Atlantic Aviation Museum
A Friendly Visit by our members
This Museum is one of the treasurers of Canada but thousands of motorists pass it by every day on their way to or from the Halifax Stanfield International airport. You can easily spot it as there is a jet aircraft jutting out from the attractive site just a few blocks from the airport.
There were just seven of us who gathered for our tour on a sunny September afternoon. We were greeted enthusiastically by our cheerful guide Mike White Mike is the Public Relations officer for the Museum which is entirely run by volunteers and holds a wonderful collection of aircraft civil and military aircraft
and artefacts. All the completed aircraft and models you will see have been reconstructed here. Mike was indefatigable as he took us on a comprehensive tour all the aircraft and exhibits and told us many tales about them.
We began with a curious looking plane; it reminded me of those models I used to make with balsa wood paper on which you painted dope to form a tight wrinkle free covering. The plane’s frame is entirely made of wooden stringers and the wing sections that lack any covering It has a single engine and wooden propeller, two wire wheels support it. This plane was found in an attic and was home made by an enthusiast who hid it from his wife. The museum acquired it in bits and rebuilt it adding the Volkswagon wheels.
We then moved into the main building where the imposing Silver Dart hung like a giant gnat above us. This is the very beginning of Canadian Flying history 100 s ago. The SilverDart was the product the Aerial Experimental Association the brain child of Alexander Bell and JA Mcurdy. It was the first heavier than air machine to fly in Canada when on February 24 1909 piloted by J Mcurdy it took off from the ice of Baddeck lake and flew for half mile. This is a full scale model and has never flown. Its wing span is 40 feet and its length 20 feet.
I gawked at the vast plane with the pilots exposed cockpit in front and the curious box like tail and the huge silver wings tipped with ailerons. Here is a veritable milestone of Canadian aviation history.
Mike next showed us a sinister German invention the Doodle Bug@ or V1. It has a round fuselage small wings and an engine at its tail. It had an intermittent engine with preset controls for height and distance. When the engine cut out the plane glided to its destination and blew up explained our guide.
Several of us could recollect the familiar buzz followed by a few second s of silence and then a crash explosion - David was in London building the Mulberry Dock which was to serve as harbour for the Allied forces on D Day, Pam was in the WRN"S in Plymouth and I was an on operation theatre (OR Room) at a Hospital in Basingstoke as a medical student.
More exhibits
We moved on an array of aircraft al beautifully restored and displayed arranged The bright yellow Harvard used for basic training by thousands pilots It made a noise like ferocious banshee thanks to its special propeller. Small planes which enterprising individuals have built contrasted with the radial engine and jet monsters most impressive is the CF 101 or Voodoo with two massive jet engines. It is a supersonic fighter which had a landing speed of over 150 mph. Beneath its belly is a hook which could be used in an emergency as a drag to slow plane when danger of over shooting its landing strip.
An historic plane is one that Prime Minister Trudeau used regularly and in which he flew to China. Nearby is a Grumman 1975 plane that was salvaged from the bottom of a lake after it had lain there for 21 years.
I was particularly interested in the aero engine display. It illustrates their evolution. Start with the Rotating Gnome of the First World War, then proceed to the many examples of Radial engines with their double bank cylinders arranged around a single crankshaft, then on to the familiar Rolls Royce Merlins that powered the Spitfires, The most sophisticated reciprocating engine has 18 cylinders and turbo- chargers is more complicated yet less powerful than the first jet engines of which there is a fine example.
“Note the multiple turbine compressors and the ignition chambers and the
power turbine in the rear” extolled our guide.
A friendly gathering
Our tour was over, but not the best part of the day, we gathered around a table and partook of some coffee and cookies. Between us we recounted many flying encounters.
Brian Rapson said that he first flew in 1934, Pam recalled her first Flight in 1936 and I remember my first in 1938 at a small Air Show near my home. David told us of some hair- raising experience in a plane which was run on petrol filtered though his hat!
Our President Brian Penney who is a qualified civil and commercial pilot has his own Cessna in which he flies to Ottawa, enjoyed the session. He told that he first built model planes s as a boy of 8 and went on to develop his flying skills. He took flying lessons in Ottawa to obtain his flying licences.
Brian thanked our tour guide for his skills in making this a memorable session
We had enjoyed a great exposition of the first hundred years of Canadian aviation history.
“Let’s come again!” We all agreed, Mike White added that a donation to the Museum is always welcome! I am pleased to say that we will be making good on that as it was agreed at the last Executive meeting that a small donation towards the refurbishment of the museum was appropriate
As we made our way home I thought how the invention of powered flight had changed the world and how it would continue to do so in an exponential a nd unpredictable way of which that even Alexander Graham Bell could not have dreamed.
See the gallery for photos from our visit.
BJSG
