On July 28, 1949 three passengers climbed aboard a Grumman G21A Goose at Montreal for a 19-day journey around Quebec and Labrador. The flight plan included more than a dozen stops…

The Vintage Wings hangar holds many treasures. When you walk into the hangar, some of these artifacts immediately catch your eye… and your imagination. The sleek and shiny Spitfire personifies airborne grace. ..

The word “unique” seems inadequate and an understatement when attached to the remarkable life of Elizabeth Muriel “Elsie” Gregory MacGill….

Like many of the guests, I wander about, letting my feet take me where they will and find myself near the Spitfire. Very soon, I am involved in a conversation with two ladies and a gentleman, …

Drayton Valley, the town where John Bootsma brought up his family, lies atop a high plateau between the South Saskatchewan and Pembina Rivers about half way between oil rich Edmonton and …

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, during a tour of Vintage Wings of Canada or at an air show: “Whaddya call that bullseye thingamajig there?” or “How come the bullseye on the wing …

On July 9, 1918, famed American aviatrix Katherine Stinson flew a mailbag containing 259 letters from Calgary to Edmonton in western Canada’s first air mail delivery. Eighty-eight years later, on July 9, 2006, …

A classic warbird not in the VWC collection (yet?) is the B-25 "Mitchell". It served impressively in more theatres of war than any other aircraft in WWII. Not only was it flown by RCAF pilots during the war (in RAF units), …

June 6, 1944 has become immortalized as D-Day. For the people of Western Europe, who had endured four years of brutal Nazi occupation, this was a day that had been desperately hoped for and longingly dreamed of.

Of the many photographs sent to me by the Houle family to help understand who Albert Ulric Houle really was, there is one that I keep going back to again and again. It is not a photograph of him in his uniform,…

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, during a tour of Vintage Wings of Canada or at an air show: “Whaddya call that bullseye thingamajig there?” or “How come the bullseye on the wing …

Broadcaster and writer Tom Brokaw called them “The Greatest Generation”. More than sixty years ago, during the turmoil of the Second World War, they were young men and women in their twenties and thirties; …

The last time I saw Charley Fox, he was laughing and talking and laughing some more with his friends - all fighter pilots from the Second World War - men from the Greatest Generation….

As the warbird made its final pass overhead Thursday, two men watched, one marvelling and one wishing. For Gregory Kenny, seeing his dad back in the saddle of a P-51 Mustang heightened the admiration inspired

"But Sir, I m a reserve". Back in the Fifties, that little phrase struck terror into the hearts and minds of Royal Canadian Navy Permanent Force officers and petty officers. It was a great way “out” for those of us

On Wednesday, August 20th, 2008, Robert “Bert” Joss died suddenly at the age of 83. Bert, as we all knew him, was a great friend of Vintage Wings of Canada. He was a Fairey Swordfish pilot during the Second World War -…

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, during a tour of Vintage Wings of Canada or at an air show: “Whaddya call that bullseye thingamajig there?” or “How come the bullseye on the wing …

About an hour's drive south and west of Ottawa lies the idylic little town of Gananoque. Unknown to most people and even the citizens of the town today, one small factory there played a significant part during the Second World War….

With the Spitfire scratched on that gorgeous Sunday morning due to a pneumatic system failure, I was the guy who had to (reluctantly) do a quick change from my flight suit to blazer and tie —…

The weather on July 26th, 1944 was clear, warm, and windy from the Normandy coast all the way to Paris. It was a good day for hunting and 401 Squadron was up for the second time that day. Pushing closer and closer to Paris each day,…