Press Releases
For immediate release
07 December 2005
Destination Aviation at the Canada Aviation Museum
Ottawa—The transformation of the Canada Aviation Museum is taking another step forward on Thursday, December 8, as the Museum opens up nearly 4,000 m2 (40,000 sq. ft) of new permanent exhibitions. Eighteen “new” aircraft are on display for the first time in an array of new interpretive islands, including nearly all of the Cold War Jets in the Museum’s collection. An official ceremony to open the new exhibition areas will take place at the Museum at 1 p.m. More than ever before, the Canada Aviation Museum is showing that it is Canada’s greatest aviation destination!
This opportunity for expansion of the permanent exhibitions was created by the completion of the new storage wing adjacent to the Museum building. Almost a third of the floor area of the Museum had been occupied by storage, so even though bits and pieces of some aircraft could be glimpsed while they were packed together, they are now being properly displayed. In all, more than 70 aircraft are on display, many for the first time ever.
In addition to the Cold War Jets, the Museum’s excellent collection of Recreational Aircraft takes its rightful place on the museum floor, allowing visitors to see the development of sport flying from the 1920s to the 1970s, from a “flying bathtub” Aeronca to a sleek aerobatic star, the Pitts Special. Two helicopters and a gyrocopter have been added to a new Helicopter Island as well. The Museum has been something of a construction zone for several months, and many other changes and rearrangements of aircraft are finally giving the Museum a new look, with more changes to come over the next few years.
Although the new hangar will not be open for regular tours yet, on December 8 there will be opportunities for visitors to take in the rest of the collection—finally gathered under a roof!—on guided tours of this impressive new building.
The Canada Aviation Museum is Canada’s finest aviation museum, with an internationally renowned aeronautical collection. The Museum is located at the intersection of the Aviation and Rockcliffe Parkways. Hours of the Museum are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Parking is free.
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