Page 8 - October 2018

Other activities:
Additional Open Houses:

The museum took part in the Springbank – Calgary Flying

Club – open house in early June and we had quite a few

visitors drop by the hangar to look at our progress. Two
other clubs – the Calgary Plymouth and Friends Car Club,

Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame has declared John
the Experimental Aircraft Association – joined us for extra
Gillespie Magee Jr. as its Honorary Poet. Magee
open houses during the quarter. was a 19-year old Spitfire pilot serving in the Royal
Canadian Air Force when he wrote his famous
Avro Arrow Print Draw: The latest print draw took place
sonnet, “High Flight,” which has become a symbol
at the beginning of June and Reynold Reyes of Calgary of lost aircrew in both peace and war.

won the oil print.

Memberships, Donations and Sales of souvenirs:

There are currently 32 memberships in the Museum. We
will be reviewing options relating to memberships. We

are considering multi-year discounted cost, life-time, etc.

and the benefits that we may offer with such extended

memberships to encourage a stronger baseline
membership.

Donations have been steady through the first two
quarters, supported by sales and donation incentives Born in Shanghai, China to missionary parents, John
such as lapel pins for every $10 donated and framed G. Magee Jr. attended Rugby School in England
pictures of the artist’s impression of the where he first distinguished himself as a poet. Later,
continuing his education in the United States,
Magee earned a scholarship to Yale University.
Arrow II in flight for donations over $20. However, in 1941, before the United States entered
the Second World War, instead of attending
Thank you for your interest in our organization, the
university, Magee enlisted in the RCAF and trained
Arrow II project and the preservation of Canada's aviation as a pilot in Canada, graduating with the rank of
Pilot Officer.
history.
Posted to England and qualifying as a Spitfire fighter
Sincerely,
pilot, John wrote “High Flight” after completing a
The volunteers and board of directors at Avro Museum training flight. The poem was mailed to his parents,
first printed in a Pittsburgh newspaper, and became

widely known after publication in his father’s
Washington D.C. church bulletin. On December 11,
1941, Magee was killed in a mid-air collision in
England.