National Air Force Museum attracts young and old

Posted Jan 5, 2012 By Kate Everson

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EMC Lifestyles - Quinte West - The big attraction at the National Air force Museum is still the Halifax aircraft.

"A lot of people who used to fly it love to come here and see it again," says volunteer Murray Ratchford.

Ratchford was in the RCAF for 44 years. "I was an instrument technician," he adds. "They called me a clock-winder because there was only one instrument."

Volunteer Larry Fischer says visitors interested in having an inside view of the restored Halifax can now pay $100 to crawl inside right up to the bomb aimer in the cockpit. He noted that the only crew that lived when the aircraft went down in Norway during the war was the tail gunner, who survived the frigid waters. The others survived the crash but perished in the lake. Flight Sergeant T.H. Weightman lived from 1910 until 2007 and visited the museum.

Larry Fischer was a military pilot himself for 24 years. He flew the Lancaster over Quebec when it was a Search and Rescue aircraft after the war.

"It was so cold in there I had on a winter flying suit and a sleeping bag," he said.

He noted they used the Lancasters for mapping northern sites, replacing bombs with cameras. Fischer was a radio operator at that time.

J.W. Cheverie is also a frequent visitor to the museum. He was an airframe technician for 32 years and a flight engineer with the RCAF.

"I took my course on the Harvard," he said.

The little yellow aircraft is small compared to the Halifax but commands respect from its visitors. Two children, Samuel and Spencer Ashtar, stopped by with their mom one day and peered in the windows and stood under the wings. The boys, ages five and three, are stationed at 8 Wing Trenton but moving to Ottawa.

"They love the airplanes," said their mother smiling.




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