Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial

Open Cockpit Day!

On July 23rd, we will be hosting an “open cockpit” event. Pilots will be on hand to help you take a look inside the cockpit of our airworthy airplanes and to answer your questions. Rides in the aircraft will take place as well – most are pre-booked, so email the museum for more information, or try your luck on a walk up ride, if slots are open. (note that the minimum age for flights is 12, ages 12-17 require a parental/guardian waiver) This day also marks the Brandon Flying Club’s annual fly in breakfast.

Kids of all ages can climb into the cockpit of a WWII era Cessna Crane and try the controls! For the little ones, we always have our ever popular pedal planes (see below) available! We will also have museum volunteers available to assist if you wish to sit in a few of our vintage vehicles! Normal museum admission is in effect (see here for details).

Museum Tours Back with a Vengeance!

While we are reminded that the pandemic is not over, things have returned much closer to ‘normal’. This meant that tours were once again being booked at the museum. We did have one school come for a tour in fall, but this spring tours came back strong, and we could not be happier! We saw about 25 different schools come for tours, some brought multiple classes as well. Overall we saw over 500 students along with their teachers and other chaperones tour the museum! We thoroughly enjoyed having the museum filled with eager and inquisitive youngsters. We want to thank all the teachers who have shown such dedication over the trials of the pandemic, we hope you all enjoyed your tours and we wish you a well deserved summer break. We also had several teachers testing out our new BCATP learning kit, and we appreciate your feedback as well. We hope to have the kit our for wider distribution next school year. Teachers and Principals, if you want to learn more about this kit, let us know. Also consider booking a fall tour! Field trips are always exciting for students and do not have to occur in spring (I know, I was a teacher and took field trips at all times of the year!) Teachers – also check out our Education page for some links and games.

Overall we saw over 500 students along with their teachers and other chaperones tour the museum!

So – once again, thank you to all teachers, but a special thanks to those who came to the museum for a tour! Enjoy summer!

A final note – we did have a few adult groups in as well! We can do tours for any age group any time of year!

Once again, thank you to all teachers, but a special thanks to those who came to the museum for a tour!

Armed Forces Day ’22 – Thank you!

The CATPM’s first Canadian Armed Forces Day was a success. Visitors thoroughly enjoyed the day considering it was cool and windy. Our visitor numbers were similar to past events and in the 250 to 300 range. We had some private aircraft participation with the T-28 Trojan, a Harvard, and a Stearman. The Shilo base came through with a display as did the RCA Museum, 26th Field Museum, Brandon Flight Centre, and CASARA. We hoped the RCAF would be able to send some display aircraft, but there is always next year! Thanks so much to everyone who participated, volunteered and visited, we are so grateful to all of you for helping celebrate our dedicated military. Yours – Stephen Hayter, Executive Director, CATPM

Check out the video slideshow of the event below:

Video slideshow of Canadian Armed Forces Day 2022

Armed Forces Day: June 5

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum at McGill Field, Brandon Airport will be recognizing Armed Forces Day on Sunday, 5 June between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. The public is invited to participate in this family friendly event. The Royal Canadian Air Force is expected to send up to four aircraft, a C-130 Hercules, CT-142 Dash 8, Hawk Jet Trainer and Harvard 2 trainer. (note that the RCAF has contacted us and can only send a Dash 8 at this time) In addition, we are expecting participation from Canadian Forces Base Shilo with several vehicles, as well as the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum with up to four vintage WWII vehicles. Along with our own flying aircraft consisting of a Cornell, Tiger Moth, Harvard, Stinson and Fleet Finch, we will be hosting visiting civilian aircraft; a Musketeer, Stearman, Harvard, T28 Trojan and Nanchang. There will be no flying aircraft demonstrations, but you will be able to get up close and personal with all the aircraft and in many cases speak directly to the pilots flying them.

The museum will also be open for viewing to take in our many non-flying aircraft and vintage vehicles.

We will have several food vendors on-site, and parking is free.

Admission is Adults $10, age 6-17 $5, under six is free, and family passes (two adults/two kids) is $25. Military members, their immediate family, and veterans are free. Come out, make a day of it, and recognize our Armed Forces.

Museum Open House

Press Release

May 10, 2022

For Immediate Release

Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon

Brandon Municipal Airport, HWY 10

In honour of Manitoba’s 152^th birthday, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Canada’s only air museum solely dedicated to the preservation of those who trained and fought for the British Commonwealth during WWII is hosting a free open house on Thursday, May 12, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Brandon Municipal Airport. Visitors will be invited to travel back to the 1940s while touring a WWII vintage hangar serving as a display area for aircraft, vehicles and hundreds of artifacts from that era. Manitoban RCAF that lost their lives during WWII are honoured on the museum’s RCAF WWII Memorial wall.

May 1^st begins our new summer hours, 10 am to 4 pm, seven days a week until the end of September.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is Canada’s only air museum solely dedicated to the preservation of those who trained and fought for the British Commonwealth during WWII.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is proud to be one of the seven Manitoba Signature Museums, a Manitoba Star Attraction and a National Historic Site. Visit the CATP Museum located at Brandon Municipal Airport, on HW #10, 1.6 km north of the City of Brandon.

For more information about the CATPM’s Manitoba Day Open House, please contact:

Stephen Hayter, Executive Director

Ph: 727-2444 Fax:725-2334 Email: airmuseum@inetlink.ca