During the ‘Great War,’ the fight in the skies over the battlefield was in its infancy. The battle in the air was new and developing and progressing further each day. There were no manuals. There were no combat flight schools. Air-to-air combat or, dogfighting as it was known, was made up as the pilots went along.

Our history books record famous pilots of that era such as Manfred von Richthofen who was famous for flying the bright red Fokker DR.I Triplane. Others include William Avery “Billy” Bishop, VC, Captain Roy Brown, and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker to name but a few. There are documentaries, movies, photos, novels, and biographies but nothing tells the story like the airplane’s themselves.

In Brampton, Ontario, Canada there is a small flying museum that, even locals aren’t necessarily aware of… The Great War Flying Museum. Inside their unassuming little hangar along the south-west side of the driveway into Brampton Flying Club are a number of flying replica World War I aircraft representing the British Commonwealth, the French, and Americans. If you were to drive past the hangar on your way to the clubhouse, you probably wouldn’t even give it a second thought.

However, as you enter the door to the hangar there is a collection of photos, posters, artifacts, and, of course, airplanes that immediately set the imagination back almost 100 years to the dogfights in the skies over no-mans-land in battle scared France. If not for electric lights and modern tools around the hangar, one might be able to imagine ones-self preparing for battle in an SE5A or Fokker Triplane.

All the aircraft are replica-built and have been meticulously completed by members and volunteers at the museum. Airplanes such as the SE5a flown by pilots such as Roy Brown, said in our history books to be the pilot who shot down the ‘Red Baron,” (both a full scale replica as well as an 80% scale replica fly with the museum). The airplane that von Richthofen was flying when he was shot down by Brown, the Fokker Triplane, painted in its bright red colouring. These are but two of the more well known of their airplanes.

The museum flies a French Nieuport 28 which was passed off to the Americans during the Great War because the French thought it slow and easy to shoot down. The Nieuport is often flown by pilot Jerry Fotheringham, a very experienced 79 year old pilot, originally from England, who has experience flying such a vast number and variety of airplanes that a book would need to be written to tell of his background and history in aviation.

One of a handful of pilots who fly with the museum is an impressive young man who, at the age of 24, has more flying experience than many seasoned hobby pilots. Edward Peter Soye, who also flies glider and tow-planes with the air cadet gliding program in Ontario as well as Harvards (T-6 Texans) for the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, is also one of the museums directors. Soye dresses in period costume for the museum and flies the airplane dressed as German ace Manfred von Richthofen adding a certain authenticity as well as realism to the whole look of the airplane and the museum.

The museum is also in the middle of re-building their Fokker D.VII which crashed in the summer of 2007 after an engine failure. They hope to have it completed for the 2009 flying season. In another area of the hangar sits the build project fuselage of a Sopwith Camel, the famous British fighter flown by ace Billy Bishop. Up in the rafters of their hangar is a Airco DH2 that they don’t have space or manpower for at the moment. A unique collection you might not find anywhere else in the world and probably not a collection that flies.

The Great War Flying Museum is history in the air. It’s nostalgic, entertaining, enlightening, and enticing because it gives you the opportunity to see airplanes that flew almost 100 years ago with pilots who knew little more than how to control an airplane in flight. At the time these airplanes first flew in the war-torn skies over France, powered flight was only 7 years old!

So, if you’re in southern Ontario stop in and visit the museum and have a chat with one of the members. They are only 15 minutes from Toronto-Pearson International Airport at Brampton Airport (CNC3) and are easy to find. They are always looking for new members, donations, volunteers, and even airplanes. Visit www.greatwarflyingmuseum.com and email museum president, Richard Sowden…. and come take a step back in time.

By Kevin Moore, Contributing Editor & Photographer
thestickandrudder@sympatico.ca

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