Aviation Museum event honours Twin Otter
Witness aviation history in the making as the B.C. Aviation Museum inducts pilot and author Chris Weicht, the de Havilland Twin Otter and Viking Air into the B.C. Aviation Hall of Fame during the museum’s annual open house on Saturday.
The open house will also include flights by the Victoria Flying Club and Pacific Sky Aviation, along with displays of Ashton Armoury military vehicles, military re-enactors, radio-controlled aircraft and scale models, and food and refreshments provided by the Sidney Lions Club.
The family-friendly event offers face painting, games and other activities for children.
“We are proud to salute Viking Air Limited, the Twin Otter and Chris Weicht at this year’s B.C. Aviation Museum open house and the 2017 B.C. Aviation Hall of Fame induction ceremony,” said museum president John Lewis. “Viking Air is not only a big presence in our province but a big part of Victoria International Airport and a valued neighbour to our museum, and now it is famous for its own version of the Twin Otter.”
Weicht has flown for more than 50 years in a variety of roles, worked with the Air Cadet movement and written 10 books on aviation.
The de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter has been a workhorse transport aircraft around Canada for more than 50 years. Viking Air has been manufacturing Series 400 Twin Otters for a variety of customers around the world since 2010.
At the open house, you can see the museum’s collection, which includes a De Havilland DHC-6 Series 400 Twin Otter, DHC-3 Single Otter, DHC- 2 Beaver, Consolidated Canso, RCAF Sea King helicopter, Robinson R-22 helicopter, CJ-6 Nanchang trainer, Coast Guard Alouette III helicopter and a Trident TR-1 Trigull amphibian.
Admission is by donation. The open house runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the induction ceremony at noon at the museum, 1910 Norseman Rd., (on the east side of Victoria International Airport). Plenty of free parking is available.
The museum collects, restores and displays aircraft and artifacts, with special emphasis on B.C. aviation history.
Some planes and artifacts date back to the Second World War, when Pat Bay was a training base for Commonwealth airmen. The museum is open daily over the summer. For more information, go to bcam.net.