Air museum back with big plans for the summer

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This article was published 02/04/2024 (731 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There aren’t many places like this one in Canada, where people can go back in time and experience what it was like to be a pilot, training for missions during the Second World War, says Stephen Hayter, executive director of Brandon’s aviation museum.

“The kids’ displays are all set up and lit up in the Beechcraft Model 18 and the Cessna Crane,” Hayter said. “You go in the back of the Beech, and you can sit at the controls of the aircraft. We have it all lit up with sounds and buttons, and there are little windows for the kids to look out. And there’s also a slide.

“So, a kid should really get a kick out of it. Actually, adults get a kick out of it ,too,” Hayter said as he laughed.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum at Brandon Municipal Airport is now open for the season after being closed for the winter on Nov. 11. It is one of the few remaining examples of the flying schools built across Canada to train Commonwealth pilots serving in the war.

There are thousands of artifacts ranging from uniforms and medals to cameras and radios. The museum has collected nine vehicles from the late 1930s and 1940s, and a dozen historic aircraft, six that are airworthy.

The de Havilland Tiger Moth, Fairchild Cornell, and the Harvard can be booked for flights around the city, and are parked in the museum’s hangar, which is an artifact itself, said Hayter.

“I love the hangar. It’s the largest artifact in our collection, constructed in the winter of 1940 and was up and running by the summer of ’41.

“The ambiance of that space is phenomenal, because you walk into it, and you’re looking at historic aircraft, you’re looking at a historic building and you can really feel that history,” Hayter said.

“It’s the smell, it’s the way the hangar makes noises in the wind. It’s all of that together that tells the story.”

There are big plans for this summer, he added, including Canadian Armed Forces Day, which will be tied to the 100th anniversary of the RCAF with celebrations scheduled for June 2.

Yesterday, April 1, marked 100 years of service for the Royal Canadian Air Force as a distinct military element.

The museum’s 1940 Fleet Finch will also be the focus of an official unveiling in the next few months. It’s a two-seater training biplane, one of 447 that were built by Fleet Aircraft in Fort Erie, Ont.

It is the most accurately restored Fleet Finch in the world down to the flare pistol, which was used to fire pyrotechnic signals when in flight. It was standard equipment in many aircraft built during the war, said Hayter.

“Museum volunteers and professionals restored it right back to the way it should be, and it’s already had its maiden flight test, so the Fleet Finch will be flying in the skies around Manitoba this summer,” he said.

Brandon’s CATPM was one of about 200 training sites built across Canada. The grounds included a sentry box, dental and medical building, a chapel, and several canteens because they were feeding about 1,800 air personnel.

“It’s as close as you’re going to get to a functioning canteen that feels like 1940,” Hayter said. “We’ve restored it to original as possible. The floor is battleship linoleum, and the walls are painted in the two-tone green and two-tone blue with a black stripe. And hanging in that space are the glass globes that were original to our site. They had been stored in our hangar for 70 years,” he said.

The museum was closed during the winter because structural issues with the hangar were discovered in 2022. Engineers found that an exterior metal truss built on the hangar was torquing (twisting) 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. Engineers suggested the museum close during the winter months until repairs are made.

“We were busy over the winter, anyway, redoing our displays and rearranging our collection, like bringing out new artifacts that haven’t been seen before,” said Hayter.

“So, we’re excited. We’re making the best of a difficult situation and we hope when the public comes out, they’ll see a big change and enjoy their visit,” he said.

For the rest of the month, the aviation museum is open seven days a week from 1 to 4 p.m. Beginning May 1, the hours extend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission for adults is $10. The price for those aged six to 17 is $5 and children six and under are free.

There is a special fee for school groups at $4 each.

Veterans, those who are currently in the military, and post-secondary students pay $5, with identification required.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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