This year marks the Centennial of the RCAF, which officially came into being on April 1, 1924. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is planning several events to honour this milestone. While the RCAF was formed in 1924 and has its roots as the Canadian Air Force even earlier, the Second World War is when the RCAF really hit its stride. Entering the war, the RCAF was a small force with a strength of only 4,061 personnel and 270 aircraft. After the war, the RCAF grew to become the fourth largest in the world, with more than 215,000 personnel in uniform, including about 17,000 members of the ..read more

We have been working hard to prepare for our re-opening on April 1, 2024! In honour of the RCAF’s 100th anniversary, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is hosting a free open house on Monday, April 1st from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Come join us for an afternoon as we re-open for the season.  Visitors will be invited to travel back to the 1940s while touring a WWII vintage hangar, aircraft, vehicles and hundreds of artifacts from that era, as well as the RCAF WWII Memorial wall that honours all of the RCAF that lost their lives during WWII. Coffee and dainties from Chez ..read more

The video below reviews some of the main events at the museum in 2023 ..read more

In summer, a historic hangar that was part of #10 Service Flying Training School (10 SFTS) in Dauphin, Manitoba collapsed. Rather than simply knocking the structure down and disposing of the materials, Troy Angus from “The Den” based in Pierson was contracted to dismantle the building. The Den is a business that supplies “barnwood that is sourced from rural resources. This process has begun and the materials will be repurposed rather than dumped in a landfill. The Den is rescuing some original windows form the hangar and is donating them to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum – housed in ..read more

The following is a message to all of our supporters and volunteers as we enter 2024, from Museum President, John McNarry. A New Calendar year is ahead of us. The past year was interesting and challenging. We have a lot more challenges to meet as we move forward with the Museum. It will be a busy and interesting year. I want to personally thank you all for your support and dedication to the CATPM.  I hope you find the year to be rewarding as we continue in our efforts to preserve the story of the BCATP as well as the memory of those who sacrificed so much that we can enjoy living as we d ..read more

Back in the first week of October 2023, I had been talking with the Brandon General Museum and Archives, and Matt Goerzen of the Brandon Sun about saving the Brandon Sun’s Archives. The Brandon Sun’s new location does not have space for the original newspapers, and while the Legislative Library has expressed interest the archives was soon to go to the landfill.  Our Archivist, Judith, and myself had taken a look and felt we could at least save 1900 to 1950, this would cover WWI and WWII.  The Brandon Sun also provided the shelving to store the newspapers. At the time, depending on ..read more

Recently the museum came in possession of sections of a BCATP Bolingbroke airplane. Here is the story from museum volunteer and incoming Flying Committee chair, Jeff Bell: The Bolingbroke came to us via way of an email from an RCAF helicopter pilot/instructor operating out of Portage/Southport, MB.  While on a training mission, the pilot spotted the aircraft in a bluff of trees. Upon landing, he provided the GPS coordinates to the CATPM. With these coordinates, we were able to track down the land owner, and a meeting was arranged with the museum and the land owner. The aircraf ..read more

November will feature a series of special social media posts related to Remembrance. In addition, general admission to the museum, including Remembrance Day itself, is by donation only. Of course, a visit to the beautiful 300 foot Memorial Wall is always free. Remembrance Day will be our usual open house and there will be a free lecture in our vintage Canteen at 2 pm. The topic is Are museums important – who will remember? and will be given by long time museum volunteer (and our archivist) Judith Grierson. Learn about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, called Canada’s most important ..read more

Below: some of the many scale models for sale! Below: some of the hundreds of books for sale! We have hundreds of books, lots of scale model kits, and some art prints that need a home! Books are mainly WWII and military, however, there are some other topics as well. We have all kinds of model kits to sell as well – mostly aircraft, but some military vehicles of various types as well as custom modification pieces, figures and decals. Also up for sale are various art prints that are either surplus or do not fit our mandate. There is also a great door price for a lucky attendee! So co ..read more

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