Canadian Museum of Flight, Aviation museum in Langley, Canada.
The Canadian Museum of Flight is an aviation museum located at Langley Regional Airport in British Columbia, Canada, with a large collection of historic Canadian aircraft. Several of the planes in the collection have been fully restored to flying condition, which sets this site apart from a typical display-only facility.
The museum was founded in 1977 in Surrey and moved to Langley Regional Airport in 1996 to give the growing collection more room. Moving to an active airfield meant that restored aircraft could actually fly again, which became a defining part of what the museum offers.
The museum's collection spans more than 25 civilian and military aircraft, piston-engine planes, gliders and helicopters, and six of them are kept in flying condition. The Handley Page Hampden carried out coastal patrols on the BC coast during the Second World War before crashing offshore in 1942. An aviation art gallery and assorted aviation artifacts round out the displays.
The museum sits on an active airport, so some areas are reached by walking on paved paths between hangars, and comfortable shoes are a good idea. Weekends and clear days tend to offer the best chance of seeing restored aircraft actually in the air.
The museum's Handley Page Hampden is the last of its type in existence. It flew coastal patrols on the BC coast in World War II and crashed offshore in 1942, was recovered in 1985 and restored over twenty years. Stored outdoors, it lost its left wing when heavy snow broke the wing spars on 26 December 2008.
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