Museums are treasure troves of the past. They display artifacts such as fragments of rusted implements and weapons, mummified remains, and messages in obscure languages chiseled in stone. They give visitors an opportunity to gain a perspective of the past, and how the present may evolve.
However, I recently experienced how one of our Canadian industries can add life to a museum, the Canadian Aviation and Spasm Museum, located at a former Canadian Air Base at Rockcliffe, at the east end of Ottawa.
The museum contains remnants of early attempts to fly: biplanes, triplanes, hot air balloons, gliders – and even ornithopters. However, during the balmy days of early October something quite refreshing took place, an outdoor, living presentation, skillfully executed by De Havilland of Canada Limited.
On the ramp were several of its past and present products. I met former pilots, grizzled and tottering, who had learned to fly in a DHC-1 Chipmunk trainer, one of the visiting aircraft on display. That was DHC’s first original design. Dwarfing it was a CL-214 amphibious water bomber, nick-named ‘Super Scooper.’ Further along the line were DHC-6 Twin Otters, one with amphibious undercarriage, another being the prototype of the -6 ‘Guardian’ variant.
At the other end of age scale of the visitor were some toddlers and even child in a stroller. What was in it for them? Five varieties of cookies, each one depicting aircraft different aircraft of DHC’s product line, even including the Short Sherpa, an Irish type, recently brought into the DHC’s corporate fold. For school age children there were packs of aircraft trading cards and decals.
Highlight of the day for men, women and children of all ages was a flight in a DHC-6 Twin Otter, giving them (and me) a view of the autumn colours of Gatineau and the National Capital Region.
I chalked-up that flight as being the 366th different type of aircraft I had flown in.
Hats off to all of the DHC’s courteous, well-informed and management and staff. It was a generous way for a Canadian corporation to give back to the community – and stimulate ideas for a career in some aspect of aviation.
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