The Canadian Museum of Flight participated in the annual Boundary Bay Airshow on 25 July. The sales team were there well before the gates opened getting the tents and sales items set up. They were in a prime location in front of the Heritage Hangar adjacent to the food vendors, where they were bound to be noticed!
The Museum’s Harvard and Fleet Finch were flown in to the ‘Hot Pit’ for active aircraft about 0830 in time for the pilots to attend the mandatory airshow briefing. The rule is ‘ no briefing, no fly.’ The pilots sign in and agree to abide by the airshow rules. Depending on the display being offered the pilots are reminded of the display box including minimum distance from spectators and the minimum and maximum altitudes. For the Museum aircraft that are doing sedate manoeuvres the minimum altitude is set at 100 feet. For the aerobatic or jet displays the altitude can be from ground level up to 6,000 feet.
The whole event went flawlessly, a tribute to the planning and dedication of the Boundary Bay staff and volunteers. The Museum’s participation was also a very well run affair, due in no small part to the efforts of the General Manager and his staff and volunteers. All the sales items were sorted and packaged days before the event, then loaded, transported and unpacked after the tents went up. The Museum’s Sopwith Camel was pre-positioned the day before and then unloaded and assembled for the day. Museum volunteers were on hand to explain the intricacies of this full size replica of the famous WW1 fighter. They could answer questions like, “How come the cylinders are moving with the propeller?” At the end of a long, hot day the crew then packed everything up and headed back to Langley to take the items back to the Museum.
Event recap submitted by Vic Bentley
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