Winnipeg’s Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (RAMWC) lost its previous home on October 24 of last year, but has yet to move into new quarters. With Hangar T-2, its former home on Ferry Road, since torn down, and construction of its future home yet to begin, a number of challenges are facing its staff, volunteers and supporters.

Some items in the museum’s collection of aircraft, reportedly the second largest in Canada, are being stored outside, but many others needed to be kept out of the elements and have been provided with interim housing. Various members of Manitoba’s aviation community came to the rescue and some of the museum’s aircraft have found accommodation thanks to private individuals and businesses.

A number of aircraft from the museum’s collection have found homes in the hangars of aviation businesses surrounding Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport (CYWG), which is where RAMWC’s new home will still be located. Other aircraft are being stored in six different locations outside of the Winnipeg area, including in Brandon and Portage la Prairie, and sometimes in private hangars. The remainder of the collection is stored in a compound near the Winnipeg/St. Andrew airport (CYAV). According to CBC News, Magellan Aerospace is storing some 2,700 boxes of archives and related material.

RMWC’s new home is planned to be completed by the end of 2020.

“The new facilities will be more than a building. The museum will represent repayment of a debt that this community owes pioneers of air travel and will represent our dedication to the future of aviation. In short, it will enshrine our past and will be a window on the future,” said Arthur V. Mauro of the museum’s capital and endowment campaign.