Mount Hope's new gateway sign will include a military training airplane

After years of wanting its own distinctive gateway, Mount Hope is getting a fitting one a military airplane.

The city is installing a Beechcraft RCAF CT 134 Musketeer military training aircraft at Homestead Drive and Upper James Street to welcome people to the village.

Mount Hope is home to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, which was a Second World War training facility. So an airplane is "the perfect gateway feature," said Brenda Johnson, Ward 11 councillor.

"It's long overdue."

The museum donated the plane, which was built in 1971. Musketeers flew for 21 years, and about 5,000 Canadian military pilots trained in them, the city said in a media release.

They were in service until late 1981, when 24 C23 Sundowners replaced them.

The city wants the public to vote on three design concepts that incorporate the plane.

People can do that at an open house on July 26 from 4 to 7 p.m. at 447 Wing at 3210 Homestead Dr.