The Canada Aviation and Space Museum, east of the city near the Rockcliffe Airfield, has one of the finest collections of historic aircraft in North America — over 130 aircraft, many of them one-of-a-kind survivors. The hangar is vast and the aircraft range from a Sopwith Camel from the First World War to a prototype Avro CF-105 Arrow (the famously cancelled Canadian supersonic interceptor), from de Havilland bush planes to a Concorde.
The collection is strong on Canadian aviation history, which is richer than most people realise: Canada's bush flying tradition, the development of the de Havilland Beaver and Otter, the wartime contribution of the RCAF, and the tragic cancellation of the Arrow in 1959 — a decision that scattered Canada's aerospace engineering talent to NASA and other US programmes. The museum is about 15 minutes from downtown by car or bike; the riverside cycle path passes nearby. Allow at least two hours.