Where Gumbo Was #499
Gumbo was visiting this newly constructed museum, featuring an interesting collection of aircraft important in Canadian aviation history. Congratulations to George G, who recognized where Gumbo was.
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is located in Winnipeg, adjacent to the James Richardson International Airport. The museum was once housed in an older crowded facility, but recently opened its displays in a new spacious state-of-the-art facility.
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada was established more than 40 years ago by individuals interested in preserving Canada’s aviation history. The Museum’s collection includes 90 historic aircraft and 70,000 artefacts and photographs. The title “Royal” was bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II on collections of unusual interest and significance, and this museum is only one of six museums in Canada so honored.
The museum was closed for a few years while its new facility was constructed; the re-opening was delayed more than a year, until 2022, because of the CoVid epidemic. The new museum is spacious, and the planes are well presented, each with historic information. Many of the aircraft were actually important in developing the Canadian Frontier, allowing access to the far north and air mail, equipment and supply deliveries to remote communities. Others are significant military aircraft.
We spent a half day exploring the museum and were impressed by its displays. Below (in no particular order) are some of the aircraft which caught my eye:
Vickers Viscount VC2
The largest plane on display is this historic passenger aircraft. It was the world’s first turboprop airliner.
The plane was built by Vickers Armstrong in England. Trans-Canada Air Lines (precursor of Air Canada) purchased 51 Viscounts between 1954 and 1959. The planes were powered by four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines. The Viscounts served all major Canadian cities before being retired by Air Canada in 1974.
The museum’s Viscount entered service on the Montreal-Winnipeg route in February 1958 It was retired in 1974 and donated to the museum in 1982.
Canadair CL-114 Tutor RCAF
The Tutor was introduced to the Canadian Forces in 1963 and was used primarily as a training aircraft. In 1971, the Tutor was adopted as the official aircraft of the Snowbirds, Canada’s aerobatic display unit (like the Blue Angels in the USA). Except for 25 aircraft used by the Snowbirds (based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan), the Tutor has been retired. If you’ve ever seen the Snowbirds perform, you’ll appreciate what special aircraft these are.
Canadair CF-104 Starfighter
The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter was a modified version of the Lockheed F-104, built in Canada by Canadair Ltd. in Quebec. The plane served NATO for 25 years during the Cold War. It was built to carry nuclear missiles. CF-104 Starfighters are the fastest RCAF aircraft of all time, setting many world altitude and speed records.
Canadian Airways Limited Stinson
Originally purchased in 1936 by Canadian Airways, this was a workhorse bush plane. The plane could accommodate a pilot and four passengers. The fuselage, tail surfaces, and wings were of welded steel-tube construction–typical covered with cotton fabric. It flew to many small remote towns in Manitoba and elsewhere.
Possibly the best bush plane ever built, this plane was designed and built in Canada based on advised from experienced bush pilots. This particular plane was used by the Manitoba government between 1962 and 1985.
Fokker Super Universal
Introduced in 1928, the Super Universal proved ideal for operating from rough northern airfields and was extensively used as a bush, general cargo and passenger aircraft throughout the 1930s.
Junkers Ju 52
Unlike most of the steel frame fabric aircraft of the 1920s this is a huge all-metal aircraft developed in Germany by aviation giant Junkers. This plane was put into service in 1931 and was the largest aircraft of its time. It’s cargo capacity of 8000 pounds greatly aided in mining development in remote areas in Canada by allowing shipping of heavier equipment.
Canadair CL-84 Dynavert
IN 1956, Canadair’s chief designer, Frederick Phillips, proposed a radically new airplane design leading to the world’s first successful tilt-wing aircraft. It could take off and land like a helicopter but move its wings and engines in mid-flight to fly like a conventional plane. Surprisingly, the plane could never find a military buyer and was canceled in 1974.
The Fairchild Super 71 was an entirely new design in its time (mid-1930s). It was the first civilian bush plane for use in remote and northern locales in Canada. It featured an elevated wing above the fuselage, and a rear cockpit position. It had a spacious cargo compartment and was suited to fly to distant camps and communities in the North. The rear position of the pilot proved problematic because of limited visibility with take-offs and landings.
The plane is a good example of a sesquiplane – a type of biplane where the lower wing is significantly smaller than the upper (the term meaning “one-and-a-half wings”). The wings are staggered with the leading edge of the upper ahead of the lower. This plane was built in 1935 and provided service freighting people and equipment to mining districts of Manitoba and north-western Ontario.
Canadian Vickers Vedette Mk V (Replica)
The Vickers Vedette was the first military aircraft designed and manufactured in Canada in the 1920s. The planes were used for surveying and mapping. No remaining examples could be found, so the museum built its own copy.
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Besides the interesting display of aircraft, the museum features associated displays like tools and safety equipment, instrumentation, and so on….
The balloon shown below was featured as our first puzzle clue. I’m not sure of its significance, but it is colorful!
This discussion is longer than I had thought it would be, but I guess that’s because the museum appealed to the geek in me. A very recommended stop for people interested in aviation, machinery, and how aircraft were used to develop and service remote destinations.
