Aviation Museum in Quebec, Canada
Vintage Wings of Canada
is a not for profit, charitable organization, with a collection of historically significant aircraft. The facility is located at the
Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport
,
Quebec
, Canada. It was founded by former
Cognos
CEO and philanthropist Michael U. Potter. Most aircraft in the collection are in flying condition, or being restored to flying condition.
[1]
The facility is located in a 23,000 sq ft (2,100 m
2
) hangar that was designed to resemble a wartime military hangar.
[2]
Vintage Wings is a flying museum, which displays its aircraft in the air and on the ground at many
airshows
and other events such as
Royal Military College of Canada
graduation parades,
Battle of Britain
Sunday parades and many other air shows in Canada and the USA.
[3]
[4]
Mission
[
edit
]
The organization states its mission as:
...to acquire, restore, maintain and fly classic aircraft significant to the early history of powered flight...It is our goal to inspire and educate future generations about the historical significance of our aviation heritage and to demonstrate that these aircraft are more than just metal, fabric, and wood artifacts. We seek to keep the souls of these aircraft alive through the thundering sound of engines, the smell of leather, glycol, oil and sweat, as well as the laughter of their pilots as they dance with them in their natural element in the skies over Canada.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
Vintage Wings was created by former
Cognos
CEO and founder Michael Potter, following his retirement from the company. After retiring Potter developed an interest in collecting "exotic vintage aircraft", starting in 2000. As the collection grew Potter decided to form a foundation to acquire, manage, maintain and fly the aircraft. Potter recruited a cadre of professional pilots, including a number from the
Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
and the
National Research Council
Flight Test Laboratory, to assist in managing, displaying and flying the aircraft.
[6]
Aircraft
[
edit
]
Vintage Wings owns and operates many classic aircraft, most notably various Allied World War II era aircraft.
The aircraft owned by Vintage Wings are:
[7]
As of February 2023, Vintage Wings of Canada has three aircraft registered with
Transport Canada
and operate as
ICAO airline designator
GHK, and
telephony
GOLDEN HAWK.B
[8]
[9]
List of aircraft operated in July 2022:
Aircraft for sale, sold or no longer in the collection include:
[10]
[11]
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
The Vintage Wings
de Havilland Tiger Moth
crashed at the
Gatineau Airport
on 28 August 2009. The visiting English pilot, Howard Cook, received serious injuries in the accident. He was practicing for the
Classic Air Rallye
the next day when the aircraft suffered an engine problem and crashed 50 m (164 ft) from the airport runway.
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Alberta
| |
---|
British Columbia
| |
---|
Manitoba
| |
---|
Nova Scotia
| |
---|
Newfoundland and Labrador
| |
---|
Ontario
| |
---|
Quebec
| |
---|
Saskatchewan
| |
---|
See also
| |
---|