becoming a challenge to maintain a dedicated roster of volunteers, he said.

“We need to get younger people involved. We need to get newly retired individuals up here and interested in the many aspects of the museum that we can provide.”

Up to 50 volunteers are called up for larger events at the museum, while a core group of five to 10 help with the day-to-day operation.

“I’ve been very lucky,” Hayter said. “I’m in a very unique museum that tells a very important story, so I’ve always felt very grateful that I could be part of something that is really important to Canada.”

McNarry, the board chairman, has no regrets about being part of the committee that hired Hayter 20 years ago.

“We’re actually very fortunate to have him,” McNarry said. “He’s extremely dedicated to the concept of what the museum’s about.”

McNarry said his hope is the province will continue funding the museum so they never have to face the prospect of losing their executive director.

“That would be a tragedy,” he said, adding the funding hasn’t changed for decades and it doesn’t take inflation into account. The museum receives $55,800 a year from the province.

A foundation also raises money for the operation.

Asked if he’ll still be running the museum 20 years from now, Hayter paused to ponder the question.

“I’ll only be 67,” he said finally, smiling. “No problem.”

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