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 and are frequently flown.
The facility is located in a 23,000 sq ft (2,100 m2) hangar that was designed to resemble a wartime military hangar. The hangar is open on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for public visitors. Visits from Monday to Friday need to be scheduled in advance. As well, the facility is host to group tours, aircraft fly-ins and visits by veterans with prior arrangement.
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.
Video Vintage Wings of Canada
Mission
The organization states its mission as:
Maps Vintage Wings of Canada
History
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 National Research Council Flight Test Laboratory, to assist in managing, displaying and flying the aircraft.
Aircraft
Vintage Wings owns and operates many classic aircraft, most notably various Allied World War II era aircraft.
The aircraft owned by Vintage Wings are:
- Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing (sold 2011)
- Boeing PT-27 Stearman
- Canadian Car and Foundry Hurricane Mk XII (undergoing restoration as of May 2013)
- Canadair Sabre Mk 5 in the markings of the Golden Hawks (up for sale in March 2017)
- Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk
- de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- de Havilland Fox Moth
- de Havilland Tiger Moth
- Fairchild Cornell
- Fairey Swordfish Mk III
- Fleet Finch (model 16B but with 160 hp)
- Goodyear FG-1C Corsair
- Hawker Hurricane Mk IV
- North American Harvard
- North American P-51 Mustang Mark IV
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIVe (undergoing restoration as of May 2013)
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI
- Waco Taperwing ATO (sold summer of 2011)
- Westland Lysander Mk IIIA
Accidents and incidents
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.
References
External links
- Official website
- Photos of Vintage Wings of Canada collection
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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