Calling all Teachers!

Are you a teacher – or know one? Did you know that the museum has been host to many school tours for all grade levels over the years? Well it is true. Recently a letter and a page of some curriculum connections was sent out to schools – you can download or view those documents below (you can download a pdf version by clicking on the image of the document below) . We offer great informative tours and we love to host school groups! If you have specific curricular needs, we can try to match the tour to those needs. While our main focus is the important role that the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) played in the successful outcome of WWII and in the development of Canada as a nation, we also have people knowledgeable about flight as well. We recommend allowing approximately 60-90 minutes for a guided tour, but accommodations can be made to fit your schedule. We also have picnic tables available for snack time or lunch (although we do not have food services on site). While enjoying the outdoors, the impressive RCAF WWII Memorial Wall is a perfect place for Remembrance and a teaching opportunity. When the tour is over, we have many great items for souvenirs in our gift shop. We also have a restored and beautiful vintage Canteen building that can be rented for professional development or other events, it is like stepping back to the 1940’s!

Our website also has information about the BCATP and the museum and its’ collection. The ‘Tour and Education‘ page has a few activities (we hope to add to this too!) such as online jigsaw puzzles, a Jeopardy game, and a link to a collection of resources for teaching about flight. You can also find a tour guide booklet that can help you plan or use for a self guided tour. The guide includes possible questions for your students to consider while on the tour. And one more thing! We are working on an exciting learning kit for use in middle years classrooms all about the BCATP that will address many outcomes in the curriculum. We hope it will be ready for schools in fall! We have other projects in the planning stage to help you get the most out of the museum. If you have any questions, or want to book a tour call or email the museum! We would love to have you and your class come visit us!

Letter sent to schools
SOME curriculum connections!

Flights Available Again this Season!

As in the past, flights in several of our airworthy WWII training aircraft will be available. You can get more information by contacting the museum. Prices for flights: the Harvard is $400, the Cornell, and Tiger Moth are $280, each flight also requires a $30 museum membership. We have had to increase the prices we charge for a ride in one of our aircraft for 2022. This was necessary given the increased costs for our insurance, together with rising fuel and oil costs. We will continue to provide a tax receipt for the full cost of the ride. Further, we require that all pilots and passengers be fully vaccinated for rides in our aircraft in 2022. This includes 2 vaccinations and a booster shot if you are eligible.

Several flying events have been confirmed for this coming season, including:

  • Queens Jubilee and Veterans Day–June 4,2022. Flypast with Harvard and sponsored rides with The Royal Canadian Legion at Gladstone.
  • Armed Forces Day -June 5, 2022–sponsored rides.
  • Brandon City Riverbank Discovery Center flypast-July 1, 2022.
  • “Forever in the Clouds” memorial Fly Past & Sponsored Rides at Estevan, Sask. -July 8 and 9, 2022.
  • Red Lake Norseman Days–July 15, 16, 17, 2022–Flypast and Sponsored Rides with the Harvard and Cornell.
  • Brandon Flying Club annual summer fly in breakfast–Saturday, July 23 from 8 to 1.

Flights at the events in Gladstone, Estevan, and Red Lake are arranged by organizers, however, by contacting the museum you can be put in contact with our Chief Pilot for more information. As more events  and ride days are confirmed, they will be posted. Rides are also available at other times, so call the museum, who will then put you in contact with the Chief Pilot to arrange the flight.

Flights in any of these aircraft is an amazing experience – see a few photos below!

A view from the Tiger Moth
From the Cornell
Above & below: Flying over Brandon in the Harvard!

New web site pages

This past week, thanks to some great information from our President, John, and pilot/restorer extraordinaire, Jeff, I have put up pages with information and a few photos of our UK version Tiger Moth and our newly restored Fleet Finch (which we hope to get inspected and airborne this spring/summer – so stay tuned for that!). Both these aircraft are beautiful to look at, so come in for a visit to check them out.

You can check out all the aircraft pages from this main page (https://airmuseum.ca/collections/our-aircraft/) The plan, long term, is to add more information and photos of all our aircraft, both flight worthy and static.

Black History Month 2022

February is the month set aside to shine the spotlight on Black History – although this history should be celebrated all year long. We acknowledge that the record of people of colour in the RCAF has not always been a positive one. Entering WWII, RCAF policy did not allow Black Canadians to serve in most positions, however that slowly changed and some resilient Black Canadians did succeed in becoming aircrew. Below I have linked to some stories and articles about the Black experience in the RCAF in WWII. This was not a bright spot considering we were overseas fighting fascism. We can, however, celebrate the accomplishments of Black Canadians, who did make a difference. A few of these airmen are celebrated on our social media accounts, in particular we posted about two trailblazers, Lincoln Alexander, who later became the first Black MP in Canada, and the first Black pilot in the RCAF, Allan Bundy.

Happy Holidays

All of us at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan museum want to wish all our friends a Happy holiday season and a prosperous 2022. It does not look like a good end to 2021, nor start to the new year, but let’s hope this is a last gasp and we can move past this constant state of pandemic!

We hope you have enjoyed our holiday themed posts, both on this blog and on our social media accounts, over the past month. I want to thank our archivist, Greg Sigurdson for his help in finding such interesting ideas for these posts. Greg has a wealth of knowledge about the BCATP and has supplied me with many great photos and ideas for social media posts.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as on our website for the latest news and photos. And please drop in for a tour – it is cold in the hangar, but we have a few heated galleries, and braving the cold hanger is worth it to see our vehicles, aircraft and other exhibits. You can support the museum by becoming a member, we also gratefully accept donations – see this page for details.