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nnovation is at the heart of aerospace. From early human flight to life in Space, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum is home to Canada’s most extensive collection of historical aircraft as well as out-of-this-world technologies such as Canadarm 1. During the past year, as Canada began its multi-year commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, the Museum renewed its entire exhibition floor, giving pride of place to some of its earliest aircraft, as well as planes that have never been on public display before. The Museum developed exciting new First World War interactives and mobile apps, as well as touching programming on the Christmas Truce of 1914. In addition to commemorating the First World War, the Museum marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day, welcoming the prestigious loan of a Hawker Typhoon—a craft flown by many RCAF squadrons during the Second World War—from the Royal Air Force Museum in London, England. This is one of the last complete Typhoons in existence. Throughout the year, the Museum pays tribute to Canadian aviators through special events. In 2014–2015, these included commemorations of Operation Manna, the Battle of Britain, and Remembrance Week, while also profiling famous individuals such as Inuk bush pilot, Johnny May.
Canada Aviation and Space Musgum school groups. This year’s offerings included workshops, concerts, film nights, demonstrations, summer camps, behind-the-scenes tours, Space-themed March Break programming, and the ever-popular LEGO® contest. Helicopter and biplane rides given by an outside company were offered again this year from the Museum’s neighbouring historical airfield. Flight experiences were expanded this year to include biplane rides by the same company out of the Carp Airport at the opposite end of the Canada’s Capital Region. Demonstrations and fly-ins of vintage aircraft remained a popular draw. In addition, the Museum hosted information sessions on learning to fly. Rounding out the Museum’s flight-themed offerings is the exciting Redbird flight simulator which allows visitors to “fly” in and out of almost any airport in the world. Profiling the trajectory of human flight from an ornithopter to the International Space Station, along with commemorations of aviators and astronauts, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum explores humankind’s eternal desire to soar.
Outreach and external partnerships are a priority for the Museum as well, from loan agreements and exhibition and programming collaborations, to a unique relationship with the Aircraft Maintenance program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Although the Museum’s focus is on Canadian aerospace from the early twentieth century on, it also explores technologies that came even earlier. The first presentation in the Museum’s new Kenneth Molson Lecture Series, for example, featured a talk on the world’s first successful humanpowered ornithopter, based on a concept that dates back to the eleventh century AD. In addition to programming for adults, the Museum continued to offer popular events for children, families and 11