By Mike Davenport, EAA 89102
Hidden on a side street at the Langley Regional Airport (CYNJ) is a small museum with a large heart for promoting and preserving British Columbia’s aviation history. You might say it’s the little museum that could — and does. Located between a flight school and a row of private hangars, it struggles for recognition and visibility.
The Canadian Museum of Flight is located at CYNJ, having arrived there in 1996 after spending the first 20 years of its existence in White Rock, British Columbia. At that site it had a 600-foot grass runway that permitted flying only its smaller aircraft.
The museum is owned and operated as a not-for-profit society by a volunteer board of directors and a small but dedicated staff.
It is currently situated in Hangar No. 3 on the south side of the airport where its display includes a large number of static aircraft as well as several that are maintained in flying condition. The museum is currently able to fly a Fleet Finch, an S.E.5A replica, a Sopwith Pup replica as well as a Fleet Canuck.
de Havilland Vampire
A stroll through the outdoor display reveals a number of 1950s era jets, such as a CF-104, CF-100, T-33, and a de Havilland Vampire. Another well-known Canadian aircraft is a Canadair Tutor painted in Snowbird colours. Piston-engine aircraft on display run the gamut from a Handley Page Hampden, a DC-3, Conair Firecat, and a Beech 18 Expeditor all the way down to an 18-hp composite Quickie. Each and every one has a story to tell, and the volunteer docents are willing to spend the time to do so.
The entrance to the museum includes a well-stocked gift shop with an excellent selection of books and magazines.
Inside the hangar you will discover numerous displays of engines, uniforms and medals, and all of the fabric-covered aircraft that must be accommodated inside due to weather concerns. There are also several restoration projects that are currently underway in the hangar.
All of this is maintained and supported by a cast of volunteers who meet weekly to help with the myriad of tasks that are required to run such a complex facility.
Plans are underway to relocate to a planned building on the west side of the airport when sufficient funds are raised to support the project.
For more information and its hours of operation, check out its website at www.CanadianFlight.org/.
*The writer has flown this Finch for 16 hours during displays in 2000 and 2001.