Warplane Heritage Museum

Hamilton, ON

Standing out on the observation deck of the Warplane Heritage Museum, the crowd of 12 or so people were buzzed (extremely close flyby) by an old military plane. A half hour later they got to take an up close look at it in the hangar, along with many other classic military planes.

There is something romantic about old planes and the history of early aviation. Where humans took to the sky and tried to shoot one another out of it. Of course, that era is long gone in the romantic sense, perhaps brought back to life by Steven Spielberg in a film every few years. But the stories are re-told every day at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario.

Visitors are greeted by a CF-104 Starfighter right out in front of the kid friendly museum, which is a pretty intimidating aircraft. And as you take your first steps past the front door vestibule, you can smell the fluids that power and run the airborne equipment from the past. That first smell is beautiful.

After a quick tour of some pretty fantastic historical displays of everything aviation, visitors enter the hangar bay where the planes live and breath. All different types and models from many different eras. You can even sit in the equipment and control the flaps with the stick. There is something magical about the place.

After the relaxing hours spent on the tour of the hangar and watching some of the airplanes take off or land on the Hamilton Airport runway, visitors can do some shopping in the gift shop to pick up a reminder of the adventure they just had through history.

This outing, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, is a truly underrated and wonderful find.