An airshow planned at the Brantford Airport to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has been cancelled.
Airshow50 was to be held June 25 and 26.
“We can confirm, that with great disappointment, Airshow50 at the Brantford Airport has been cancelled,” said Al Mickeloff, marketing manager of the warplane museum. “While the decision to cancel was prudent, we have extended our gratitude to all the committee members for their time, effort, and hard work over the past few months.
“Considering we are in a sixth wave (of the COVID-19 pandemic) and with the uncertainty of future restrictions, and after the recent high-level discussions at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum of logistical, financial and operational challenges of running an airshow, the difficult, but necessary, decision was made to cancel.”
Instead, said Mickeloff, a small event is planned for June 25 and 26 at the museum, which will feature its aircraft. The Hamilton-based museum houses almost 50 aircraft, artifacts, books, periodicals and manuals and operates an exhibit gallery.
From 2017 to 2019, the museum partnered with the Rotary Club of Brantford to put on the Community Charity Airshow at the Brantford airport on the Wednesday before Labor Day.
There were no shows in 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic restrictions. The popular charity show was free to spectators but onsite parking and donation collection helped raise funds for the Rotary Club and the warplane museum. About 13,500 spectators turned out for the 2019 airshow, filling the airport grounds almost to capacity.
Last November, David Rohrer, museum president and CEO, said Airshow50 was to be a “unique show spectators wouldn’t see anywhere else in Canada,” and was to include all the museum’s aircraft, including a Lancaster and a B-25 bomber, along with invited Second World War-era aircraft and some modern jets. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds also were scheduled to perform and a Grumman Avenger, a Second World War US-built aircraft that was under restoration at the museum for more than 10 years, was set to make its airshow debut.
Mickeloff said the cost of running an airshow is “dependent on the size and scope of it and is challenging to run even at the best of times.”
“Expenses can include the airshow acts, their accommodations, and fuel, along with insurance, safety protocols, crowd control, security and staffing. As a non-profit organization, our mandate is to preserve and maintain significant Canadian military aircraft, not running airshows, so a decision on future shows has yet to be made.”
Founded in 1972, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum has a collection of aircraft flown by Canadians and the Canadian military from the beginning of the Second World War to the present.