Michael Potter

Born in London, England, in 1944, Mike’s family immigrated to Canada when he was seven, eventually settling in Victoria, British Columbia. Following high school, he attended Royal Military College, where he earned a B.Sc. in physics; an M.Sc. from the University of British Columbia followed in 1967. After a three-year stint in the Navy at DND Headquarters with the Defence Research Board conducting operations research, Mike began his career in business with Quasar Systems in 1972, an Ottawa-based a custom-built software provider.

Within three years, Mike had purchased the firm, and as CEO he helped push it to develop its own software, including Quiz, PowerHouse, and PowerPlay. The company was later re-named Cognos, and through Mike’s knowledge and leadership, it grew to become one of the largest high-tech firms in Canada. Mike stepped down as CEO in 1995.

Despite joining the Navy after RMC, Mike has had a lifelong passion for aviation. He earned his pilot’s license flying gliders in 1970 and was subsequently qualified on various light aircraft, multi-engine, turbo prop aircraft, and business jets, earning an instrument and airline transport ratings along the way.

Mike had begun thinking about historic aircraft and the history of Canadian aviation. He purchased a Supermarine Spitfire Mk XVI in 2000 and had it repainted to honour 421 Squadron, and Canadian pilot William Harper. The following summer, Mike and a group of volunteers unveiled the aircraft to air force veterans and their families at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. The Spitfire’s emotional reception confirmed the power that vintage aircraft have to build connections between audiences and living history.

Following display of the Spitfire, Mike resolved to acquire, operate, and display historic aircrafts that were meaningful to the Canadian public. The creation of an independent registered charity, Vintage Wings of Canada, became part of that plan and the Spitfire was soon joined by a group of iconic warbirds, all of them of particular significance to Canadian aviation history: the Hawker Hurricane, North American P-51 Mustang, Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk, Goodyear Corsair, Westland Lysander, Fairey Swordfish, and Canadian Sabre. Military training aircraft, including the Harvard, Cornell, Tiger Moth, DHC-1 Chipmunk, and the Fleet Finch and Stearman, as well as civilian classics such as a Beech Staggerwing, Waco Taperwing, de Havilland Foxmoth, and DHC-2 Beaver helped to round out the broader Michael U. Potter Collection. Mike has qualified to fly every one of these aircraft except the Sabre.

Each of plane was either Canadian-designed or built- or flown-in Canada or overseas by Canadians. And, in keeping with this Canadian focus, many were painted to honour specific aviators. The Sabre, Hawk One, for example, was dedicated to Fern Villeneuve (CAHF, 2006), who led the RCAF aerobatic demonstration team the Golden Hawks (CAHF, 2017). The Mustang carries the markings of 442 Caribou Squadron and is dedicated to the memory of the Ottawa area brothers Larry and Rocky Robillard, while the Hurricane Mk XII honours William Lindstone “Willie” McKnight; the Corsair recognizes Robert Hampton Gray, VC (CAHF, 1974), and the Kittyhawk was dedicated to James Francis “Stocky” Edwards (CAHF, 2013).

This collection comprised the heart of Mike’s vision to use historic aircraft to engage and educate the public about Canada’s aviation heritage. He provided Vintage Wings with the aircraft, equipment, and state-of-the-art hangar and maintenance facilities in Gatineau, Quebec, needed to carry out its ambitious, wide-ranging programming.

The arrival of Mike’s aircraft at open-houses and aerial displays, often in the service of commemoration, first around the Ottawa region, and then across the country, has impressed countless spectators. The 2024 ‘Victory Flight’ – which included Mike’s Spitfire, Hurricane, and Mustang – performed in honour of the RCAF’s centenary at CFB Bagotville, CFB Trenton, and over Ottawa on Canada Day and on Battle of Britain Day, among other appearances. Hawk One likewise performed across Canada, in addition to taking part in its fair share of special displays; in 2009 it joined an RCAF CF-18 and the replica of the AEA Silver Dart to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Canadian flight. The Red Arrows, La Patrouille de France, and the Commemorative Air Force, as well as Hamilton’s Canadian Warplane Heritage Foundation (CAHF, 2008), have all flown alongside aircraft from the collection. As a regular participant in airshows in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes, in 2017 Mike was instrumental in permanently establishing an airshow presence in the National Capital Region with the popular Aero Gatineau airshow at Gatineau Executive Airport.

These appearances have helped to set Vintage Wings and its related organizations apart. Success can also be traced to the fact that in addition to regular air show attendance and many commemorative fly-bys, Vintage Wings annually hosts ground school classes under the banner ‘Warbird University’, an outreach program which sees pilots teaching the ins-and-outs of specific aircraft. Yellow Wings, in partnership with the Air Cadets, uses the collection’s British Commonwealth Air Training Plan aircraft to provide youth-specific STEM programming. The Fleet Finch, Stearman, Tiger Moth, Harvard, and Cornell, all carry (or carried) the names of Canadian aviators: Hartland “Hart” Finley, Harray Hannah, William Duncan “Bill” McRae, John Gillespie Magee, and Archie Pennie respectively.

To provide in-house restoration and maintenance support for his collection, Mike also founded in 2008 VinTech Aero. Its technicians, engineers, and other staff are dedicated to keeping his vintage aircraft flying and, under Mike’s direction, this team has developed expertise that has earned their work international recognition. Indeed, VinTech has received numerous prestigious awards, including Gold Wrench and Silver and Gold Lindy Awards from the Experimental Aircraft Associa-tion. VinTech’s commitment and skills are one of the reasons Mike is able to maintain and display not just famous aircraft, like the Spitfire, but equally important, if less well-known types, such as the Swordfish and Lysander.

Mike began stepping back from the direct ownership and operation of his aircraft collection a few years ago and he takes great satisfaction in seeing the organizations he created to support his passion for aviation history continue to flourish. The independent registered charity Vintage Wings of Canada has continued to expand its public outreach. Its activities now include educational programs and events, as well as the operation of its own growing fleet of airworthy vintage military training aircraft, giving the public the opportunity to experience flight as it was generations ago. Many of the most iconic aircraft from Mike’s collection, now under new private ownership or as part of the Vintage Wings fleet, continue to be displayed and flown, ensuring that they remain accessible well into the future. Under fully independent volunteer management, Aero Gatineau has grown year by year to become one of the most successful annual airshows in Canada. And VinTech Aero has been transformed into a sustainable commercial enterprise. By expanding its team of specialists in vintage aircraft maintenance and restoration, the company has broadened its focus from supporting a single private collection to serving a growing community of owners and operators of historically significant aircraft across Ontario, Quebec, and beyond.

Because of this, Mike’s work and contributions to the Ottawa region and preservation of Canada’s aviation heritage have been well-recognized. In 2009, the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (CAHF, 1993) presented Mike with its President’s award. Two years later, he was made Honorary Colonel of 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, the Snowbirds (CAHF, 1994), and in 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal, as nominated by the Air Force Association of Canada. Carleton University awarded Mike an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2013, and in 2016 the Ottawa Business Journal-Ottawa Chamber of Commerce presented him its Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, Mike was made a member of the Order of Canada.

Mike Potter’s unwavering commitment to sharing his collection to help educate Canadians about the achievements of our country’s aviators, and to maintaining and operating the aircraft they flew, stands as a remarkable example in the preservation and celebration of Canadas aviation history.