Canada Aviation Museum – New Hangar

BC et al–

Those wings are indeed Vampire; specifically they’re from a Vampire F.1 of the “TG” block which was cold-weather tested in Alberta in the late 40s. I think I saw the tailbooms in store in the old loft a few years ago too, but have never seen the fuselage/pod…anyone happen to know whether that survives too, or not?

S.

It would be a 8,200 sq m structure and the Government of Canada provided the $20 million CAD funding for this new Wing in May 2001. I am not sure of what the final cost?

Perhaps its been mentioned before, but does anyone happen to know what this impressive new building cost and what size it is?

I spotted this set of wings in the new hangar..I asked the guide and he was unsure..I was thinking maybe a Vampire…anyone have ideas?

Them’s bloodsucker’s wings.

I spotted this set of wings in the new hangar..I asked the guide and he was unsure..I was thinking maybe a Vampire…anyone have ideas?

Sorry about the picture angle but it is not easy to get due to placement of the other aircraft

Yes most definately…I am very happy to see the large Canadair CL-28/CP107 Argus Mk2 10742 indoors..yes they are others in Canada at Comox, Trenton, Summerside but this hangars ensures her survival as many large preserved airframes rarely get a chance to be hangared these days in Canada….

Certainly does appear to be a very sensible hanger addition and gets airframes out of the weather, the most important thing to give airframes a future. This needs to be addressed worldwide or more and more aircraft will go by the torch!
Great pictures also.
Regards Croweater

The tour of the storage hangar is guided and takes about 1hr. Apparently the tours will continue until Sept 4th…not sure what the plans are in store (excuse the pun) for the museum after then…but I think you are missing half of collection if you don’t see it..I believe about 40 airframes are in this hangar..

And yes the DC9 paint job survived those last 3 winters outdoors…she was build in 1967 and only flew with the one airline for her entire life…I think she has the highest number of hrs 81560hrs and takeoffs 72467 for an Air Canada DC9.

Andrew

Good to see a museum building a functional building!

Nice pics thanks for posting! I am pleased to see this collection finally under cover. The DC9 looks in good nick after her time outdoors. Pity the beau wasnt placed under cover sooner …

It’s too bad that the Fed and Prov govt were not able to build the new hangar to a size that they had hoped for..they managed to get something about 3/4 of their original design but it is still very very nice…but it will be hard to find places under cover for the soon to be retired Buffalo and SeaKing examples..space will be very limited…

A B707 would have been quite the addition to the museum…but quite the challenge to land on the strip…but the Argus did manage on the frozen runway but I am not sure if it was that same 3300ft runway at Rockcliffe..

Well here is a piece of 707-400 or DC-8-40 history…a Rolls Royce Conway Engine that is in store in the new hangar…most likely from an Air Canada DC-8..

Andrew,

very nice pics indeed… it shows that it’s been a while since my last visit when the Mustang and Buchon both shared space in the main hall with the Lanc.

indeed, it is finally nice to see the Beau under cover – as mentioned elsewhere, hopefully Mr. Potter of Vintage Wings could purchase TFC’s Beau (which I believe is for sale) get her airworthy and perhaps donate the ‘spare’ engines to CAM so they can finally do the Beau some justice.

another note that may interest some is that the Air Canada DC-9 did indeed fly in to Rockcliffe (3300 ft) when donated… as did the CF-188 Hornet (with arresting gear provided by 8 Wing Trenton)

not idle gossip (my source was one of the currators at the time) but there was a contingency plan to bring in one of the CC-137s (B707) when they retired – it would have involved landing at Uplands (YOW) and stripping the aircraft, refuelling with enough to make 2 approaches, and – wait for it…. positioning snipers to take out the mains. above all, what was required was an extremely deep frost to allow the runway to accept her weight. Fortunately/unfortunately the ‘137s were (IIRC) all purchased by the USN and incorporated into the E-8 J-STARS programme.

I am glad the Beaufighter is inside at last!

North American TB-25L Mitchell Mk 3 PT 5244/108

Vickers Viscount 757 CF-THI ( was stored outdoors for the last 37 yrs)

Canadair DC-4GM NorthStar 1 ST 17515 (Restoration Project) it is the only complete example left in the world.

Grumman G21-A Goose C-FMPG ex RCMP

Enjoy

Andrew

Heinkel He-162A-1 Volksjager 120086 (museum has two examples in storage the other one being 120076)

Canadair CL-28/CP107 Argus Mk2 10742 – her last flight was made on Feb 10 1982 when it was flown into Rockcliffe airport to become part of the museum’s collection.

Fairey Battle Mk 1T R7384

Here are a few more:

Bristol Beaufighter T.F Mk X RD867
DHC-Dash 7 Prototype C-GNBX
Bristol 149 Bolingbrooke Mk IVT 9892
Consolidated Vultee B-24L Liberator GR VIII
Junker J1 252
Sikorsky R-48
Consolidated PBY-5A Canso Mk. II SR CV423
Lockheed L-1329 C-140 Jetstar 6 C-FDTX
Avro Arrow Wing Tips from aircraft # 201