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2016/2017

Red Air Over Pat Bay: Contract Adversary Services

Contracted adversary services are a huge part of modern military planning these days. There once was a time when our military provided its own training and adversary (simulated “bad guy“ ) services. Post cold war budget cuts and political scheming have created a situation where the military no longer has these assets in house.

When I was growing up in Victoria, VU-33 was based at Pat Bay. This Navy utility squadron had 3 x T-33’s and 3 x Tracker aircraft for the support of Navy training. In the eighties VU-33 was transferred up to Comox where eventually the Trackers were retired.

What was left took up the mantle 414 Squadron the “Black Knights”. These T-birds were equipped with up to date radar jamming pods and chaff dispensing pods. When the frigates and destroyers of our Navy were preparing to deploy abroad, the T-33 would fly missions simulating enemy aircraft and or missiles attacking the ships. This training was invaluable for crews heading into harms way.

In the mid 1990’s the government decided to contract out this service. 414 Squadron disbanded and the Silver-Stars were retired. This lead to an interesting series of appearances at our airport!

One day in the late 90’s I was boarding a Dash-8 at the terminal, when I noticed over by the tower a shiny fighter type aircraft. To my amazement it was a Russian built Mig-21 UB, a two seat version of the most produced jet fighter. As I rode to Vancouver I speculated that the MiG was likely part of a company competing for the adversary service contract. Later that night while watching the news it was mentioned that a Russian built fighter had crashed off the West coast of Vancouver Island killing all the crew. This was a very sad start to the contracting out process.

Sometime later in Sept of 2002, again on my way to Vancouver on a Dash-8, I was astounded to see from the window four Hawker Hunters lined up at the Shell Aero Centre. After my four day stint in Vancouver the first thing I did was to drive over to the Aero Centre

to see if my eyes were deceiving me! A good friend who worked there at the time took me into the hangar and sure enough there they were: 4 vintage Hunters! These planes were the backbone of the Royal Air Force in the 1960’s. Sleek and powerful they were being operated by Northern Lights. The boss man, Andre, was there at that moment and was expressing some frustration that he thought he had the contract. He had however just been to Cold Lake and had seen some A-4 Sky Hawks from a competing outfit there. For the next 6 to 8 months we were fortunate to have the Hunters flying out of our airport as they tried to gain the contract. Three of the Hunters were former Swiss air force machines, with one in the marking of the Patroille Swiss, the Swiss aerobatic team. The fourth Hunter was a former Swedish machine still in Swedish markings.

A few months later again much to my amazement there appeared a couple of Dornier Alpha jets in Luftwaffe camouflage. The Luftwaffe had purchased 175 of these small twinjets as ground attack aircraft during the

‘80’s. France bought a slightly different version to use as an advanced trainer. France still use their Alphas for training, as does Portugal and several other nations.

When the “Cold War“ ended part of the “Peace Dividend“ was the cut-backs to military spending. The German Alpha Jet fleet was cut, which gave an opportunity for an American businessman to purchase a large number of these relatively new and well maintained planes. A Quebec company “Top Aces” purchased approximately 17 of them.

In many ways the Alpha is an ideal Adversary trainer for our military. Thanks to German engineering and maintenance, these planes are in good shape. With 2 x Lazrac turbo fans of 2,970 lbs thrust this gives the Alpha enough thrust to hit 600 kts (approx.) at low altitude which is important when trying to simulate a cruise missile attack on a frigate out at sea. Alphas are all two seaters, and the pilots are civilians (usually retired fighter pilots). The “Guy in Back“ electronic countermeasures officers are military personnel from 414 Sq. the “Black Knights“. Recently the company has been renamed “Discovery Air Defense Services“ . Two Alphas are normally stationed at Shell Aero Centre at Pat Bay so when the Navy needs a sparing partner we can enjoy seeing these former cold war aircraft jetting overhead loaded with extra fuel tanks and radar jamming pods. The Alphas provide adversary services to the Air Force at Cold Lake during large force exercises such as Maple Flag. They also support the Army ground controllers who can hone their forward air control techniques by calling in the Alphas to simulate attacks on ground targets. Maintenance is done at Discovery Air’s main facility at Bagotville, Quebec. More could be written about the wonderful world of contracted adversary services and their wonderful older aircraft, perhaps in a future article we could look at this again. (Jack Funk)

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As we come to the end of another year at the museum, it is helpful to review the year in

order to see what progress we are making. In 2015, we went through the exercise of

developing a five year plan and objectives. Two important objectives were to significantly

increase paid attendance and numbers of volunteers by the end of the period, and we have

made steady progress towards those in 2016. We have also completed different items of

renovation and expansion, notably the construction of our outside ramp, and these were also included in our

objectives.

In addition, we took over responsibility for the BC Aviation Hall of Fame, something we had not anticipated in

2015. Our acquisition of the Alouette helicopter was another unexpected positive.

I am happy to report that our theme for the 2017 Open House will be “Viking Aviation” and that Viking have

enthusiastically agreed to partner with us on this. We will have the Trigull ready to roll out in July as part of the

day’s activities. Unfortunately, our interest in acquiring the Lancaster that is now in Edmundston came to nothing;

that aircraft is destined for the Air Force Museum in Trenton.

We will as always be holding our AGM in February. We will be calling for candidates for

the Board and I encourage all our volunteers to consider standing for election. We

need a constant influx of new ideas and enthusiasm; if you think you might be interest-

ed, why not talk to existing board members to find out what is required. (Obviously, if I

can be a board member, it can’t be all that much!) (John Lewis, President BCAM Board)

A Big Welcome to BCAM’s Newest Members!

Sidney: Doug Laurie; Keith Andrews; Susan Fraser; Lynne Brown; North Saanich: Doug

Bernard; Chris Schiere Family; David Thompson & Family; Crofton: Brandon &

Briannon Meyer Family; Shawnigan Lake: David Mohler & Family; Victoria: Michael

Clissold; Carmen Johnson/Nicholas Guzmon; Kent Duclos; Steve Mullen; Irene Tam;

Nikhilesh Khatri; Michiel Piendar; Dennis Piedalue & Stacie Kirkpatrick; Regan

Copeland; Karen Sherman; John Ianson; Reg Price; David Coppard & Family; George

Galloway; Layne Nadeau & Family; Hesketh Family; Salt Spring Island: Dale Romagnoly;

Pitt Meadows, B.C.: Fred Carey; New Westminster, B.C.: Rick Johnson; Delta, B.C.: C.

deFondaumiere & Family; Surrey, B.C.: Jeff (Yanhao) Jin; Polanco, Mexico: Cesar Vargas;

Saanichton: Ashley Watson & Family

May all your New Year’s Resolutions survive beyond the first week! And for all the

rest—try again next year! 2017 is going to be a great

year—and this is where I say to any new member—

come and join in and volunteer this year! Lots of

opportunities to help out in both a regular capacity

and on our special occasion events. You the

members, and especially our volunteers, are what

keep this museum alive—and judging from the

comments that visitors are giving us—you have made

a positive and lasting impression on people from all

over the world! Keep up the fantastic work

everyone! Here’s to 2017! (Virginia Browne)

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Hangar Tales…

Projects, News and More!

BCAM’s 4-Legged Employee…..

I thought it was time that we acknowledge one of our stealthiest (really!), and only paid (paid in

kind!), Employee: Marcus The Security Cat!

Marcus has been around the BCAM for about 7 years (maybe a few more!), and is on duty day and

night! He might look like he does nothing except sleep and eat, however, he is the meet and greet

to many visitors—helps to bring happiness to many international visitors that are missing their own

cats at home, and keeps the mice population under control in the hangars.

He has 2 champions that are his primary off site carers, Connie Barr and Dave Poole. Thanks to Connie and Dave, who are totally

committed to his care, Marcus is supplied with the highest Veterinary care and the best of feline food.

This is where I come in: maybe you, the Membership, would like to help out a little with the care of Marcus by supplying some

tins of cat food? Marcus is on a strict “meat only” diet, this means absolutely no dry food as his

kidney’s can’t cope with it. (This includes none of those package treats—no matter how much

Marcus tries to convince you otherwise!). If he

sticks to this diet he will have many happy and

healthy years ahead—with less visits to the Vet due

to joint problems caused by a poor diet.

Tins of Friskies wet food—or his favourite Fancy

Feast—would be greatly appreciated by both

Marcus (and Connie and Dave)! Looking after Marcus is a

pleasure, but it also comes at a cost—and that is being

borne by Connie and Dave without complaint.

It would be a great gesture to start the year off right, so let’s help Marcus, Connie

and Dave out—bring in and drop off whatever tins of cat food you can 1 or 50 —it will all be used and appreciated! (VJ Browne)

Restoration Hangar Report..

Trigull: Coming along well—and

will be ready for the public

viewing at the Open House.

Hoffar Project: It’s officially

underway! Already lots of

progress—when you are next in

the Museum go have a look in the

restoration hangar for a first hand

account from one of the team!

Other than that—pretty quiet—

mind you it is winter and that

warm fireside and couch (along

with a whiskey) sure does look

inviting!

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If Planes Could Talk …..

Many aircraft have colourful histories, and the BC Aviation Museum Harvard has a very unusual one. The Harvard, the iconic

yellow monoplane trainer of both the Second World War and Cold War, looks very much like all of the thousands of other similar

trainers that were produced to serve as a flying classroom for young pilots mastering the skills that they would need in their

aviation careers. The Harvard is painted in the livery of Navy 814; a trainer that was based at Patricia Bay in the Post World War II

period. However, the BC Aviation Museum Harvard is not that actual aircraft; it only represents the trainer as it would have

appeared in the day. Yet, beneath this unassuming façade lies the remarkable story of how BCAMs Harvard came to be. While

many tour guides talk about the Harvard as being ‘restored’, the truth is that

there never was a Harvard to be restored in the first place!

The story starts with Victoria Air Maintenance’s purchase of 4 Harvard and 1

T-6 airframes. From these grounded relics the talented company put together

and sold 3 airworthy Harvards. The odd bits left over were sitting in a tangled

pile that was destined for the junkyard, when museum restorers were told they

were could take anything that might be useful. So our restorers began to

salvage bits here and there, and eventually somebody said “You know …..”

And after that, as Winn Albrecht, a long-time BCAM Restorer stated: ‘Pretty soon

we just hitched anything yellow to the tractor and dragged it over to our

hangar!”

From these bits and pieces a complete display Harvard would emerge. Close examination by knowledgeable visitors yield clues

that the aircraft is not all that it appears to be. A seam across the wings show that they were originally shortened to serve on a

“Reno Racer” with clipped wings. Both the air scoop and the engine exhaust were fabricated from scratch. The canopy is an

amalgam of both Harvard II and IV parts. The tailwheel is actually a trailer wheel, and the radial engine is undersized. But most

intriguing of all is the tragic story behind the largest piece of the display aircraft: its fuselage.

The fuselage is from a Mark IV Harvard built in 1952 that served as an RCAF trainer. From there it passed on to the civilian

market and on 10 November 1969 it was winging its way from Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, south to California. In the cockpit

sat its 27-year old owner, Ed Hadgkiss, and his 18-year old girlfriend, Kathy Reauhume. Registered as CF-XEN, Hadgkiss called his

Harvard The Yellow Peril, after its canary paintjob, and he poured most of his discretionary income into its operation.

Unfortunately, the California holiday was cut short when a combination of mechanical issues and bad weather required Hadgkiss

to make a forced landing in the woods on remote Roderick Island, off the Sunshine Coast just northwest of Vancouver.

The Harvard came down in a forested area with its wheels up, but the robust construction of the trainer resulted in no major

damage and both occupants were unhurt. Fortunately, for their trip Hadgkiss and Reauhume had packed food, a hatchet, fishing

poles, flares, matches, a Coleman stove, warm clothing and Arctic sleeping bags. They now hunkered down to await rescue.

Elsewhere, RCAF Station Comox mounted a major search for the missing aircraft using three Albatrosses, two Voodoo

interceptors, two T-33 jets, two Labrador helicopters and a 4-engine Argus patrol aircraft. In addition, the Coast Guard

dispatched the ship Skidegate to patrol the coast and all local boats were asked to keep an eye out for the pair.

It was all in vain. With bad weather, fog, rain and snow cloaking the coast, the search was finally called off just before Christmas;

six weeks later. Two months after that, a Wilderness Airlines pilot flying a fishing charter over Roderick Island spotted the

stranded aircraft and radioed in its location. When rescuers finally arrived at the downed Harvard, there was nobody to be

found. Scribbled in the Journey Log was a note to the effect that the two survivors, despairing of rescue, had finally decided to

try to descend the cliffs to the shoreline, where they had a better chance of being found by a passing boat. The two had vanished

in the wilds.

Some time after this, the Hadgkiss family had the Harvard salvaged and, minus its wings, the fuselage ended up in Vancouver.

From there it made its way to Victoria Air Maintenance for use in the rebuild project and finally, to the BC Aviation Museum. So

now the Harvard sits in the main museum hangar, resplendent in its Navy livery, where it is viewed by thousands of visitors every

year. They see and learn about a bit of Naval Aviation History in BC. But just below that public veneer lies a remarkable and

tragic story of how the artifact was created in the first place. (Submitted by Doug Rollins, BCAM Librarian)

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Just Another of Life’s Lessons…….! It is said that education is a question of perspective, the Chinese say that there is no such thing as a bad pupil only a bad teacher!? To a certain extent they are right, but sometimes life takes a hand and the pupil can be the teacher. My father left school at 12 (no, he was not expelled for some heinous crime against the school but he suffered ill health for his formative years, by the time he was fit enough life had taken him, and thousands of others, over). Dad said his real education started when, in 1940, he received a carefully worded invitation from King George 6th for a once in a lifetime opportunity to actively participate in WWII.......unlimited travel, free clothes and money too, it was NOT an R.S.V.P. invitation!

One of the things he learned he passed on to me.....it was, "don't get mad get even"....and so when the opportunity to learn to fly popped up I fully intended to grasp it with both hands, even if it meant biting my tongue when being lambasted by an irate instructor! And, of course, in any group there is always ONE, isn't there? There is “The Serious One”, there is always a “Yoda, The Wise One”, then we have “The Clever One”, followed by “The Nut Job” and then, obviously, “The Joker”! Every Joker must have his stooge or foil for his wit......for us it was Mac......he was a good Scot who, for the remains of this narrative will always be referred to as Mac, despite the fact that he shared his illustrious surname with an international fast food franchise (he could well end up reading this and reach for speed dial "Lawyers 'R Us" on his cell phone when I relate our groups interaction with him)! The instructors were a humourless breed of men, not known for mercy or kindness to us fledglings, Mac often copped it worse than the rest of us, for, being of a naturally belligerent nature he would stand up to all comers! When asked once in tuition, "Mac.....what does IFR mean to you ?" quick as a flash he beamed at the man and said, somewhat wittily, " I Follow Railways.....sir!" This attempt at humour went down like a lead balloon, a stunned silence around the room left all in no doubt that a serious faux pas had been made, worse followed as Mac tried to explain that all railways go somewhere and all one had to do was follow one until you recognised a landmark. This thrust was quickly parried by the instructor who pointed out that : A) It could be nighttime or B) you could be over vast expanse of plains or desert! Mac wisely shut up. Next we were due for a flight at which point Mac, being a determined Scot, was going to make amends, when he put his mind to it nothing would deviate him from his goal, and so, on final approach, and a tad higher than expected and running out of tarmac, instead of pulling up the flaps and opening the throttle and going round again, Mac put her down in a hard "oops, knees and bumps a daisy" touchdown. The chief engineer turned away, screwed up his eyes and winced, the instructor merely uttered a blasphemous oath, even Air Traffic Control sarcastically got in on the act with a mild threat of charging him for three landings...... As we progressed the instructors were running a book on who was going to be washed out first......no prizes for guessing the hot favourite! But Mac got even, close to the final test and due to a family problem, he got himself moved back to Dundee where he finished (successfully) his training. So it appears that Mac's dad discovered the same truth as mine did, he got even in the end! His tale does not end there, he came back to us and we asked of his plans for the future, he told me was emigrating to your fair land, Canada, because, as he put it, "there are more of my lot over there than there are here.....and besides it puts a few thousand miles between me and them!" - nodding in the general direction of The Unholy Trinity Club of instructors! I am sure you will agree, dear readers that life has a funny habit of catching up with you! (Paul Taylor, Member BCAM, Ramsgate, Kent, U.K.)

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January—April 2017

January 1, 2017 Museum Closed

March 4, 2017 Pot Luck Dinner

April 22, 2017 Pot Luck Dinner

Speaker Nights: January 18th

February 15th

March 15th

April 19th

IMPORTANT!

Dates For Those Diaries:

Board Meetings:

January 12; February 16;

March16; April 13

Volunteer Lunch Meetings:

January 19 – Dave Peters February 23 – Annual General Meeting - (lunch catered) April 20 – Jean Rollins

On February 23rd 2017

The Annual General Meeting will take place at:

The British Columbia Aviation Museum

1910 Norseman Road, Sidney, B.C. V8L 5V5

Norseman Room

Lunch at 12 noon followed by the AGM at 1 p.m.

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Membership Renewal 2017

A reminder to all members your 2017 Membership is

now due (January 1– December 31). Please look for the

renewal form at the end of the Newsletter. We look

forward to seeing you

for another full year of

events at the Museum!

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The Hoffar H-1 Replica Project— Those Magnificent Men

In the late fall of 1916 two Vancouver brothers, 28-year-old Henry Hoffar and his younger brother, Jimmie,

had become so enamored with the idea of flying that they decided to build themselves their own airplane.

This rash idea might seem to be a mere fantasy dream of exuberant youth, but one should not easily dismiss

the talented brothers and their mechanical skills. The boys were the two youngest of 6 siblings; their father,

Noble Stonestreet Hoffar, was Vancouver’s first prominent architect. Henry quit school at the age of 13 to work in a door

factory and by the age of 17 was building a boat of his own design in his parents’ basement. From this humble beginning the

brothers quickly built up a successful boat-building business housed in a shed on Coal Harbour, near the

entrance to Stanley Park. There they would eventually turn out about 2,000 boats for pleasure, commercial

and military use. The brothers also acquired an engine franchise and were soon selling marine motors to

eager buyers.

When the powered flying machine was introduced to the area in 1910 the Hoffar Brothers found a new

sideline: designing and building floats for aircraft. The early flying machines were almost exclusively

land-based, with skids or wheels. Being a coastal city, it was natural that many of the pioneering Vancouver flyers wanted these

machines converted for use on water. The Hoffar Boat Company met this demand, and many of the early local flyers, such as Billy

Stark, showcased their flying skills on aircraft equipped with the distinctive Hoffar floats.

Having resolved to build their own airplane, the brothers realized that they did not have the aeronautical training needed to

design an original aircraft. They would have to try to duplicate a proven design. This was a common tactic in the early days of

flight; in 1911 two Vancouver brothers, Bill and Winston Templeton, along with their cousin, had built an aircraft based on the

successful Curtis biplanes that were common at the time. In doing so they built the first airplane in Canada featuring a

‘tractor’ [pulling] propeller, rather than a ‘pusher’. However, an underpowered 35-hp Humber motor meant that the aircraft

could only manage feeble hops and the Templeton Biplane was in no way a practical aircraft. Ironically, the Hoffars stored the

Templeton machine in their boat shed, and it was destroyed in a subsequent fire.

For their inspiration the Hoffar brothers turned to the pages of the influential British journal, Flight, and in a 1912 edition found a

2-plan view of the then-new 1912 Avro Biplane, which was a proven success. Using this, as well as numerous hand-drawn

construction details found in various Flight magazine articles, the brothers reverse-engineered their first airplane. It was a 2-seat,

2-bay biplane on a single large float, with a Roberts 6X tractor motor. The aircraft featured a wood-frame with fabric covering.

While the cockpit had a throttle and standard flight controls, there were no instruments of any kind; just a ‘kill switch’ for the

motor. This would be real seat-of-the-pants flying!

With the airplane completed in the spring of 1917 the brothers now faced their next challenge. Who would fly the machine? As

the Great War approached its zenith there were no pilots available; the brothers would have to either

wait for the conclusion of the war or teach themselves to fly. And so began a series of increasingly faster

taxi runs on Burrard Inlet of Vancouver Harbour as the brothers took turns at the unfamiliar controls. In

true Wright-Brothers fashion, a coin-toss resulted in Jimmie being the first to lift the H-1 from the water.

It was a simple up and down effort about 100 feet in length, with no turns. But a successful first flight had

been made. Over the summer the brothers gradually mastered take-offs, landings, and turns. Soon flights of up to several

thousand feet in altitude were becoming routine. On July 9, 1917, Jimmie Hoffar took a newspaper reporter, J. L. McKelvie, on a

flight at 2,000 feet over Vancouver, the Inlet and Stanley Park, thereby becoming the first aircraft to fly over the city centre.

Regular flights were made during the rest of the year, until late that fall of 1917 when Jimmie struck a deadhead while taxiing and

the H-1 ended up nose-down in the water. Towed back to the boatshed the brothers surveyed the damage and

noted that the piano-wire rigging they had used was also badly rusted. In all it was concluded that it was time to

scrap the H-1 and move on to bigger things. So they salvaged the motor, propeller, radiator and what other parts

they could. Then the hulk was towed out past First Narrows and given a burial at sea. The H-1 was gone but it

had left an aviation legacy; it had become the first successful aircraft that was designed, built and flown in British

Columbia. It was also the first float-plane built in Western Canada, and was the first single-float airplane built in

Canada. (Part 1 of 4, a series on the Hoffar, written by Doug Rollins, Librarian, BCAM)

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The British Columbia Aviation Museum

1910 Norseman Road, Sidney, B.C. V8L 5V5

Ph. (250) 655 3300 Website: www.bcam.net

Your Board of Directors:

President: John Lewis (250) 665 6062 johnjarvislewis@gmail.com

Vice President: Larry Lepard (250) 661 0075 restorations@bcam.net

Secretary: Eleanore Arkesteyn (250) 656 4589 inquiries@bcam.net

Treasurer: Brian Hay (250) 655 3300 accounts@bcam.net

Directors at Large: Steve Gordon (250) 665 4891 skellygordon@gmail.com

Larry Dibnah (250) 656 6416 larry_dibnah@telus.net

Ed Kucey (250) 655 3300 eddyjoq@gmail.com

Other Very Nearly Important People:

Aircraft Archives/Librarian: Doug Rollins (250) 655 4184 library@bcam.net

Artifacts: Barbara Gilbert (250) 655 3794 artifcats@bcam.net

Membership Records: Norm Dressler (250) 656 3771 membership@bcam.net

Volunteer Co-Ordinator: Jan Lewis (250) 665 6062 j6877lewis@gmail.com

Gift Shop: Virginia Browne (250) 882 0710 giftshop@bcam.net

Norseman Newsletter: Virginia Browne (250) 882 0170 norsemannews@bcam.net

Norseman Room Rental: Eleanore Arkesteyn (250) 656 4589 inquiries@bcam.net

Ground Maintenance: Robert Young (250) 656 4679

eBay Sales Sandy Peel (250) 658 5171 b.c.aviationmuseum@gmail.com

And The Cockpit Is…...!

The Gold Medal goes to: Mike Valenti (who was hot off the

mark with the correct answer!): Fokker D.VII

Name That Cockpit…..

So let’s test your knowledge on this one….name that cockpit!

First one with the right answer has got those all important

bragging rights—and Gold medal standing!

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Membership Renewal Form 2017

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________ Prove/State: __________________________________________

Postal Code: _____________________________ Telephone: ________________________________________

Email: __________________________________________________________________

Newsletter preference: Email: ( ) Post: ( )

New Member: ( ) Renewal: ( )

Membership Type: Single ($25.00) ( )

Family ($35.00) ( )

Life ($250.00) ( )

Family Life ($350.00) ( )

Please fill in the form and either mail to the Museum, or bring in to the front desk.

Payment through the mail Cheque only please. Front desk will accept Visa, M/C, Cash, Cheque

Membership cards for 2017 will be issued once processed.

Thank You!

The British Columbia Aviation Museum

1910 Norseman Road, Sidney, B.C. V8L 5V5

(250) 655 3300