Discovering the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum was the best part of our week. We took my son on a surprise adventure this week. We went to the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum in the morning and we were not disappointed in his reaction. When he realized we were at a museum all about planes, he was over the moon. None of us had been there before so we didn’t know what to expect, and I think I can honestly say it surpassed our expectations. My son talked about it all day. We had such a wonderful morning. As I was putting him to bed, he told me he loves planes even more now because of our visit and he can’t wait to return.
Photo by Erin McCrea
We went in through the side of the building and were greeted by the friendly staff. We paid for the adults, but kids five years old and under are free! With admission, you get a tour of the museum. It was perfect for the first visit because there is so much to learn! Our tour guide was amazing, knowledgeable and she was very patient with my little one. For everything she told us, he had five questions in return (but it wasn’t always about what she was talking about.) Most of the planes are not for touching which is sometimes hard for little ones, but he did very well at just looking at them while she told us about each plane and the history behind it.
We were allowed to go in the “Tracker Simulator” and my son LOVED it. He got to pretend he was flying and use the controls in the cockpit of the plane. He made sure to take us on a safe flight. The biggest problem with the museum and with this plane was getting my son to move onto the next part of the tour. He could have spent all day on the plane. The great news is that once your tour is over, you can walk around and rediscover your favourite things. The only way we could convince my son to move on was to promise we’d come back to it.
My son found love at first flight when he saw this plane. He was so excited to find something his size that matched some of the big ones to drive around. It was another great feature that was hard to get him to move on from! I’m pretty sure if we return, that will be the first place he goes to. His squeals of delight were worth the entire trip there.
Our next stop allowed us to try flying planes on our own. All three of us tried it out. A word of advice – if you ever see us flying your plane, please don’t trust us. None of us could land, and in my opinion, that’s the most important part. I think it’ll take a lot of practice (and once again, if my son has anything to say about it, we could sit there for hours), but we may figure it out eventually.
Once again, our tour guide was amazing. She told us so many amazing things and she answered all of our questions. We learned so much from her and had so much fun touring the museum with her.
We got to explore one more plane, and once again, my son had us sitting in the only two passenger seats while he took us for the ride of our lives. He landed us safely, and then we continued our tour.
After we finished the tour, we stopped at the gift shop. We won’t be able to visit the gift shop every time we come, but it was a nice treat for the end of our first visit. My son got a plane of his very own to take home and practiced saying “aviation museum” his entire walk to school so he could tell his teacher all about it. We can’t wait for our next visit, and I’m considering getting a membership for myself because I think we’ll be seeing a lot of these planes over the year. If you have a plane-loving kiddo, this may be the place for you. I’m considering it a hidden gem in Saskatoon, and I’m so glad we finally went to visit.
Discovering the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum
Location: 5 Hangar Road, Saskatoon – from Wheaten Avenue off of 45th Street West.
Hours: Summer hours – 7 Days a Week 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $10/adult, $5 children 6-12, 5 and under are free
Website: saskaviation.ca/
