On a day of military remembrance, London’s Jet Aircraft Museum is celebrating an anniversary of a different kind.
The museum received a McDonnell Voodoo interceptor aircraft in 2013 from Nova Scotia’s Cornwallis Military museum, the last of its kind to fly. The event was a celebration of the storied history of the aircraft which served to protect Canada during the Cold War. Museum director Simon Pont said the event serves a dual purpose.
“What’s remarkable about that aircraft is that it was the last one of its kind to fly anywhere in the world and Sunday, the 9th of April, is the 30th anniversary of that last flight. So when we knew this, we got all excited and we thought we’ll have a little bit of an event. So what we’re doing is we’re opening the museum doors; there is an entrance fee because it’s also a fundraiser to help us restore the aircraft.”
One special guest was Mike Kyne, the electronic warfare officer assigned to the aircraft in the museum’s possession during its final flight 30 years ago. Kyne joined with former pilots of the Voodoo aircraft in sharing stories about their time with the fighter which was in operation from 1961 to 1984.
The Voodoo aircraft was the precursor to the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighters currently in operation, and joined the Canadian Air Force arsenal after the cancellation of the Avro Arrow.
The Jet Aircraft Museum has been in operation since 2008, and seeks to maintain historical documents and items relevant to Canadian military aviation history. In addition to their collection of artifacts, the museum aims to keep representative historic aircraft in operation at airshows and aviation events.
A number of civic leaders were on hand to provide opening remarks including MPP Peter Fragiskatos, MPP Teresa Armstrong, and Mayor Matt Brown.
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