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Toronto Aerospace Museum’s Wings & Wheels Heritage Festival at Downsview May 26-28

The vintage aircraft fly-in and classic car show at Downsview Park celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the DHC-1 Chipmunk training aircraft which was Toronto's first successful postwar aircraft design and became the primary military training aircraft in more than two dozen nations.

A total of more than 20 Chipmunk owners have indicated they will fly to Downsview for a grand homecoming, and we expect a dozen or more other Toronto-built aircraft to participate in the weekend fly-in, ranging from Tiger Moth biplanes and Beavers to a Found Bros. FBA-2 bushplane, a Canadian Armed Forces Dash 8 trainer, and Bombardier's Downsview-assembled Q400 airliner and Global Express business jet.

We also expect to have a couple of helicopters on hand, a Griffon from No. 400 Squadron at CFB Borden and a TwinStar from the Ontario Provincial Police.

Downsview will be open to fly-in visitors, but ALL aircraft MUST register in advance, and airfield movements have been limited by our sponsor to 20 aircraft an hour.

A dozen Toronto-area classic car clubs have indicated they will also participate and, weather permitting, there should be about one hundred cars on show each day. Interest in the classic car show continues to build.

The festival kick off on Friday May 26 with a historical symposium on the Chipmunk. Speakers from Canada and the UK will discuss the development of this successful Canadian "invention" and its enormous impact of world aviation. You'll hear from original DHC test pilots, UK-based historians and current Chipmunk owners, and have a opportunity to preview the fly-in aircraft before the weekend crowds.

For more details and to register, see the Toronto Aerospace Museum web site www.torontoaerospacemuseum.com