The old bush base was formed into a nonprofit corporation and plane ollection continues to grow with each new donation. The museum takes in no government funds to renovate these historic and often antique planes. Most of funding comes from ticket and gift store sales and memberships of those interested in bush planes. You can even join in fun and get Centre's newsletter.

The Silver Dart is first plane to greet me gliding over museum's lobby near gift shop. The replica is of first aircraft to make powered flight in Canada.

The Noordayn Norseman was designed in 1935, and is one of first planes built for Canadian bush flying. The Centre’s example, serial #17, was built in late 1938 and is now oldest operational Norseman in world.

The deHavilland DHC-3 Otter was introduced in 1953, and it carried on with tradition of Beaver; Centre’s version was damaged in a forced landing north of Moosonee in 1986.

The Centre’s version of Fairchild Husky is one of rarest examples of this plane, and it is nearing completion of a total overhaul . The Husky was designed in 1946, an early competitor of Beaver, but even with advantage of superior cargo handling, Husky was underpowered and only 12 were ever built.

Canadair CL215 was designed in 1978, and was first purpose-built water bomber. It is capable of picking up over 5,000 liters of water at a time for fire drops.

The Centre’s Great Lakes Trainer was once a privately owned plane from 1930s, built from scratch by long time pilot and air engineer, Guy Laroque.

The Centre even has a few helicopters on display; most notable is Bell 470, restored to original configuration and owned by Ontario Lands and Forest, dating from 1953. The helicopter is first to be owned by a government agency in Canada.

The Grumman Tracker is an ex-U.S. Navy carrier based anti-submarine aircraft that was declared surplus by military and later converted to a chemical fire bomber. The plane is painted in colors of its donors, Conair of Abbostford, British Columbia.

The Republic Seabee is a postwar amphibious aircraft designed for commercial use but is more popular as a recreational plane.

The above mentioned bush planes are but a small highlight of what awaits you at msueum. The Centre also houses a Flight Cent re with exhibits, flight simulating computers, a Beech 18 cockpit, simulated flights in a Beaver, a Link Trainer, and a pilot aptitude test. The flight adventure simulator takes me on a flight over Sault Ste. Marie and local landmarks, following ACR Tour train and I experience thrill of fighting a forest fire. Many of first and more modern bush pilots mug shots are forever placarded in black and white drawings.

You don’t have to use one of vintage radios to get in contact with Bushplane Heritage Centre.

Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre 50 Pim Street (just off Bay St .) Sault Ste. Marie , ON P6A 3G4 Canada 705/945-6242 fax: 702/942-8947 www.bushplane.com

I happen to stumble into wrong theater to hear a fire fighting lecture before getting ousted to proper theater. The lightning locator is a real time computer based system that records all lightning strikes in Eastern North America and it is a vital component of sophisticated fire prediction system based in Sault Ste. Marie.

Read this entire feature FREE with photos at http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/flight/bushplanes/bushplane.html

By Kriss Hammond - Jetsetters Magazine Editor - at www.jetsettersmagazine.com

So we get in. The pilot is a pleasant man by name of Ruben, and this is his side job. Dad is still freaked, and now Mom is too. The blades start spinning, vibrating faster and faster as air bends hairs on my arm toward open plastic window. Ruben pulls back on lever, and before I can blink, we're up 10 feet, 100 feet 1000 feet!

There was so little in way of g-force, that I in fact questioned whether or not I was on a helicopter ride, or indeed in one of those simulators complete with fans and movie screens. The change in temperature and wind pressure assured me that I was actually in air, flying with birds, sitting shot gun to my overanxious parents.

They did finally calm down though, once they realized that it was too late to go back. We were up there now, completely at mercy of a pilot dressed in beachwear, following veins of Earth to sea. We took a shortcut over everything (the quickest way from point A to point B is a straight line).

The tour starts over La Jolla — beautiful, rich, La Jolla!

Southward we took a stroll by Black's Beach — infamously known as "nude" beach of San Diego. Below, ant-sized smattering of skin colored creatures walked free, naked, and well. Naked (and to answer that question that you may or may not have formed yet in your head, at 1000 feet, you can't make out much other than patterns on sand below rocks). We flew next to cliffs, gouged and roughly cut way a giant piece of fudge looks after taking a bite.

Onward to Pacific Beach, where sprinkles of color littered shores. We laughed together at all losers grid-locked in traffic as we flew over it all. We flew past famous Mission Beach Coaster, where people once rode for almost a week straight to try and win a car.

Read this entire feature FREE with photos at: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/helicopters/sandiego/lajolla/helitour.html

By Josh Edelson, California Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent at www.jetsettersmagazine.com