A welcome party in the hangar and an air show will be the highlights when the Canadian Museum of Warplane Heritage celebrates its 50th anniversary in June.
The celebration will also feature an Air Force Day in August and a black tie event on October 15.
Dave Rohrer, president and CEO of the nonprofit museum, says the event will be somewhat similar to its 40th anniversary in 2012, which included a grand four-and-a-half-hour vintage airplane show.
“We are going to present the show in Brantford … and we are going to bring a lot of our friends in the miniature aircraft community,” Rohrer told CHML 900’s Good Morning Hamilton.
“Some of the really special planes include Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters … and a shout out to two other museums, as well as ours, who are celebrating with us.”
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The event will take place on June 25 and 26 at Brantford Airport and will commemorate the beginning of the museum, which evolved from a single restoration project in a Hamilton Airport hangar in 1972.
“Dennis Bradley and three other gentlemen purchased the Fairey Firefly, brought it from the southwestern United States, and restored it in what is now the Canadian Museum of Warplanes,” said Rohrer.
As of 2021, the exhibit features more than 45 jet and propeller-powered aircraft, and 25 still have the ability to fly, including an Avro Lancaster, one of only two flyable Lancasters in the world.
The facility also maintains the aircraft and recruits trained pilots to operate them on special visitor flights and air shows.
Rohrer says that the creation of the museum falls to a number of people in the investment community in Toronto who have made significant contributions over the years.
“I think they wanted to remember their service, their sacrifice and duty during World War II … and have a permanent tribute,” said Rohrer.
“I don’t think anyone realized that today it would become the largest flying museum in Canada and that it is largely privately funded and runs like a business.”
The museum is also selling a 50th anniversary calendar with photos of some of the museum’s award-winning pieces. They can be purchased for $ 24.99 at the facility website.
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