Aviation-enthusiasts came out in droves to the BC Aviation Museum Open House Saturday to check out the huge variety of aircrafts on display – from the War Birds to the Choppers and everything in between.
“It’s the biggest event of the year for us, where we welcome everybody from the local community to come and see what we’re doing as a museum,” museum society president John Lewis told Black Press Media. “There’s a lot of other stuff going on. A lot of fly-ins, 443 squadron, helicopters, 442 squadron..and various other planes that are outside that are really very interesting.”
Along with providing an inside look at the impressive aviation collection on display, the North Saanich museum celebrated the 80th anniversary of air operations at the Victoria International Airport, which began with the Canadian Forces’ base at Patricia Bay in 1939.
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Vintage aircrafts on display included Home Builts, Hawks, Bush League aircrafts and more. The Victoria-Esquimalt Military Re-enactors Association was there too, helping to take visitors back in time. The open house also included activities for youngsters such as games, face painting and the chance to sit in the cockpit of planes, big and small.
The recently acquired Lancaster bomber FM104 plane was also on display – a war plane built in Toronto in 1944.
“We’ve got a lot of people who will be very impressed by the Lancaster because a lot of people have relatives who flew in Lancasters during the war, and it will have meaning for them to see,” Lewis said. “And they are very impressive.”
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