The National Air Force Museum of Canada is an

aviation museum An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, P ...

dedicated to preserving the history of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

(RCAF) and is located on the west side of

CFB Trenton Canadian Forces Base Trenton (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hu ...

Trenton, Ontario Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues no ...

. The museum is a permanent archive which collects, preserves and displays Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) memorabilia, photographs, paintings and documents as a lasting tribute and memorial to all the men and women who served in the RCAF and its predecessor organizations.

History

The RCAF Memorial Library and Museum opened on 1 April 1984 – the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the

– in the CFB Trenton Recreation Center. However, the museum quickly outgrew the location and moved to the base's former curling club exactly 10 years later in 1994. With the acquisition of a

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its or ...

restoration project in 1995, the museum was again short on space. So from 2004 to 2005 the museum constructed a purpose built Main Exhibition Hall. This was not before the name of the museum was changed to the Air Force National Museum in 1998. Ten years later, it was changed again to the National Air Force Museum of Canada. Between November 2012 and August 2013, a second phase of construction was completed on the main exhibition hall. This involved adding additional staircases between the two floors of the building and finishing various rooms. In 2016, the museum acquired an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

that had been on display in

Edmundston, New Brunswick Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...

. Chris Colton, the executive director of the museum for 21 years, retired in June 2018. Later that year, the museum acquired a

CP-140 Aurora The Lockheed CP-140 Aurora is a patrol aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft is based on the Lockheed P-3 Orion airframe, but mounts the electronics suite of the Lockheed S-3 Viking. Aurora ( ...

Collection

Aircraft on display

AEA Silver Dart The ''Silver Dart'' (or ''Aerodrome #4'') was a derivative of an early aircraft built by a Canadian/U.S. team, which after many successful flights in Hammondsport, New York, earlier in 1908, was dismantled and shipped to Baddeck, Nova Scotia. ...

– replica *

Auster AOP.6 The Auster AOP.6 was a British military air observation aircraft produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the numerous wartime Taylorcraft Auster aircraft then in-service. History The Auster AOP.6 (Auster Model K) was designed as a succe ...

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to e ...

''18774'' *

Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeer The Beechcraft CT-134 Musketeer is a military training derivative of the Musketeer built by Beechcraft for the Canadian Armed Forces. The CT-134 was a single engine, low-wing, four-seat light aircraft with fixed landing gear and a limited a ...

''134201'' *

Bell CH-118 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

''118101'' *

Bell CH-135 Twin Huey The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. It is a member of the extensive Huey family, the initial version was the CUH-1N Twin Huey (later CH-135 Twin ...

''135102'' *

Bell CH-136 Kiowa The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single-Helicopter rotor, rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related t ...

''136204'' * Boeing CH-47D Chinook ''147201'' * Boeing Vertol CH-113 Labrador ''11315'' *

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was ...

''18024'' *

Bombardier CC-144 Challenger The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets developed by Canadair after a Bill Lear concept, and then produced from 1986 by its new owner, Bombardier Aerospace. At the end of 1975, Canadair began funding the developmen ...

''144601'' * Burgess-Dunne – replica *

Canadair CF-5 Freedom Fighter The Canadair CF-5 (officially designated the CF-116 Freedom Fighter) is the Canadair licensed-built version of the American Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter aircraft primarily for the Canadian Forces (as the CF-5) and the Royal Netherlands Air Forc ...

''11672'' *

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (CF-111, CL-90) is a modified version of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft built in Canada by Canadair under licence. It was primarily used as a ground attack aircraft, despite being ...

''104646'' *

Canadair CP-107 Argus The Canadair CP-107 Argus (company designation CL-28) is a maritime patrol aircraft designed and manufactured by Canadair for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In its early years, the Argus was reputedly the finest anti-submarine patrol bomb ...

''10732'' *

Canadair CT-114 Tutor The Canadair CT-114 Tutor (company model CL-41) was the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and later Canadian Forces, standard jet trainer between the early 1960s and 2000. It was designed and produced by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canad ...

''114015'' *

Canadair CT-133 Silver Star The Canadair CT-133 Silver Star (company model number CL-30) is the Canadian license-built version of the Lockheed T-33 jet trainer aircraft, in service from the 1950s to 2005. The Canadian version was powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene 10 turboj ...

''21435'' *

''133593'' – cutaway * Canadair Sabre V ''23257'' * de Havilland Canada Chipmunk T.10 ''WB550'' * de Havilland Canada CP-121 Tracker ''1545'' * Douglas CC-129 Dakota ''12963'' * Handley Page Halifax A.VII ''NA337'' * Hawker Hunter F.58 ''J-4029'' * Hawker Hurricane II ''V7287'' – replica * Lockheed CC-130E Hercules ''130313'' * McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo ''101040'' *

McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

''188911'' * Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF ''23+45'' * North American Harvard II ''3270'' *

North American Yale The North American NA-64 (NA-64 P-2 or NAA-64 P-2 in French service, Yale in Canadian service) is a low-wing single piston engine monoplane advanced trainer aircraft that was built for the French Air Force and French Navy, served with the Royal C ...

''3411'' *

SAGEM Sperwer The SAGEM Sperwer (Pronounced ''Spehr-wuhr'', Dutch for Sparrowhawk) is an unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by the French firm SAGEM. The aircraft is piloted remotely and can cruise at altitudes of over 16,000 feet for as long as five hou ...

''161007'' * Sikorsky Dragonfly ''9601'' * Supermarine Spitfire IX ''ML380'' – replica

Under restoration

* Avro Lancaster B.X ''KB882'' * Lockheed Hudson VI ''FK466''

Memorials

There are 29 memorials and cairns dedicated to RCAF squadrons and units: *

No. 6 Group RCAF No. 6 Group RCAF was a group of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) heavy bomber squadrons in Europe during the Second World War, between 1942 and 1945. The group operated out of airfields in Yorkshire, England. History No. 6 Group was a Royal Cana ...

* No. 6 Repair Depot * 306 Maple Leaf Wing RCAFA * 405 Squadron * 407 Demon Squadron * 408 Squadron * 413 Squadron * 424 Squadron * 426 Squadron * 429 Squadron * 431 Squadron * 434 Squadron * 435 Squadron * 436 Squadron * 437 Squadron * 438 Squadron * AWFP Association * Burma Bomber Association * Canadian Military Flight Engineers Association * Dodo Birds – ex RCAF Flight Sergeants * Jewish Memorial * Loadmaster Memorial * Mobile Support Equipment * Non-Destructive Testing * Para Rescue Association of Canada * RCAF and Allied Forces Bomber Command * RCAF Fighter Pilots Association * RCAF Meteorologists * RCAF Police * Sabre Pilots I Air Division * Workshop Machinists

Affiliations

The museum is affiliated with: CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

, OMMC and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

*
History of the Canadian Forces Museums 1919–2004

Photos of the museum collection

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Air Force Museum Of Canada History of Canadian military aviation Royal Canadian Air Force Military and war museums in Canada Military history of Canada Aerospace museums in Ontario Air force museums Museums in Hastings County