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INSPIRING, EDUCATING, AND ENTERTAINING

1974


The Early Years – The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada came from humble beginnings, in the basements of its five founding members. Back in 1974, motivated by a shared desire to preserve Canada’s rich aviation heritage, the founding members retrieved a rare Bellanca Aircruiser, which lay wrecked and abandoned in the northwestern Ontario bush. But, other historically significant aircraft were still being sold as scrap, trucked out of the country, or left to rot around the country. The Western Canada Aviation Museum, as it was originally called, was incorporated to preserve these artifacts on January 7, 1974 with a Board of Directors, a formal newsletter (Aviation Review) and 200 members.

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Gremlin Nose Art

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Lockheed Vega aboard S.S. William Scoresby, Wilkins Antarctic Expedition, Deception Point, L to R, Parker Cramer, Sir Hubert Wilins, Al Cheesman, Orval Porter, 1928-29

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