Air museum relaunching Sunday

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This article was published 31/05/2023 (870 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum will reopen Sunday, eight months after it closed to carry out emergency structural repairs.

An exterior metal truss built on the Second World War-era hangar in 1985 was found by engineers last November to be torquing the original wooden beams and causing them to crack. There were concerns that under the wrong conditions, such as heavy snowfall, the roof could collapse.

The hangar represents one of the few remaining examples of the flying schools built across Canada to train Commonwealth pilots serving in the war.

Walking through the 82-year-old hangar Tuesday, executive director Stephen Hayter pointed to the extra structural supports installed in January.

Metal beams fixed to wooden platforms line the hangar in rows, with exhibits like vintage aircraft and road vehicles carefully arranged around them and roped off to prevent visitors from getting too close.

At the end of winter, Hayter said the concrete slab lining the floor of the hangar shifted when the ground thawed. That caused some of the temporary supports to shift and they had to be levelled off with the use of shims.

A final engineering report is expected to arrive in the next couple of weeks and will provide a full picture of the permanent repairs that need to be made to secure the hangar’s long-term survival.

That work will likely involve the removal of the metal truss, the repair of the damaged beams and reworking the soil around the hangar to direct water away from the building.

The temporary repairs, Hayter said, cost approximately $200,000. Of that, $171,000 was covered by the City of Brandon, which owns the site and leases it to the museum.

Though he won’t know the cost of the permanent repairs until the final report is delivered, Hayter said it will likely be in the neighbourhood of $6.3 million.

“It’s substantial and it may be higher than that, but we’re waiting for the final report,” Hayter said. “It’s not going to be a cheap fix, unfortunately, but from our standpoint it’s a very valuable fix. The temporary shoring is just that, temporary.”

The museum and the city applied earlier this year to Manitoba’s Arts, Culture and Sport in Community Fund. Under that fund’s large capital projects stream, eligible projects can receive funding for up to 50 per cent of costs to a maximum of $5 million per project.

Even if that application is successful, the museum will still need to find funding from other sources to foot the entire bill. Hayter said he hopes to engage the federal government on chipping in once the final engineering report comes in.

Until the permanent repairs are complete, Hayter said it is likely the museum will need to close during the winter months as a safety precaution.

“We would much rather be open year-round,” he said. “That’s how we’ve existed for 40 years.”

On top of that, the museum also expects to work on some local fundraising projects.

While the museum has been closed, Hayter and volunteers have rearranged existing exhibits and even brought in a few new ones.

The indoor exhibits are being redesigned to give visitors a better idea of what it was like to sign up for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war and progress through each stage of training at various flying schools.

In the hangar, part of a Beechcraft Model 18 that formerly belonged to a section at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada has been set up. Children will be allowed to go into the plane’s cockpit and play around with the controls as lights flash and sounds play.

When the Royal Museum moved to a new home last year, it offered the Commonwealth Museum the chance to rehome some exhibits that made up its old Skyways children’s section. Other elements passed down from Skyways are also being prepared and restored for display.

Sunday’s reopening coincides with a celebration of Armed Forces Day with the help of the RCAF.

Hayter said the RCAF will bring C-130 Hercules and CT-142 Dash 8 planes for display, along with a full-scale cockpit of a CF-18 Hornet fighter jet that guests can climb into. Other aircraft from the Southport Aerospace Centre near Portage la Prairie may also make an appearance.

Vehicles from CFB Shilo are also expected to be on display.

Though admission will be free, donations are welcome and hot dogs will be sold on-site to raise funds.

There won’t be any flying demonstrations on Sunday, but Hayter said planes from the museum will perform their traditional flyover during Canada Day celebrations at the Riverbank Discovery Centre alongside appearances at other events this summer.

Once the museum reopens, it will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Hayter said new volunteers are always welcome.

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