Tag Archives: Kelowna

The KF Centre of Excellence

Usually, when I go somewhere new, I have done some research on what aviation related things might be in the area should there happen to be any spare time to squeeze something in. I had actually been checking out the layout of the airport at Kelowna before our trip since I knew that Kelowna Flightcraft had their operations and there was an Alaska Airlines paint facility. I figured it would be worth a drive by if time allowed.

As it turned out, our planned hike got scrubbed because the snow made access to the trail, we intended to try impossible for our not off-road optimized car. We were looking for something else to do and I asked Nancy is a quick drive by at the airport would be possible. With nothing else in mind, so generously acquiesced. We drove up the west side of the airport and passed a pair of Convairs up a side road with a sign saying Open to the Public.

I had no idea what this could be but, when we came back, we drove up to take a look. Much to my surprise (and Nancy’s bemusement that I didn’t already know), we were at the KF Centre of Excellence. This is a new museum that the owner(?) of Kelowna Flightcraft has established. The building itself is a lovely structure. It is loosely designed to resemble the layout of a plane with a central fuselage element and two wings which are hangars. The external styling is very nice, and the interior is tastefully finished with lots of wood. We paid to have a look around with the front desk being a converted nacelle. (Much of the furnishing is aviation components that have been repurposed. An office desk from a tailplane, nacelles that have been modified and the café seating is all old business class seats.

The center section of the museum has a lot of exhibits about flying including engines, fuselage components and even an old simulator. It is quite informative and educational. We enjoyed looking around. Then it was to the hangars. One has a Second World War vintage to it. The largest item was a DC-3 but it was probably the least exciting. Alongside it was a Mosquito that had only recently been flown in. Beside that is a Hawker Tempest which is in an advanced state of restoration to flightworthy condition. It may well be the only Tempest I have seen. I’m not sure if I have ever seen one before.

Across to the other side and things are still quite empty. Clearly there are plans to add more aircraft in due course. A Staggerwing and a few floatplanes are in place but the two-seat F-104 Starfighter is definitely the most exotic. It was airworthy until relatively recently. Sadly, it is rather tight to the wall which made getting shots from different angles tricky. Still cool to see it though.

I had no idea about the museum. I had heard something about the Mosquito flying out of Vancouver to a new owner but hadn’t really pieced together what was going on so didn’t realize it was Kelowna. The whole thing was quite a surprise. Finding such a collection and in such a lovely building was a shock. Oh yes, parked out front were two Convairs. One was the old Honeywell testbed that I have shot prior to its retirement and the other is a retired water bomber. How cool. (As an aside, the Honeywell 757 testbed was just down the road undergoing some maintenance work.)

Layers of Hills South of Kelowna

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As we were walking around the winery in Kelowna, we had a lovely view to the south across the lake and to the hills beyond. The weather was quite clear but there was same haze in the air. This did a nice job of distinguishing between the hills based on their distance with the farthest hills getting obscured the most. With the warm winter light on this haze, it made for a very attractive view of the terrain in the distance, and I grabbed a longer lens for a quick shot.

Mission Hills Winery

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During our visit to Kelowna, we stopped off at a winery in the city that produces wine we have had before and that we wanted to get some more from. It is called Mission Hills and is on the hillside overlooking the lake. It isn’t a long drive from the center of the city, and you approach it through a residential area. After passing through the main gate, it all still looks rather anonymous.

However, walk from the parking lot and things open up considerably. The architecture is styled to resemble an Italian villa. There are some colonnaded areas, a large chapel type building, the main building in which the wine tastings and sales are handled and a carillon. Being up on the hill, this all has a lovely view down to the water with some vines on the slopes below.

It was a rather overcast day so not ideal for photographing it, but I had the phone with me, so I was not going to let the visit go unrecorded. There were a few other people wandering the grounds, but I managed – on the whole – to exclude them from the shots. Getting the whole carillon in the shot from close up required a little contortion to get the phone on the ground and looking at the right angle. I think it worked out okay.

The location is very nice, and the wine is even better. If you are in Kelowna, I do recommend a visit.

Kelowna Lakefront

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We spent our Thanksgiving weekend in Kelowna BC. It was not a long stay there, but it was a nice chance to visit somewhere new. The trip involves a five-hour drive, so we didn’t arrive until mod afternoon. The weather was lovely on the drive across so, when we arrived, we decided to take advantage of the sun to have a walk along the lake.

There are many homes and hotels along the water, and they have created parks and waterways around these developments. It might have been sunny, but it definitely wasn’t warm, so we were wrapped up well to counter the cool air coming off the lake. Plenty of people were out walking their dogs or riding their bikes so the whole place felt pretty alive considering this was a Thursday afternoon at the end of November. These are some of the shots I got while we explored.