Posted by On August 28th, 2023 m’lady and I awoke refreshed and invigorated after attending an exhilarating performance of Come From Away that had been mounted in Gander, Newfoundland itself. Wow, what an opportunity (but that’s another story)! We had stayed smack-dab in the middle of Gander at the very-1970’s Aladdin Hotel, where an exceptionally fine free breakfast further refreshed and invigorated us to help kick off the day.
And we did have a bit of a day planned.
If you know anything about anything, then you must know that Come From Away is an all-Canadian smash Broadway musical that tells the story of how the people of Gander rallied to feed, house, and support thousands of diverted airline passengers after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center back in 2001, and if you know that then you probably also know that it is a truly excellent show that makes you laugh, cry, and positively swell with Canadian (or Newfoundland) pride (but again, that’s another story; two, in fact).
Now if you know anything about me, you know I love nothing more than to follow up/extend such a heart-warming, emotion-tugging experience with some sort of thematically similar, school outing-like excursion – especially if it’s free – and in this case I did exactly that not once, but twice. Let me tell you about it:
This was the summer that the Newfoundland Public Book Syndicate began their ConnectPass program, which allowed card-carrying members such as myself to reserve free passes to a narrow yet dizzying array of school outing-like excursions located throughout the province. Sites such as the Newman Wine Vaults in St. John’s and the Cable Station in Heart’s Content (both of which I’ve taken advantage of) plus the site that represents half of today’s excuse for writing (or reading, depending on where you are sitting): the North Atlantic Aviation Museum.
Located right on the Trans-Canada Highway just as you come into Gander, the North Atlantic Aviation Museum is aptly placed. For if there was ever an aero-based town, it’s Gander, Newfoundland. Really? you say. Yes, I answer. To wit:
Way back in the wayback when international air travel was starting to get rather serious the barren area that now houses Gander was deemed an ideal stopping/refuelling halfway point between New York, America and London, Europe, so in 1936 they started building an airport there. In January of 1938 the first plane landed at YQX. WWII began soon after and Gander International Airport instantly became a strategic military base of the utmost importance. Thousands of British, American, and Canadian personnel were stationed there (remember, Newfoundland wasn’t part of Canada yet; Newfoundland wouldn’t join Canada until 1949).
After the war the airport remained busy, as planes could not yet cross the Atlantic Ocean without stopping to refuel. With all this traffic YQX eventually grew to be the largest airport in the world, so big in fact that it was cleared for emergency Space Shuttle landings. And the by-product of all of this aeronautic activity was the creation of the Town of Gander, Newfoundland.
So like I say, pretty good place for a plane museum.
(Pardon the pun.)
We parked and started with a walkabout to explore the inevitable handful of airplanes that were scattered around the parking lot. In the process we ran into a lady who knew us from Harbour Grace who was also in Gander to see the musical. (I’d say “small world” but it isn’t. Newfoundland – while not at all “small” – is rather sparsely populated – especially if you discount St. John’s – so such a run-in as this comes as no surprise.)
Inside the museum we presented a printout of our ConnectPass to the confused and shrugging teenager who was manning the ticket booth*. After a lengthy head-scratch he granted us entry to the medium-sized room crowded with display boards and glass cases.
M’lady and I did our best to accurately follow the arrows on the floor but there was just no way of seeing the place in order, but see it we did, zig-zagging atop the pesky arrows the whole way. There were flight suits from days gone by, enviable accoutrement from bygone First Class sections, old desks that belonged to WWII military brass, and lots and lots of info panels. Oh, the info panels.
For all our missteps, there was no missing the fact that all the arrows ultimately led to the museum’s most honoured possession: a section of a fire-ravaged girder from the World Trade Center, one of only two pieces that are outside of the USA (the other one is also in Gander). A somber memento indeed.
Heading out of town after the museum visit, I just couldn’t resist one more stop. Which brings us to the other half of this need-for-pixels: a visit to YQX itself.
We pulled in to the airport and parked next to the international lounge**. Walking in, two things were immediately clear. One: Gander International doesn’t seem to be a very busy airport anymore, and two: it sure is big for such an unbusy airport.
We headed straight to the international wing. Back in the early 1960’s the international arrivals area of the airport had been outfitted with the most ultra-modern art-deco furnishings available. The entire international wing was designed specifically to give an unmistakable and impressive first impression to the world of momentary visitors that were – as I mentioned before – forced to land there. The wing is not like it once was, but there are several displays utilizing some of the surviving lounge chairs and other chic pieces so one can get a tangible taste of what it was like. It must have been quite a place back then!
The lounge bar remains. This is where locals would come to sip on drinks and ogle at the parade of world travellers who stepped off the jetliners. There are countless stories; one lady spent an evening chatting with Albert Einstein, Fidel Castro borrowed someones sled and went tobogganing with his kids…
Remember, for a long time every flight that crossed the Atlantic Ocean had to stop in Gander, so there would be a lot of remarkable people-watching opportunities. People like The Beatles***. And Frank Sinatra. And Winston Churchill. And Elvis. And Queen Elizabeth. And Frank Zappa. Like, everybody.
Upstairs they had a whole bunch of – you guessed it – informative panels, but these ones were really interesting, and blatantly chronological (no arrows necessary). For example, lots of people from Communist countries have used the mandatory stop as a chance to defect, including Soviet chess master Igor Vasilyevich, Cuban Olympian Rafael Polinario, and Phan Thi Kim Phuc, who was the crying naked girl in that famous photo following a napalm attack in Vietnam. In 1985 the deadliest airplane accident on Canadian soil happened in Gander when a US military plane crashed during takeoff, killing all 256 on board. On a lighter note (pun intended), a plane once landed at Gander International loaded to the roof with nothing but ping pong balls. Want to know why? Well, I’m not going to spoil all of the fun; you’ll have to go there and find out for yourself.
And if you do, check to see if they are doing another run of Come From Away while you’re in Gander. It’s an excellent show.
*During that first summer I was always and invariably met with blinking eyes and head-scratching bewilderment whenever I presented a ConnectPass, which always and invariably led to a shoulder-shrug and free admittance.
**For free! Have you ever parked at an airport for free before?
***The Beatles first stepped on foreign soil in Gander, Newfoundland. Crazy.
Todd Man Out 