The Canadian Museum of Flight is located at Langley Regional Airport, Langley, BC, on Canada’s Pacific coast. The rugged west coast has been a natural area for aviation to flourish since the early days of powered flight. William Boeing owned a biplane that carried the first International airmail from Vancouver to Seattle in March 1919. The present Vancouver International Airport opened at Sea Island in 1931. In 1947, Art Seller, who had returned from flying in World War 2, opened a flying service in Langley. 1996 saw the Museum’s move to Langley with its active airport. Langley Regional Airport celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2018 while the Museum celebrated its 40th Anniversary.
The Museum’s mission is Bringing British Columbia’s Aviation Past into the Future. With this in mind you will find a comprehensive collection of aircraft and artifacts illustrating this region’s long involvement with aviation. These range from replicas of WW1 aircraft, to a Waco biplane from 1930, a Douglas DC-3 transport from 1940 and a 1942 Hampden bomber. The collection moves into the jet age with a Vampire fighter, the all-Canadian designed and built CF-100, and the needle-nosed Lockheed Starfighter.
The Museum believes that their collection should be an active one, and to this end maintains a number of flyable aircraft, including a 1930 Waco INF, a 1937 Waco AQC, a 1940 Fleet Finch, a 1940 Stearman, a 1941 Tiger Moth, a 1941 Harvard and a 1955 Fleet Canuck. In addition, a replica of a WW1 SE5a and a replica of a WW2 Mustang are part of the Museum’s collection that fly in the summer months. In 2015 the Museum built two Sopwith Pup replica aircraft to help celebrate the Battle of Vimy Ridge. These two aircraft, along with the SE5a, were transported, courtesy of the RCAF, to France. The Pup aircraft were on display for the 100th anniversary of the Battle on 9 April 2017, while the SE5a took part in the flypast.
We will be delighted to share our collection with you!
Bruce Friesen, President