Edmundston needs a home for it's Lancaster

[Brian Gough]

Here is the link to an update on the restoration of Lancaster KB882 at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario

https://driving.ca/auto-news/local-c...r-force-museum

Brian

[Marc Montgomery]

Well very good news about KB882, as in an earlier post, the now unreliable and 'awakened' CBC had falsely written that this was a Dambuster Lanc.

I would so love to see one of the few being restored in Canada actually make it beyond static display. The Halifax in Trenton (which I also wrote about long ago) can never fly again, because many parts were impossible to find and had to be fabricated to look right but were not airworthy suitable.

One of my father's buddies was a Lanc pilot, but at the time, although I was somewhat aware of the significance, I never really asked about his experience (damn fool) and now he's gone of course.

He did mention that after one sortie, he was either lost or short of fuel and had to land on handy strip. but the strip was too short for the plane to take off again, so it was dismantled for parts!
(perhaps there was much more to this story but I never pushed him for details (damn fool)

I always find it incredible that the CO of the Dambusters in charge of and responsible for all those men and planes and planning was a mere 25 yr old , also known as fearless.

Don't know what you were like in your 20's but I would say personally I was as much 'rear orifice' as anything else.

One thing that surprises me about the Lanc and others, is that it is such a big plane but the cockpit is really cramped and it seems not really bigger than the cockpit of a single engine plane like a cessna.

One thing that concerns me however is the age of people interested and those restoring or preserving these artifacts. Not a lot of younger types from what I can see.

There's a very small museum at Ste Anne de Bellevue just west of Montreal, and although a very good effort with some interesting stuff, it also is all volunteer and generally older guys.

((I'm surprised the following links still work, given that Radio-Canada/CBC with Liberal agreement, killed off the International Service-))

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2014/04/30/...vivor-of-wwii/

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/07/08/...s-war-veteran/

[Ed Storey]

Unfortunately a myopic view of history were SWW artifacts are more respected then current material means that the mistakes made with the Lancaster bombers are still being made today. Chinook 205 '2 for Hooking' was a combat aircraft that crashed on 16 May, 2011 while carrying Canadian soldiers and a journalist in a remote part of southern Afghanistan. Luckily no-one was killed but four were hurt, one seriously and everyone was evacuated to the base at Sperwan Ghar. The aircraft was recovered and flown back to Kandahar by the United States Marine Corps where the fuselage was then shipped back to CFB Petawawa, the nose-art was removed, and the fuselage now sits neglected in Borden. If this were a SWW aircraft it would long ago have been placed in storage for eventual restoration.

DSCF0112 copy.jpg ch147212 copy.jpg IMG_3789 copy.jpg

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

A nice video on Youtube from Kevin Windsor from the National Air Force Museum of Canada from April 2023 regarding KB882 and the Museum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cizLAGF2WOA

regards
Darrell

[Brian Gough]

Retired Second World War bomber moved to new home

Will be restored at Base 31 in Picton, Ont., and then put on display

Link to full article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...home-1.7143474

Excerpt:

"A retired bomber aircraft from the Second World War has a new temporary home at a museum in Prince Edward County. The National Air Force Museum of Canada (NAFMC) in Trenton, Ont., transported the Lancaster KB 882 this week. The journey took the aircraft about 50 kilometres south from the museum to a hangar at Base 31, a former air training base in Picton, Ont.
Base 31 is currently home to a concert venue and several artists' studios and galleries, and will soon house a new museum celebrating Canadian military artifacts.

According to museum officials, the plan is to restore the aircraft as much as possible before they hold an unveiling ceremony at Base 31 in June. The restoration work will then continue until the Base 31 museum officially opens to the public, which is expected to take place some time in 2025. The plan is for the museum at Base 31 to hold the aircraft for up to five years while the National Air Force Museum undergoes renovation. It will then be returned to the NAFMC's permanent collection."


Brian

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

The Lancaster is now on public display and certainly looks great from a cosmetic perspective.

Peter


Picton Lanc.jpg

[Ed Storey]

The cosmetic restoration certainly does look good.