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Location | Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, Quebec, Canada |
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Coordinates | 45°31′04″N75°33′50″W / 45.5178°N 75.5638°W |
Type | Aviation Museum |
Director | Michael Potter |
Curator | Ryan Silverson (Hangar Systems Manager) |
Website | www.vintagewings.ca |
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 m2) 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined primary trainer aircraft designed and developed by Canadian aircraft manufacturer de Havilland Canada. It was developed shortly after the Second World War and sold in large numbers during the immediate post-war years, being typically employed as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane.
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. In addition to the type's principal use for ab initio training, the Second World War had RAF Tiger Moths operating in other capacities, including maritime surveillance and defensive anti-invasion preparations; some aircraft were even outfitted to function as armed light bombers.
The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintage aircraft types.
de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd (DHA) was part of de Havilland, then became a separate company. It acquired the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in 1985 and was purchased by Boeing in 2000 and merged with the Boeing owned AeroSpace Technologies of Australia to become Hawker de Havilland Aerospace Pty Ltd. In 2009, the name was changed to Boeing Aerostructures Australia (BAA) and is a subsidiary of Boeing Australia Ltd.
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC) is a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that has produced numerous aircraft models since its inception including the popular Dash 8. The company's primary facilities were located in the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario for many years; in 2022, it was announced that it would relocate primary manufacturing to De Havilland Field, under development near Calgary, Alberta. The aircraft types currently in production or planned for production include the DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-8 Dash 8, and DHC-515 Firefighter.
Royal Air Force Brawdy, or more simply RAF Brawdy, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1944 and 1992; it was used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy (1946–1971), before the site was turned over to the British Army and renamed Cawdor Barracks.
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is an aviation museum located at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Mount Hope, Ontario, Canada. The museum has 47 military jets and propeller-driven aircraft on display.
402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron is a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The DH.83 Fox Moth is a small biplane passenger aircraft from the 1930s powered by a single de Havilland Gipsy Major I inline inverted engine, manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
The Fleet Model 60K Fort was the only aircraft designed and built by Canadians during the Second World War and was also the first all-metal monoplane built by Fleet Aircraft of Canada. It was intended to be an intermediate trainer employed for pilot training between the de Havilland Tiger Moth primary trainer and the North American Harvard advanced trainer. Although it served with the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, the Fort was redundant and was used to train wireless (radio) operators and had a relatively short operational career.
Dunsfold Aerodrome is an unlicensed airfield in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh. It extends across land in the villages of Dunsfold and Alfold.
The Sasin SA-29 Spraymaster was an agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia in the 1960s by Sasin Aircraft Service of Goulburn, New South Wales in conjunction with Aerostructures at Sydney's Bankstown Airport.
The Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF) was the historic flight of the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy up until its disbandment in March 2019. The RNHF maintained and flew a small number of aircraft that were important to British Naval aviation. The organisation was not part of the military establishment; it had charitable status and was staffed by civilians. It was based at RNAS Yeovilton and provided aircraft for air displays.
Marden Airfield was an airfield in Marden, Kent, United Kingdom. It was operation from 1917 to 1935. Initially a Royal Flying Corps airfield during the First World War it was used post-war as an Emergency Landing Strip, RAF Marden by the Royal Air Force. It was also known as Pagehurst Emergency Landing Ground. Later serving as a civil Emergency Landing Ground, the airfield closed in 1935. The site housed a Royal Air Force transmitter station during the Second World War.
780 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which last disbanded at HMS Seahawk, RNAS Culdrose in November 1949. 780 Naval Air Squadron formed at HMS Raven, RNAS Eastleigh as a Conversion Course Unit, in October 1939, to train experienced civilian pilots in naval flying. It moved to HMS Daedalus, RNAS Lee-on-Solent, in October 1940, and later, its role had changed to converting pilots to Fairey Barracuda aircraft. It spent a year at RNAS Charlton Horethorne, before returning to HMS Daedalus and disbanded, early 1945. In March 1946, the squadron reformed at HMS Godwit, RNAS Hinstock, as the Naval Advanced Flying School, to give flying instructors' courses, and later provided Instrument Flying Training. In December, the squadron moved to HMS Jackdaw, RNAS Crail, then in March 1947 moved to HMS Merlin, RNAS Donibristle, and in May to HMS Seahawk as the first resident unit.
781 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded at the end of March 1981. Planned as a Reserve Amphibious Bomber Reconnaissance squadron, it formed as a Communications Unit in March 1940 and operated a large variety of aircraft. It provided a Bristol Beaufighter conversion course which eventually became 798 Naval Air Squadron and also had a ‘B’ Flight at Heathrow and then Heston aerodromes before becoming 701 Naval Air Squadron. After the Allied invasion of Normandy the squadron flew to various Royal Navy units on the continent and established an ‘X’ Flight based in France and then Germany. In July 1945 the squadron disbanded into 782 Naval Air Squadron although the ‘X’ Flight was moved to 799 Naval Air Squadron.
No. 4 Flying Training School is a Royal Air Force military flying training school, which manages Advanced Fast Jet Training (AFJT) from its base at RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales. Its role is to provide fast jet aircrew to the Operational Conversion Units for the RAF's jet attack aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
Vintage Wings of Canada: GHK, GOLDEN HAWK