Edmundston needs a home for it's Lancaster

[Brian Gough]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...ston-1.4301968

'National treasure': Edmundston gives up its Lancaster bomber


After 50 years by the road in northwestern New Brunswick, plane will be dismantled and sent to Ontario museum

By Elizabeth Fraser, CBC News Posted: Sep 23, 2017 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Sep 23, 2017 8:00 AM AT


This Lancaster bomber was purchased by the City of Edmundston in 1964, but it is in need of restoration, which the city can't afford. (Edmundston society for the Preservation of the Lancaster/Facebook)

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Edmundston has bid farewell to its very own Lancaster bomber, one of the last survivors of a celebrated Second World War fleet and a landmark in the area for more than 50 years.

Residents gathered Wednesday for a small ceremony to commemorate the Lancaster KB 882 before the start of the aircraft's long journey to Trenton, Ont., where it will be featured at the National Air Force Museum of Canada.

"It's a mixed feeling, obviously," Edmundston Mayor Cyrille Simard said during the ceremony. "This plane has been here more than 50 years.
"It's part of our community, it's part of our history."

• Edmundston's Lancaster bomber getting new home in Trenton, Ont.
• Rare Lancaster bomber grounded in New Brunswick after Edmonton restoration plans fall flat

The bomber, which has been sitting still on the grass near the Trans-Canada Highway for decades, was flown on 12 operational missions during the Second World War.

'It's a new beginning for future generations.'- Cyrille Simard

It then served in area reconnaissance for 15 years, providing service to the Royal Canadian Air Force for mapping, charting and photographic work in the Arctic, said Kevin Windsor, the curator of the air force museum.
The City of Edmundston bought the plane in 1964 for $1,600.
Over the years, Simard said, people from around the world have come to see it.
But after being outside for so long, the Lancaster bomber was in desperate need of restoration work, which the city couldn't afford to do.

Too costly to keep

For many years, volunteers looked for help to get the plane restored and preserved and worked with government to find ways to raise the millions of dollars needed.
Preservation was just too costly, however.
"If you want to do something right, you need some resources," said Simard. "If you want to preserve it you have to do something."

Initially, the Alberta Aviation Museum submitted the winning bid for the plane, but later backed out after realizing the plane was too expensive to take on. The Trenton museum finished second in the initial bidding and was still interested.
Simard said the City of Edmundston eventually gave the bomber to the Ontario museum, and he's looking forward to residents from the area visiting the plane in its new home.
"It's part of us, so there's a bit of sadness to see it going away, but at the same time we feel satisfied of the fact that … this national treasure has to be preserved."

Prior to the long journey to Ontario, technicians will carefully dismantle the hundreds of pieces that are part of the plane, a process that could take three or four weeks. Bits and pieces of the plane could start arriving in Trenton as early as next week.
Some of the pieces, such as engines, propellers and different parts of the wings, will be crated and taken to the museum on a truck. Technicians are still trying to figure out how to transport larger pieces such as the fuselage.
"These aircraft were built during the war era, so it's been about 70 or 80 years since we've really had a lot of experience with the actual assembly," Capt. Jamie Boudreau, the on-site officer in charge of the Lancaster recovery project.
"It's a step-by-step process, but there will be snags and issues along the way that we'll overcome to get the aircraft back safely."

History in the making

It could take up to seven years to restore, at a cost of about $25,000 a year.
"It's going to add to our displays at the National Air Force Museum of Canada," Windsor said.


Technicians begin dismantling the aircraft this week for the trip to Trenton, where it will eventually be seen at the National Air Force Museum of Canada. (Elizabeth Fraser/CBC News)

The plane will also be joining a fully restored Halifax bomber, which served two different missions in 1945 above Germany at the same time as the Lancaster.
Windsor said the National Air Force Museum will be the only museum in the world to feature both restored airplanes to tell the history of war and post-war years.
Two Lancaster planes are still flying today, in Hamilton, Ont., and the U.K. More than 7,377 Lancasters were built, including 430 in Canada, the museum website says.
"At the end of the day I feel like this is a new beginning for this plane," Simard said.
"It's a new beginning for future generations."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Yeo.NT]

Here is a link to the short video that was shared on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nafmcanada/...9060965795560/

[Barry Churcher]

At 9:00 am on Oct. 04 two tractor trailers arrived at the National Air Force Museum with Lancaster KB882.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

News update:

https://globalnews.ca/news/3837385/l...um-in-trenton/

After decades of outdoor display, it was purchased recently by the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, where it will be restored to original, but non-flying condition. Mike Joly is in charge of restoration work at the museum.

“We surveyed the aircraft and found out it’s in better shape than we thought it was, even with sitting there since 1964,” said Joly. “The outside of it is in excellent shape, compared to some of the aircraft we rebuilt here.”

[Lang]

Here is a short Canadian clip of Bristol radial engine Lancasters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2SWXg9e_0s

[Hanno Spoelstra]

http://www.warbirdsnews.com/aviation...fely-home.html

“It wasn’t built to dismantle,” he added, saying that the team is preserving whatever they can, and aiming to dismantle as little as possible to make the restorers’ work easier. He also noted that the aircraft was simply landed and put in place; there was even still oil in the engines. “It was just like tar!” he said.

[Brian Gough]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...ject-1.4713834

Check out the link as the pictures didn't reproduce from the article below.

"Fastidious museum crew gets Lancaster bomber ready for next phase of curious life
Lancaster KB 882, formerly of Edmundston, is being restored as a reconnaissance aircraft

Alyssa Gould · CBC News · Posted: Jun 20, 2018 8:16 PM AT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The Lancaster KB 882 was shipped by flatbed truck in pieces to the National Air Force Museum of Canada, which hopes to have it ready for display by the 100th anniversary of the air force in 2024. (Submitted by Brad Denoon)
Not long before the Lancaster KB 882 settled down in Edmundston for half a century, the plane was keeping its Cold War eyes and ears on Russian fishermen, real or pretending, off the East Coast of North America.

As the Cuban missile crisis ended in October 1962, the Lancaster helped to make sure the Soviet Union did what it promised and nothing it shouldn't.

Although the plane started out as a bomber near the end of the Second World War, it spent its last years in reconnaissance — the phase that a painstaking restoration of KB 882 aims to evoke.

"It flew a number of missions taking photographs and listening in to Russian ice stations near the North Pole," said Chris Colton, executive director of the National Air Force Museum, which acquired the plane last year.

"And it was involved in the Cuban missile crisis, flying up and down the East Coast of Canada, listening in to the various Russian trawlers that were out there."


The Lancaster KB 882 is getting a meticulous restoration by experienced volunteers and others. (Submitted by Brad Denoon)
In Trenton, Ont., a restoration crew is reassembling and restoring the plane, hoping it will be ready for display when the Canadian air force celebrates its centennial in 2024.

Volunteers were thrilled to get their hands on the plane, one of 17 left in the world.

'National treasure': Edmundston gives up its Lancaster bomber
Edmundston's Lancaster bomber getting new home in Trenton, Ont.
The KB 882 arrived in Ontario last year from Edmundston, transported in pieces on flatbed trucks.

"The guys are really happy to be working on it," said Mike Joly, head of restoration at the museum. "They've been waiting ever since we found out we might be getting it."


Historian Daniel Little inside the cockpit of the Lancaster KB 882 in Edmunston. (Submitted by Daniel Little)
Edmundston bought the Lancaster in the mid-1960s and kept it by the side of the highway, where it became a landmark.

Eventually, however, the city had to find a new home for the plane, which had deteriorated in the elements and from visits by vandals.

​Joly and his 25 volunteers work on the plane from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

Some of the volunteers have been doing restoration work for more than 20 years. A few worked on restoring the Halifax bomber that arrived at the museum in 1996.


A Halifax bomber will share exhibit room with the Lancaster bomber the museum acquired from Edmundston. (Submitted by Karl Kjarsgaard)
When word spread that the Lancaster, too, was on its way to Trenton, the museum was inundated with offers of help, said Colton.

Many of the old Lancasters have been restored as bombers, not reconnaissance planes, so the Trenton project is different, he said.

The restoration assembly line is elaborate.

Crews are removing and replacing corroded areas, making sure the aircraft will be in pristine condition.

The plane will taken in pieces to a special compound for holding until a museum extension, the Lancaster's new home, is ready.

​

What's left of the interior of the Lancaster KB 882. (Submitted by Brad Denoon)
Hide captionToggle Fullscreen1 of 2At the beginning of image galleryShow next image (2 of 2)
Joly and the restoration team are focusing on the exterior of the aircraft first, and the project is ahead of schedule.

Restoring the interior could take up to five years, depending on the availability of consoles, radios, cameras and other pieces, said Colton.

Some pieces had been stolen and little is left of the interior.

"It was pretty well stripped and decimated," Colton said.

When the work is done, the Royal Canadian Air Force Museum will be the only one in the world with both a Lancaster and a Halifax bomber fully restored and on display, Colton said.

And oddly enough — and to Colton's amazement — KB 882 and the Halifax bomber have crossed paths before.

On the night of May 30, 1945, the Halifax bomber took off from the Tarrant Rushton airfield in southwest England for a mission over Germany.

The same night, the Lancaster bomber departed from its home base in England on one of its 12 missions of the war, Colton said.

"What are the odds that we would have two aircraft on display that actually flew in the skies over England on their way to their targets on the exact same night?" "

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alyssa Gould

Reporter

Alyssa Gould is a reporter with CBC New Brunswick based in Fredericton.

Brian

[Hanno Spoelstra]

More news on another Lancaster, FM100:

https://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/...aster-bombers/

[David Dunlop]

It would be nice to see a second one flying in Canada. At the very least, it splits the demands on the aircraft between two planes, so less wear and tear on either individually.

I think there is another in Nanton, Alberta being restored to full ground operation capability and last I heard they were planning restoration work on critical pints to be airworthy where possible...just in case.

David

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

More news on another Lancaster, FM100:

https://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/...aster-bombers/

I know that Lanc well. When it was on its plinth in Toronto you could just touch the tail wheel. In the same park was a 25 pdr, an M4A3E8 Sherman and a 155 mm gun. At the edge of the park along the Toronto waterfront was HMCS Haida. All long gone now. Such a display of military might was just not on for 'progressive' Toronto.

One story I can share: in the mid 1980's, when it was suffering from neglect, a local Air Cadet squadron was given permission to clean it up. On the appointed day the smartly turned out cadets scrambled up the ladders that had been brought and a city worker unlocked the padlock on the rear door. Peeking inside, the floor was covered with drug needles and used condoms. Seems somebody and their friends had found a way in and it had become their party place. The city worker replaced the padlock and the disappointed cadets went home.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Just read it’s a actually FM104, and it was in its pedestal from 1966 to 1999.

Interestingly, I read this news on an Australian site suggesting it could go to Australia? An Australian group had also shown interest in the Lancaster at the top of this thread. So watch you six, Canadians! ;-)

[Russ Gregg]

I spoke to one of the gentlemen working on the restoration of Toronto Lancaster when it was on display at Downsview about a decade ago. They had a group out west with a parts fuselage that was sending them panels and spars that were deteriorated beyond repair. The hole where it was mounted on the plinth has just been flame cut out of the bottom and was rather a mess.
Of the engines he said a couple of them were animal hotels and rusted solid but one was like new inside and could have been made to run with little effort.
During the whole conversation my wife was in plain view over his shoulder making it clear with sign language (finger drawn across throat) that I wasn't getting involved in restoring a Lancaster.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Russ Gregg

During the whole conversation my wife was in plain view over his shoulder making it clear with sign language (finger drawn across throat) that I wasn't getting involved in restoring a Lancaster.

I've got the exact same wife except her "I'm going to kill you if you even think about it" gestures go well beyond Lancasters to every sort of truck or new purchase.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

News release by the BCAM:

NEWS RELEASE July 24, 2018

The Avro Lancaster is Moving to Victoria!


The British Columbia Aviation Museum is delighted to announce today that it is the successful bidder to receive an Avro Lancaster bomber from the City of Toronto.

“The Avro Lancaster is an iconic aircraft with a distinguished record in war, where it was a major contributor to the Strategic Bombing Offensive in World War II, and in peace, where it served for many years on both coasts in reconnaissance and search and rescue missions,” said John Lewis, President of the BC Aviation Museum.

Comox was the west coast base for Lancasters through the 1950s and 60s.

This Lancaster, FM104, which was built in Toronto in 1944, served for many years on the east coast up to its retirement from service in 1966. It was then displayed on a plinth on the Toronto lakeshore for more than thirty years. It was subsequently removed and has been partially restored, but has been disassembled and in storage away from public view for several years.

The Lancaster will be moved to the BC Aviation Museum in North Saanich near Victoria International Airport over the next few months, and restoration will start immediately. The long-term goal of the museum is to restore the aircraft to flying condition in partnership with Victoria Air Maintenance, the internationally known firm of vintage aircraft restorers which is located near the museum.

“I am pleased that many local aircraft manufacturing specialists and vintage aircraft enthusiasts have pledged their time and knowledge to volunteer on this project,” Lewis said.

“Many people at the BC Aviation Museum and the Victoria aviation community have worked hard to make today’s announcement possible,” said Lewis. “We are now looking forward to the day when Lancaster FM104 goes on display at our museum.”


For more information, contact:

John Lewis, President BCAM

250-589-2602

[Brian Gough]

http://warbirdsnews.com/uncategorize...on-museum.html

Avro Lancaster FM104 Heading West to British Columbia Aviation Museum


We just received word that the Toronto City Council has announced their decision regarding the fate of Avro Lancaster B Mk.10 FM104. The City voted to transfer the aircraft to the British Columbia Aviation Museum near Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. This aircraft was on display atop a waterfront pedestal beside Lake Ontario in Toronto for several decades until its rescue by the sadly moribund Canadian Air & Space Museum in 1999. CASM had been making great strides with the Lancaster’s restoration until they were forcibly evicted in 2012, alongside a number of other business, because someone got the bright idea to bulldoze the historic deHavilland factory hangars they called home to build yet another skating rink complex. Without a home, nor the prospect of finding another within their budget, CASM was essentially shut down, and their exhibits shoved into storage wherever it was available. The City of Toronto still owned the Lancaster, and given that the aircraft was in disassembled storage outdoors, a decision had to come soon regarding its future. In selecting the British Columbia Aviation Museum, the City Council have definitely found a place where the Lancaster will be loved and well cared for. What will be a sad loss for many in Toronto, especially those who poured so much love and care into FM104, will be to the benefit of those out west, where Lancaster served faithfully, and is currently unrepresented. The care of the airframe and her history is what’s important now, and hopefully FM104’s future is a lot brighter. For a few more details, here is the press release which the British Columbia Aviation Museum released earlier this evening.

The British Columbia Aviation Museum is delighted to announce today that it is the successful bidder to receive an Avro Lancaster bomber from the City of Toronto.

“The Avro Lancaster is an iconic aircraft with a distinguished record in war, where it was a major contributor to the Strategic Bombing Offensive in World War II, and in peace, where it served for many years on both coasts in reconnaissance and search and rescue missions,” said John Lewis, President of the BC Aviation Museum.

Comox was the west coast base for Lancasters through the 1950s and 60s.

This Lancaster, FM104, which was built in Toronto in 1944, served for many years on the east coast up to its retirement from service in 1966. It was then displayed on a plinth on the Toronto lakeshore for more than thirty years. It was subsequently removed and has been partially restored, but has been disassembled and in storage away from public view for several years.

The Lancaster will be moved to the BC Aviation Museum in North Saanich near Victoria International Airport over the next few months, and restoration will start immediately. The long-term goal of the museum is to restore the aircraft to flying condition in partnership with Victoria Air Maintenance, the internationally known firm of vintage aircraft restorers which is located near the museum.

“I am pleased that many local aircraft manufacturing specialists and vintage aircraft enthusiasts have pledged their time and knowledge to volunteer on this project,” Lewis said.

“Many people at the BC Aviation Museum and the Victoria aviation community have worked hard to make today’s announcement possible,” said Lewis. “We are now looking forward to the day when Lancaster FM104 goes on display at our museum.”

Brian

[Hanno Spoelstra]

“Victoria group sets lofty goal: Making Lancaster bomber airworthy again”

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/m...gain-1.4250485

[Ed Storey]

It is a loft goal. Let's hope they have success as so many of these major projects seem to wither on the vine in Canada. It seems the organization behind this rebuild has experience in this type of work, so that is a good start.

Fingers crossed.

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for the update, Hanno. That is very good news!

David

[maple_leaf_eh]

I could not help but remember the lofty dreams of rebuilding a Spitfire in Comox. The project fell on hard times (or hard realities) and passed to Michael Potter's Vintage Wings in Gatineau, Quebec.

The project became a corporation, with a business plan, management, budgets and paid specialists. The Spitfire flew in 2017 (?) and toured US via Oshkosh before visiting Comox. It was part of the promise.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNe...itfire-IX.aspx

[John P]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m03a1Yq8LM4

[Hanno Spoelstra]

https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/...brunswick.html

[Mike Cecil]

http://airforcemuseum.ca/eng/?page_id=767

Mike

[Robert Bergeron]

I have met and befriended one of the volunteers ( Grant H) in the museum in Victoria while i was working there last year . They are dedicated , educated and funded . They have a first class aviation museum there . The weather allows for some really neat outdoor exhibitions also including historical military vehicle meets and re-enactments. They are going to succeed i am sure. On a personal note , i have been inside the cockpit of the Edmunston plane when i was a child in the 60 ´s a few months after it arrived . It was a functional plane then . I decided to become a pilot on that day and did eventually . I am glad it is starting a new life in Trenton where the museum is really , really a first class military aviation shrine that i visited often when working in Trenton . Cheers , Bob

[Brian Gough]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...lane-1.5314883


Brian

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

Vid of the initial "move" on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK48OhfxT7A

regards
Darrell

[Brian Gough]

Former Edmundston Lancaster bomber restoration on track for 2024

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...mber-1.5838203


Brian

[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.

[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