The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (formerly the Western Canada Aviation Museum) is a museum in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada. The museum opened to the public in its new location on 21 May 2022.

History

The Western Canada Aviation Museum was incorporated in 1974.Ogden 1986, p. 26. In November of that year, it put forward an application to the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

for a grant to set up a site at

St. Andrews Airport Winnipeg/St. Andrews Airport or St. Andrews Airport is a general aviation facility located north northeast of Winnipeg, in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, Manitoba, Canada. In 2011 it was Canada's 16th busiest airport by aircraft moveme ...

. However, the museum ended up in

downtown Winnipeg Downtown Winnipeg is an area of Winnipeg located near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. It is the oldest urban area in Winnipeg, and is home to the city's commercial core, city hall, the seat of Manitoba's provincial government, a ...

near the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. By the next year, the museum had 25

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and civilian aircraft in its collection. In the mid-1980s, the museum moved to a former

Trans Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon McGregor, Go ...

and Transair hangar, T-2, at

Winnipeg International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

. The museum developed a master plan for a new facility in 2013 with the design firm Reich&Petch. The museum received the ''Royal'' designation on December 19, 2014, to become the ''Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada''. The museum closed its Ferry Road site in October 2018 after the lease on the hangar expired. However, following a grant from the federal government in July 2019, construction of a new museum building began in May 2020. By November that year, construction was more than half complete, and construction of the facility was completed on August 4, 2021.

Exhibits

The museum has a large hangar floor, and a mezzanine with a view of the adjacent

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

runways. Aircraft are displayed on the floor and suspended from the ceiling, and include one-of-a-kind aircraft, military jets, bush planes, and commercial aircraft. Exhibits are clustered in zones representing different aspects of aviation history, such as Canadian Innovation, Northern Connections, and Military Skies. Interactive displays such as Experience Flight and the Mechanics Workshop present a hands-on educational experience.

Collection

The museum's collection includes over 90 historic aircraft, 70,000 artefacts, texts, and photographs. Avrocar (WCAM)

Vickers Viscount at Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

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 CF-100 Canuck 5 ''18674'' *

Avrocar The Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar was a VTOL aircraft developed by Avro Canada as part of a secret U.S. military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. The Avrocar intended to exploit the Coandă effect to provide lift and thrust ...

– replica *

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 ...

''134235'' * Beechcraft Expeditor 3N ''1477'' *

Bellanca 14-13 The Bellanca 14-13 Cruisair Senior and its successors were a family of light aircraft that were manufactured in the United States by AviaBellanca Aircraft after World War II. They were a follow-up to the prewar Bellanca 14-7 and its derivat ...

''1208'' *

Bellanca Aircruiser The Bellanca Aircruiser and Airbus were high-wing, single-engine aircraft built by Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of New Castle, Delaware. The aircraft was built as a "workhorse" intended for use as a passenger or cargo aircraft. It was availab ...

''Eldorado Radium Silver Express'' – under restoration * Bristol Freighter 31 ''9699'' * Canadair CL-84 ''CX8403'' * Canadair Sabre 6 ''1815'' * Canadair Silver Star ''21075'' *

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 ...

''114004'' *

Canadian Vickers Vedette The Canadian Vickers Vedette was the first aircraft designed and built in Canada to meet a specification for Canadian conditions. It was a single-engine biplane flying boat purchased to meet a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) demand for a smaller ...

''Composite'' * CASA 352L ''T.2B-148'' – converted to resemble Ju 52/1m *

de Havilland Fox Moth The DH.83 Fox Moth was a successful small biplane passenger aircraft from the 1930s powered by a single de Havilland Gipsy Major I inline inverted engine, manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. The aircraft was designed late in 1 ...

''Composite'' *

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been used ...

''1500'' * Fairchild 71C ''516'' *

Fairchild F-11 Husky The Fairchild F-11 Husky was a Canadian bush plane designed and manufactured in the post-Second World War era. Despite a promising design, a lack of a suitable powerplant hurt performance, and stiff competition from the de Havilland Beaver and de ...

''2'' *

Fairchild Super 71 The Fairchild Super 71 was a Canadian parasol-mounted high-wing monoplane cargo aircraft built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada). The Super 71 was an entirely new design that was one of the first purpose-built civilian bush planes for use in re ...

''50'' *

Fokker Universal The Fokker Universal was the first aircraft built in the United States that was based on the designs of Dutch-born Anthony Fokker, who had designed aircraft for the Germans during World War I. About half of the 44 Universals that were built betwe ...

Fokker Super Universal ] The Fokker Super Universal was an airliner produced in the United States in the late 1920s, an enlarged and improved version of the Fokker Universal, fitted with cantilever wings and an enclosed cockpit. It was subsequently also manufactured und ...

''Composite'' * Froebe helicopter * Froebe ornithopter *

Heath Parasol The Heath Parasol is an American single or two seat, open-cockpit, parasol winged, homebuilt monoplane. Design and development In 1926, Edward Bayard Heath, a successful American air racer and the owner of an aircraft parts supply business, bui ...

* Kolb Flyer * Lockheed Model 10A Electra ''1528'' *

McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo The McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo was an all-weather interceptor aircraft operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Forces between 1961 and 1984. They were manufactured by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri for ...

''101034'' * Noorduyn Norseman IVW ''2456'' *

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

North American NA-64 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 ...

''3430'' *

Schweizer SGU 2-22 The Schweizer SGU 2-22 is an American two-seat, high-wing, strut-braced, training glider built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, New York.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', pages 26. Soaring Society of America, Novembe ...

glider ''C-FACL'' * Stinson SR-8CM Reliant ''9733'' *

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

''279'' * Waco YKC-S ''4267'' – under restoration

Archives and library

The comprehensive aviation

reference library A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

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.Ogden 1986, p. 27. One item in the archives is a rare, five-minute film of

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

embarking on her solo trans-Atlantic flight from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, on May 21, 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 damaged aircraft to full display condition. A team of volunteers completed a full-scale replica of a

Mark V (CF-MAG) aircraft in May 2002. The museum has facilitated the recovery of several aircraft, including the "Ghost of Charron Lake" - a

Fokker Standard Universal The Fokker Universal was the first aircraft built in the United States that was based on the designs of Dutch-born Anthony Fokker, who had designed aircraft for the Germans during World War I. About half of the 44 Universals that were built betwee ...

that has taken more than 30 years to locate. It will be displayed as it appeared at the bottom of the lake.

Affiliations

The museum is affiliated with the

Canadian Museums Association The Canadian Museums Association (CMA; french: Association des musées canadiens, ''ACM''), is a national non-profit organization for the promotion of museums in Canada. It represents Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internat ...

Canadian Heritage Information Network , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Logo of Canadian Heritage Information Network.png , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = ...

, and the

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

Notes

Bibliography

* Hunt, Leslie. ''Veteran and Vintage Aircraft''. New York: Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc., 1971. . * Ogden,Bob. ''Great Aircraft Collections of the World''. New York: Gallery Books, 1986. .

External links

* {{Authority control Aviation history of Canada Aerospace museums in Manitoba Museums in Winnipeg Tourist attractions in Winnipeg Western Canada