In the early 1970’s, a group of aviation enthusiasts made a move to stop the exodus of historic aircraft leaving Canada for the U.S. and Europe. Their names were Ed and Rose Zalesky, Bill Thompson, Ron Stunden, and Barry Jackson. This group pooled their resources, to acquire as many of these aircraft as possible and stop the mass export of major artifacts of Canada’s aviation history. By March 1977, the Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation was incorporated as a non-profit society and was granted the authority to issue tax-deductible receipts for donations.

With this move, CMFT’s credibility was confirmed and public interest increased dramatically. With a serious museum group now established in B.C., artifact donations – large and small, as well as cash and membership applications became more frequent.

The Museum’s original homesite was located on Crescent Road in South Surrey, British Columbia, on the Zalesky Family’s farm property. The site included a giftshop, storage hangars, a playground, and a short grass runway. All aircraft were displayed outdoors, including the fragile fabric-covered airplanes. Every year during the summer the CMFT would host a two-day event called “Wings and Wheels” which was part airshow, part car show, and completely entertaining. Automobile clubs of all kinds were invited to display their vehicles amongst the airplanes in the museum’s park setting, and there would also be a mini airshow with local airshow performers, warbirds fly pasts, and a demonstration by the RCAF’s Search and Rescue Squadron with their Labrador helicopter. Each day there would be a “Snoopy and the Red Baron” skit performed by museum volunteers that captivated children and adults alike.

At its peak the CMFT boasted over 50 aircraft in its collection, including Canada’s largest collection of vintage helicopters and Canada’s largest collection of vintage gliders. Museum volunteers were also responsible for restoring numerous airplanes, including a Noorduyn Norseman Mk V, a Flying Flea, a replica Sopwith Camel (non-flying), a Tiger Moth, a Bristol Bolingbroke, the world’s only displayed Handley Page Hampden, a de Havilland Vampire jet, and several others.

In 1996 the Museum was forced to move out of it’s homesite at Crescent Beach and onto a property at Langley Airport that included a small hangar. The move was due to the City of Surrey expropriating the land from the museum for use as a regional park, now named the Elgin Park Natural Area. The new homesite finally allowed for the indoor display of the museum’s most fragile aircraft and artifacts, but due to the smaller size of the property, it created the problem of needing to find off-site storage space for dozens of aircraft and artifacts waiting for restoration and eventual display. To cut down on storage costs, and to help make ends meet at a new and considerably more expensive home-site, numerous aircraft in the collection were sold.

Being positioned at Langley Airport afforded the museum the ability to operate our numerous flyable aircraft and at one time boasted an airworthy fleet of 8 airplanes. In the spring of 1998, the Museum legally changed its name to the Canadian Museum of Flight Association.

The museum and restoration site is open year round, and houses over 25 aircraft both static and flying. The aircraft range from a WWI Sopwith Pup replica to cold war era CF-104 Starfighter. The Canadian Museum of Flight also possesses the only displayed Handley Page Hampden in the world, among many other treasures. On February 13th, 2002, after a 22 year restoration, Museum volunteers saw the 1937 Waco AQC Cabin biplane take to the skies. This restoration was done solely by the Museum’s volunteers whose age range from 16 to 82. Many of our volunteers spent their career in the aviation industry just to retire and put in full-time hours at the Museum.

We have a number of aircraft flying: A 1930 Waco INF, a Fleet Finch, a SE5A replica, two Sopwith Pup replicas, a Waco AQC Cabin, a Fleet Canuck, and a Harvard Mk II. We also have a Tiger Moth, Piper J-3 Cub, and a North American P-51B Mustang replica that are under refurbishment to flying condition at present. The historic Boeing Stearman biplane owned by the Seller family has also joined the collection and is awaiting its turn to get back in the air.