Vintage Wings of Canada facts for kids
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| Location | Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, Quebec, Canada |
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| Type | Aviation Museum |
Vintage Wings of Canada is a special place that collects and takes care of old airplanes. It's a non-profit group, which means they use all their money to keep the planes flying and teach people about them. You can find this amazing collection at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport in Quebec, Canada.
A kind person named Michael U. Potter, who used to be in charge of a big company called Cognos, started Vintage Wings. Most of the airplanes here can still fly, or they are being fixed up so they can fly again.
The museum is inside a huge building called a hangar. This hangar is about 2,137 square meters (23,000 square feet) big. It was built to look like the hangars used during wartime. Vintage Wings is a "flying museum." This means they don't just show their planes on the ground. They also fly them at many airshows and special events. You might see them at parades for the Royal Military College of Canada or during Battle of Britain Sunday events. They also fly at air shows across Canada and the USA.
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Why Vintage Wings is Important
Vintage Wings has a clear goal: to find, fix, keep, and fly classic airplanes. These planes are important to the early story of how people learned to fly.
Their main aim is to teach and inspire young people like you. They want you to learn about the amazing history of aviation. They show that these aircraft are more than just old metal, fabric, and wood. They want to keep the spirit of these planes alive. You can hear the loud sound of their engines and smell the leather and oil. You can also see the pilots having fun as they fly these planes high in the Canadian skies.
How Vintage Wings Started
Vintage Wings was created by Michael Potter. After he stopped working at his company, Cognos, he became very interested in collecting special old airplanes. He started his collection in the year 2000.
As his collection grew, Mr. Potter decided to create a foundation. This foundation would help him get, manage, take care of, and fly the airplanes. He asked many skilled pilots to join him. Some of these pilots came from groups like the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association. Others came from the National Research Council Flight Test Laboratory. They all help to manage, show, and fly the planes.
Amazing Aircraft Collection
Vintage Wings owns and flies many classic airplanes. Many of them are famous planes from World War II, used by the Allied forces.
Here are some of the cool aircraft that Vintage Wings has:
- de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk (they have two of these)
- de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- de Havilland Fox Moth
- Fleet-built Fairchild Cornell
- Fleet 80 Canuck
- Fleet Finch II – Model 16B
- Hawker Hurricane XII
- Hawker Fury II (this one is being fixed up)
- North American Harvard Mk IV
- North American Mustang IV
- Westland Lysander IIIA
- Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX
Past Events and Incidents
Sometimes, things can go wrong with old planes. On August 28, 2009, a de Havilland Tiger Moth from Vintage Wings had an accident. It crashed at the Gatineau Airport. The pilot, who was visiting from England, was practicing for an air rally. The plane had an engine problem and crashed about 50 meters (164 feet) from the runway.
See also
- List of aviation museums
