BC Aviation Museum
It’s a hard life in Cowichan Bay Village in the summertime. The weather tends to be sunny at least twice a week, friends who have wintered in other parts of the world begin straggling back, friendships are renewed and the social season begins. Such a struggle!
From time to time, we find ourselves in need of a break. A day trip is called for. We pile ourselves into the car and off we go in search of new adventure.
This week, my friends Brian, Pete and I decided to visit the BC Aviation Museum, which is located to one side of the Victoria Airport in Sidney BC.
That the Victoria Airport is located some distance away in Sidney was of no consequence to us. There were aircraft to be seen, aero engines to gawk at and history to be relearned.
So my friends and I set out. Brian had been looking forward to the trip all week. He is an airplane buff who once held his pilot’s license. We sprung the deal on Pete more or less as a surprise, but he was keen to go when the plan was mentioned.
The Hanger Cat – Mouse Patrol 1
The Museum itself occupies two large aircraft hangers and a sizable workshop. There’s a small gift shop and coffee area where club members like to gather most mornings for a warm mug and a bit of conversation.
The best seat in the house is generally reserved for the Hanger Cat, a friendly furry male of enormous size who has the run of the entire place, comes and goes as he pleases and who apparently does an excellent job of keeping the mice at bay in an eco-friendly manner. At first glance you’d think he’s been over fed, but that’s just because of his long fur. He’s only three years old and in excellent fighting trim. He’s so large that they had to buy a dog-bed for him as none of the cat sized beds would do.
We paid the very reasonable admittance fee, all of which goes to the running of the Museum, and met our guide. Connie, is a charming firecracker of a lady who is as passionate about aircraft and history as my friend Brian. Connie is a retired Search and Rescue Flight Nurse, who has logged many hours in aircraft in all sorts of weathers and in many of the worst situations you’d care to deal with. A tough job by any standard.
The tour was insightful, thorough and a great deal of fun. The banter back and forth about aircraft, pilots, famous war aces, mechanical systems, engines and history in general was very interesting. Connie knows her stuff. Brian was impressed, and for Brian to be impressed… well let’s just say he knows his aircraft and even he learned a thing or two that afternoon.
The BC Aviation Museum does an awful lot with very little. All the work in restoring or maintaining aircraft, the artifacts, displays and so forth is done by volunteers. Many of them are pensioners. The Museum receives not a penny of Government funding, everything they have comes from donations or sales in the gift shop. Yet they still managed a 1.5 million dollar restoration of a former Trans Canada Airways turbo-prop passenger plane from the 1950’s. Many of the aircraft on display are maintained in flying condition, which is in itself a costly proposition even if the planes remain on the ground. Such is the dedication of the folks who run the place.
We had lunch at the Dakota Cafe, which is located in the Victoria Flying Club building and found it to be quite nice. We went home via the Mill Bay Ferry, which saved us the trouble of driving all the way around the and on the Malahat. All three of us declared the trip a great success.
Dropped by during my lunch today – Connie showed me around. Talk about a wealth of knowledge, this charming lady is a goldmine of information!
@Dennis
We didn’t let it get as far as that. The good thing about going places in a small group, is that the members look out for one another, thereby occasionally averting certain disaster.
How did Connie respond when Brian asked her out?