KF Aerospace’s Centre for Excellence officially opened Aug. 31 and the public can now see the rare and exotic aircraft that make up its initial collection. Sketched out on the back of a napkin eight years ago by KF Aerospace founder Barry Lapointe, the 60,000 wood structure is in the shape of an airplane with the wings holding the aircraft exhibit space and the fuselage holding an interactive display telling the story of the aviation history of the Okanagan Valley.
On display at the centre is a freshly-restored Hawker Tempest and the recently-acquired De Havilland Mosquito that was expensively restored in 2012 in Victoria. There is also the DC-3 that Lapointe and friends flew around the world to promote Expo 86 and a Convair 580 used by Honeywell to develop some of the most important avionics technology of the 20th Century.