THREE COAST AVIATION
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Night Run
In 2014 my father attended the Night Run at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) featuring their Lancaster, a B-24 from the Commemorative Air Force and the Mosquito from Military Aviation Museum. I remember being amazed by his wonderful collection of photos and when the museum held the event again the following year, I registered immediately. The 2015 edition took place on the night of June 15th and once again included the Mosquito from Virginia Beach. This time it was joined by two aircraft from CWHM, the Mitchell and Lysander and two aircraft from Vintage Wings of Canada, the Mustang and Lysander. The event was very well organized and even though dozens of photographers were in attendance there was plenty of space to move around it didn't seem like we got in each others way.
I have always been amazed by the clandestine operations performed by the Lysander during World War II. Its pilots would fly dangerous missions at night with only the light from a full moon to help them land in fields behind enemy lines in France, never knowing who would actually be meeting them. While the Mossie, Mustang and Mitchell are some of the most famous aircraft from World War II, I really enjoyed seeing the two Lysanders running-up together. Luckily, the aircraft weren't painted in the traditional black camouflage worn by the British Special Operations Executive.