The #1 TripAdvisor recommendation of things to do in Sault Ste. Marie is the Bushpilot Museum. I love this place, although it has changed with more emphasis on fighting fires, which is no doubt a huge issue today.
The museum as we saw it 12 years ago, focused on individuals exploring Canada after the invention of flight. Up until then, exploration was done by canoe. That requires a level of toughness I can barely comprehend, especially in winter. When flight entered the picture, things may have gotten physically easier, but brought increased requirements of navigation and survival. Like the wild west, it took a certain breed to want to tackle immense challenges. No one is coming to get you should something go wrong.
At the entrance is a camp set up to resemble maybe a 1940’s to 1950’s fire fighting campsite. Just a basic camp was a load to carry in a small plane, and this was a well-equipped camp with a big canvas tent, axes, saws, etc. Most would have gone to hunt, fish and explore. Imagine the game in those days!
Today the focus is on fire-fighting, which has its own requirements for bravery, flying and fire-fighting skills. A good movie puts you right in the middle of the fight with all the modern communication and fire-fighting planes. Just the skills required to scoop up water from a lake, and then dump it on just the right spot, and you have to be accurate. They call it precision bombing.
The museum has many more planes than were there 12 years ago. In those days it was run more like a club. Volunteers who loved flying, history and the exploration of Canada, worked on and restored all the planes. They bragged that every one of them flies, and they were anxious to show you around. I was disappointed not to see any of those men today, but it is still the #1 thing to do in Sault Ste. Marie. You will know where it is when you drive down the street and look up to see what looks like an old plane about to land in the street.
