For the last few years the North Shore ARC has been invited to participate in the Aquino Tank Weekend put on by the Ontario Regiment Museum.  This is a fun event for all involved, we make lots of POTA contacts, and many people stop by to check out what Amateur Radio is all about.  Of course, it gets really exciting when a tank battle is going on a few hundred meters away from our location and there is a lot of QRM!

POTA Info – before we did this special event for the first time we were able to get Airmen’s Park assigned as park VE-5535.  Airmen’s Park is a historical site as during WWII this was one of the sites used to train pilots for combat in Europe.

Since you are here, why not meander over to the Ontario Regiment Museum site as well by clicking here.

Click here for pics of our prep and the actual Aquino Tank Weekend.

Below are some videos from the weekend.  This first one is an overview of our setup and operations.

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts!

  • the Ontario Regiment Museum has the largest collection of operational military vehicles in North America
  • they have over 100 vehicles in their collection
  • the museum has two full-time staff and over 140 volunteers
  • these volunteers act as guides, drivers, maintainers and restorers of the vehicle collection
  • the airport, where the museum is located, opened in June 1941 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as No. 20 Elementary Flying Training School RCAF Station Oshawa
  • potential military pilots from Commonwealth and Occupied countries were trained on this field
  • a portion of the museum land has been designated as a Heritage Conservation District encompassing the former Canteen and Stores Buildings, the No. 10 Building, and Airmen’s Park
  • Aquino Weekend is a three-day world-class event highlighting the military vehicles in themed  battle demonstrations
  • common themes are “WW2 – Western Front”, “WW2 – Eastern Front”, “Gulf War”, and “Vietnam”
  • each simulated battle has vehicles, re-enactors, firepower and pyrotechnics
  • this event draws visitors and participants from around the globe
  • World of Tanks, a popular software game, sponsor this event and are often present

For more information please visit the links above or email Laird VE3LKS.

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