Home  |   Museum  |   Bomber Command  |   Aircrew Chronicles  |   Aircrew Losses  |   Nose Art  |   BCATP  |   Lancaster  |   Media

Bomber Command Museum Archived Newsletters



Bomber Command Museum of Canada
2010 Fall & Winter Newsletter


President's Report                                                                                                          Editor/Curator Comments


The Museum has a New Name
Planes, Trains & Elevators
Pioneer Auto Club Visit
Honouring Aircrew at Nanton, AB.
The Joe English Memorial Fly-In
Jets Over Cayley - July 23-25
Long Weekend Parade
Flight Simulators
Revisiting BCATP Bases
Young Enthusiast Donates 2010 Scrounger Award
Salute to BCATP Instructors
Mynarsksi Lanc Over Nanton
Lancaster Crew Report 		               50th Anniversary of FM159 Arriving in Nanton
Bomber Command Museum and Calgary Mosquito Society
'Mossie' Display Opened May 29
Aviation Film Festival
A Salute to the BCATP in 2011
Halifax 57 Rescue Canada
Moving Twenty Years After
Reciprocal Membership
Anson Restoration Update
Tiger Moth 4080 to get Wings
North American Yale Update
Miscellaneous Photographs
Email and Letters
In Memoriam







Museum president Rob Pedersen holds the ribbon while Bill Hume
gets ready to cut it officially recognizing the name change.

During a ceremony on the "Sixty-fifth Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day," May 8, 2010, the museum's name was changed to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.

A ribbon was cut below the new signage on the hangar to symbolize this significant point in the museum's development.

The ribbon was cut by Bomber Command veteran, Bill Hume DFM, of Claresholm, Alberta.

Born in Scotland, Bill trained as an airgunner for six weeks. Rather than being posted to an Operational Training Unit, he was told, "We're short of gunners. You're going right to a squadron."

After serving with No. 51 Squadron, Bill's crew was selected to join the elite No. 617 Squadron, immediately following the Dambusters Raid. The squadron continued to fly "special operations" and Bill flew twenty-seven of them including low-level (50') dropping of supplies to the French Underground, a D-Day "spoof" where the squadron created radar images that appeared to be an invasion force, low level raids with 12,000 pound high explosives, and numerous tallboy raids against railway tunnels, submarine pens, V-1 and V-2 sites.

Bill completed forty-nine operations and was then told he'd done enough. He tried to convince his C/O, Leonard Cheshire, to let him do one more to reach an even fifty. Cheshire replied, "Believe me, that could be the one, so there's the door."

Bill completed his air force career in south east Asia flying supplies from Hong Kong in Dakotas as an air quartermaster.



Lancaster out in the May 29 snow.



[ Sean McCarthy photo ]

The morning of May 29, 2010, the day scheduled for this event, saw everything covered in wet snow!

The photo above shows the Lancaster aircraft with a coating of the white stuff. This aircraft had been moved out of the museum in order to make room for Rocky Mountain Model Club to set up tables for the Western Canadian Regional Model contest the following day.




A view of some of the tables of exhibited models along with participants and visitors.


Two of the hudreds of models that were exhibited at the May 29, Western Canadian Regional Model Show held in the museum.


From an e-mail by Scott McTavish:

Despite the weather, model builders from all over western Canada attended and entered over 450 models into the contest. Gold, Silver and Bronze were awarded to the top models in many categories, and more than 60 Special Awards were handed out to the very best models. Plans are already underway for the 2011 show.

The Rocky Mountain Model Club thanks the staff and members of the Bomber Command Museum for providing such a wonderful venue. We have been able to attract an assortment of real vehicles, a wider audience for our hobby, and little did we know that mother nature wanted to participate with force this year.

The Alberta Pioneer Auto Club held its International Antique Auto Rally at the Bomber Command Museum on July 2, 2010, with an estimated 60+ cars attending.

As the cars arrived they each stopped to have photos taken in front of the Lancaster bomber. The Lanc had been towed from the museum hangar in readiness for its two overhauled Merlin engines to be run-up later in the day.

At noon a catered luncheon was enjoyed by the auto club members in the museum after which the museum's engine crew fired up the Lanc's two starboard Merlins. A large crowd of the visitors and locals were on hand to view the running.


[ Garl Orde photo ]

Some of the cars on display.
[ Garl Orde photo ]


[ Garl Orde photo ]

Running the two starboard Merlins for the Auto Club visitors
and as a tribute to the memory of a WWII bomber crew
who perished while serving. (See below.)



W/O Thomas Herbert Warne, RCAF, was the only Canadian crew member of Lancaster W4270 when it crashed near Staunton in the Vale, near Newark, England, February, 1943, after returning from an operations training flight, killing all on board. He was honored on July 2, 2010, when a wreath was laid next to his name on the museum's Memorial Wall. Lancaster FM159's two overhauled Merlin engines were then run-up as a part of the tribute.

The crash of Lanc W4270 was researched in 1999 by local residents of Staunton on the Vale, and a memorial was placed next to their church, by the village residents in memory of the seven crew members who perished. The other six of the crew were British. On July 3, 2010, this memorial was rededicated. Part of the ceremony in England was a fly-by of the Battle of Britain Memorial Lancaster.

The seven crew members of Lancaster W 4270 were Sgt. Herb Warne, Sgt. Arthur Hitchon, Sgt. Jack Preece, Sgt. James Whitehead, Sgt. Thomas Newton, Sgt. John Coaker, and Sgt. Eddie Loverock.

The honoring of these airmen jointly came about due to correspondence from Mr. Ian Hinks of Staunton. Lest we Forget!



The Staunton on the Vale Memorial which was
rededicated July 3, 2010, the day after the wreath
was laid at BCMC Memorial Wall in Nanton, Alberta.

Museum curator Bob Evans lays a wreath at the Memorial Wall
near the name of W/O2, Thomas Herbert Warne, RCAF,
who was KIA February 194, with all his crew.



BBMF Lancaster over Staunton.


Lancaster FM159's Merlins run-up.




Four hot air balloons about to take off.
 The museum's annual fly-in was held July 17 at the AJ Flying Ranch. This annual event was the brainchild of WWII Lancaster pilot and founding member of the museum society, Joe English, more than a decade ago. Sadly, Joe passed away last January.

This annual event will forthwith be known as the "Joe English Memorial Fly-in." This, being the first year with this new designation, saw twenty plus members of Joe's family present for the event which drew 60+ aircraft to partake of the pancake breakfast served by the Nanton Lions Club.

The day started shortly after 7:00 a.m. with six hot air balloons taking off into a perfect July morning.

The aircraft attending varied from vintage to home-built to modern. The last arrival was a Dromader crop duster, owned by Wayne Steir (WASP) Aerial Applicators flown by Ben Loree. It sports a 1000 H.P. Polish-built radial engine.



Twenty plus members of the late Joe English family
pose in front of the Sun West Aviation Beech Expeditor aircraft,
which has been a attendee of nearly all the Society's past fly-ins.


Restored WWII Cessna "Bird Dog" spotter aircraft
was one of the first arrivals.



Dromader spray plane.


Here are a few of the aircraft that attended
the first Joe English Memorial fly-in.


The High River RC Jet Club held this three day event at the AJ Flying Ranch north of Nanton, near Cayley, AB.

During this time a small village came into being alongside the AJ runway. There were motor homes, travel trailers, tents and even a mobile concession, as well as all the paraphernalia that goes with flying Radio Controlled (RC) models. The museum's traveling display was also on hand.

The multitude of models flown during this event included electric fan-jets and pure jet models that sport "real" jet engines. The latter, when flying, look and sound like their full-size cousins. The fan-jets, while mostly smaller, did some very fast flybys and several times during the three days up to twenty of these were in the air at one time! To our knowledge no mid-air collisions occurred.

On Saturday, July 24, as part of this event, a catered luncheon was held in the museum for the participants. Lancaster FM159 was rolled out of the museum for the day and after the luncheon the two starboard Merlins were fired up for viewing by those attending and the many visitors who had stopped upon seeing the Lanc outside.



The encampment for the RC Jet event.

The winner (center in the straw hat) of a draw
for a ride in a Stearman stands talking to Alex Bahlsen,
owner of the AJ Flying Ranch who had donated the ride.



One of the RC jets in the foreground with the portable "tarmac"
in the background where two Jets are being readied for takeoff.

More mini-jets waiting to be flown.


Your museum was very visible on the August long weekend, adding several items to the Monday parade and running the Lancaster's two overhauled Merlins in the afternoon.

While the Society has always had one or two vintage vehicles in the annual parade, this year saw the museum with a "parade within a parade."



One of the BCMC parade entries, President Rob Pedersen drives the Jeep
with parade marshals Linda Loree and Cpl James Smith.




The museum's travelling display trailer pulled by BCMC board member Barry Beresford's truck.







As mentioned in the Spring Newsletter, your curator took on a project to create a flight simulator as a hands-on display in the museum. The photos show the results of taking a derelict Mk.V Anson cabin section and rebuilding it to house a flight simulator.

This Sim is now in operation and there has been a lot of interest by visitors, both young and older.

The curator has now started on a second Sim, which will be housed in the cut-off cabin of a Cessna Crane (Bamboo Bomber).

Present plans are to install a "shoot-em-down" simulator display, but we may reconsider before the Sim is completed.

This project should be ready for "flight" by April if all goes well.









These three photos (left) show the stages of condition of the Mk.V Anson cabin section as it was converted into a flight simulator body as a "hands-on" display for use by visitors to the museum.






This Cessna Crane forward fuselage is being converted and restored
for use as the hbody of a second flight simulator for the museum.


A plan by the Alberta Aviation Museum (AAM), Edmonton, Alberta, to visit all the existing British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) bases in the province started off September 2. The small bi-wing Kelly D sports plane was piloted by Tom Hinderks, Executive Director of AAM, and Curtis Peters from Calgary.

Leaving Edmonton, they either stopped or over-flew five former BCATP Bases ending up late afternoon at Springbank, on the first leg of this ambitious plan. Inclement weather forced them to hangar the biplane over night at Springbank near Calgary rather than continue on to the former base near Vulcan as planned. The pilots, along with their ground support crew, drove to Nanton where accommodation had been arranged for the night. After having supper with Bomber Command Museum volunteers, they toured the museum.



L to R standing beside the "Spirit" are:
Rod Macleod, Edmonton Aviation Heritage Society president;
Tink Robinson, BCMC director;
Marv Kowalchuk, president of the Alberta Aviation Museum Assoc;
Tom Hinderks, executive dicrector of AAM, and Curtis Peters.
(Rod and Marv were ground support crew.) 		The crew was off early to Springbank the morning of September 3. Then biplane arrived at the old base near Vulcan, 19 miles east of Nanton, in the late morning. Some of our museum volunteers were on hand to greet them.

With high winds and the forecast of approaching bad weather, the Kelly D was left in the hangar owned by John Sands until the next day. John, who flies his own airplane, also owns and maintains the old runways. Due to the forecast bad weather a decision was made to terminate the planned flights south to Claresholm, Medicine Hat, etc. Early the morning of September 4, they headed for Brooks and ended up late in the day at Penhold. There the aircraft was to remain for nearly a week due to the bad flying conditions.

We understand that AAM will try again next year to visit the bases that were missed this summer.



In the photo, museum past president, Dan Fox, accepts a donation of $225 from Drew Harris, a very young visitor. Drew's friend, Bobby Hvistov stands by.

The donation was Drew's savings, which he had accumulated to do something special with while on holidays.

He and his parents were visiting the air museum on June 6, to see the D-Day running of the Lanc's two Merlin engines, when he made the decision to donate the whole $225. After a discussion with his parents, he was adamant this was where he wanted the money to go.

For his generosity, Drew was allowed in the Lancaster cockpit with the engines were started up! He became the youngest person to ever help start FM159's Merlins.

A grateful THANKS to Drew for his help!


This year's Jonathon Spinks "Scrounger Award" went to Rick Featherstone, a museum volunteer from High River, AB. A plaque was presented to Rick during the August 23, "Salute to the BCATP Instructors" event.

Rick is a regular volunteer in the museum's shop every Tuesday. Over the past several years, he and his Uncle, Barry have been restoring instrument panels for which he has been accumulating components.

This years scrounger award goes to Rick for his efforts in arranging for the donations of: two older 53 foot semi-trailers for storing museum parts and pieces; a warehouse fork lift; a large amount of shelving for the storage mezzanine; numerous aircraft instruments and other items pertaining to restoration projects in the museum.



Karl Kjarsgaard presents the 2010 Jonathon Spinks Scrounger Award to Rick Featherstone
during the Salute to the BCATP Instructors ceremonies, August 21.


Over the course of the war, 50,000 teenaged and slightly-older recruits were moulded into skilled fighter and bomber pilots by their flight instructors. The graduates went on to win the air war and defeat the Nazis, but the majority of instructors, most of whom longed to be posted overseas on operations, continued to teach class after class until the war's end.

The museum's main summer event this year was a "Salute to the Flight Instructors." Our special guests included Senator Anne Cools and Ted Barris, the author of "Behind the Glory," the highly regarded book that focuses on the contributions of the flight instructors to the success of the BCATP.

In association with John Sands, the current owner of the former BCATP base 19 miles east of Nanton, we held an afternoon event at the old aerodrome. In 1941 this base had opened as #2 Flight Instructors School (FIS), one of only three BCATP Flight Instructor Schools. Later it became #19 Service Flying Training Schools (SFTS). Six of the seven hangars still remain and John has rehabilitated the runways and taxiways. The old base is "in the middle of no-where."

For the event, skydivers carried the Canadian and RCAF flags, vintage training aircraft did fly-bys and landed for the ceremonies. A huge RCAF flag served as a podium backdrop, and a display panel telling the history of the Vulcan Aerodrome was unveiled which remains at the airbase. A second copy is displayed in the BCMC museum. Several hundred people attended this event, including seven former BCATP flight instructors.




A Chipmunk, Stearman and a Harvard flew into the old Vulcan BCATP base
for the ceremonies held there saluting wartime instructors.




Some of the crowd inspecting the aircraft.



Visitors seat themselves in the BCATP hangar
for the ceremony saluting the wartime instructors.

Seven former BCATP instructors stand together in one of the
hangars at the wartime training base near Vulcan, AB.












< Ted Barris, jornalist, broadcaster and author is seen here speaking August 20, at the Vulcan Aerodrome event. He was also guest speaker the next day at the Salute to the BCATP intructors ceremonies held in the Bomber Command Museum.


The event continued the following day at the museum and featured a series of presentations including one by former #5 Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) instructor, Owen Fauvel. A display honoring the flight instructors was unveiled. It features W/C Marty Mitchell who served at the Flying Instructor School at Borden, Ontario, from 1935 until 1941 flying Fleet trainers including our Fleet Fawn #264. A flypast included a No. 419 Squadron CT-155 Hawk from Cold Lake.



Gordon Jones and Rob Pedersen unveil the signage
telling the instructors story.

Former BCATP instructor, Gordon Jones,
spoke about his experiences as an instructor during the war.



Senator Anne Cools spoke about the bravery and dedication
of those airmen who spent the war years teaching others to fly.

A portion of the crowd of visitors watch the Merlins
being run-up.


The only airworthy Lancaster bomber in North America, owned and operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Hamilton, Ontario, had a six day stay in Calgary, August 1-6. During that time it was based at the SAIT, Art Smith Aero Centre, where it underwent a 25 hour service check. Once this was completed it made two flights with four passengers each time, each of whom paid $2000 for the privilege.

Members of Nanton's Bomber Command Museum engine crew, John Phillips, Greg Morrison, Brian Taylor, and Shane Chipchase, went as a group in the first flight on the morning of August 6. At their request the Lanc oven-flew Nanton, where a large crowd waited to see it overhead.

Local tour guide and volunteer with the Nanton Air Museum, Ashley Burrows, went on the second flight. A thrill of a lifetime!


Two views of Lancaster V-RA flying over Nanton's Bomber Command Museum.


This summer was quite busy for FM159. We had six different engine start events this summer with one being rained and snowed out! This summer featured operation of the flaps and bomb bay doors along with a night run showing the revived landing lights.

Serious work on engine No. 2 started in May when Francis Gardner, Greg Morrison, John Phillips and myself pulled the heads and banks off of the engine and began the long and tedious job of taking apart and cleaning all of the engine components.

Merrill Honeyman and Fred Hollowell have just (Nov. 1) finished grinding all 48 valve seats and have reassembled the valves and springs. The seals and rings have arrived from California so reassembly of No. 2 engine can now start with hopes of an engine start in May 2011!

Shane Chipchase rebuilt the hydraulic pump and installed it on engine 3 and resealed the hydraulic cylinders on the bomb bay doors. He is presently working with Greg to repair an air scoop and do some repairs to the skin of the aircraft.

As of mid October FM159 now has cabin lights using the original wiring. We have retraced a lot of the damaged wiring and junction boxes repairing components as needed. Thanks goes to John Phillips for his guidance on this project.

Bob Long and Greg Morrison completed work on the Lanc elevators that are now in working order and painted!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Lanc crew and everyone else who helped with moving FM159, in and out of the hangar, engine starts, and with helping to put everything away after each run!

Thanks to all. See you next year for more editions of Merlin Magic!

September 25 was the date of the final summer event for 2010. It was also the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Lancaster FM159 in Nanton. Also it was the day that the Alberta Porche Car Club was scheduled to visit.

For this occasion the bomber was rolled out of the museum and opened up to the public. This was the first time in about a decade visitors were allowed to go through the Lancaster. Entry was via a special stairway and up through the escape hatch in the nose of the aircraft. Then up into the cockpit, on through the fuselage to exit out the rear crew door. There was a minor charge of one "Loonie" for the privilege. Over 650 visitors of all ages took this opportunity to see inside the old bomber.

At 1:00 p.m. the Lanc "crew" ran-up the two Merlin engines for the last time in 2010. After the engine run a 50th anniversary cake was cut by BCMC president Rob Pedersen, with a piece available for everyone along with other refreshments.



Some of the visiting Porsche cars parked at the museum September 25.




During the day visitors lined up to "go through" the Lancaster.
A variety of visitors chose to do this - from very small children to adults who were well up in years.
All in all, it was a suitable way to end a very busy summer for the museum volunteers.


If the Calgary Mosquito Society is successful in their proposal to become custodians of the City of Calgary owned Mosquito and Hurricane aircraft, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton will be the primary restoration site for these valuable historic aircraft.

Under an agreement reached between the two organizations, the museum will make our restoration shops, tools and related equipment (including specialized tools and engine-handling equipment used in the restoration of the Merlin engines), and our advice and expertise in aircraft restoration available to the Calgary Mosquito Society. As well, a portion of our restoration hangar will be provided for the projects.

This assistance will be provided at no cost to the Calgary Mosquito Society. During the restoration, we look forward to providing our museum visitors with opportunities to view major components of the aircraft and to observe the restoration. Interpretive signage will be created to ensure that our visitors are aware of the history associated with the aircraft.

Both these aircraft types have a direct connection to our museum. The Mosquito played a significant role in Bomber Command's contribution to the defeat of the Nazis in Europe. the Hurricane is of importance to our museum in that Wing Commander Jack Allan DFC, a native of Nanton, flew this type during the North African campaign.

The Bomber Command Museum looks forward to working with the Calgary Mosquito Society to restore and tell the history of these important aircraft.



Above, Bob O'Connor, a wartime navigator who served on Mosquitoes,
cuts a ribbon to officially open the museum's new Mosquito display on May 29.
The material for the nose art was shaped from wing wood from a Hadrian glider by museum volunteer, Shane Chipchase.
The art by Clarence Simonsen.


On November 10th and 11th, the historic Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod hosted an aviation film festival. As much of the program was related to the history we present at the museum, we were pleased to be their partners in this very successful and well attended event. As well as four feature films, the event included a reception, displays related to aviation history, a panel discussion, and various other presentations.

James Blondeau and Karl Kjarsgaard of our museum, played major roles and we prepared a display panel featuring the history of the Macleod Aerdrome where #7 SFTS was located during WWII.

Vintage Wings at Gatineau, Quebec, is heading up a nation wide, "Yellow Wings," salute to the BCATP by visiting former bases flying former WWII training aircraft.

Their Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, Fairchild Cornell, and Harvard, will start this off in June, 2011. Their schedule included a visit on 9 & 10 July to West Jet Family Day/Calgary Stampede and Nanton/Vulcan

For more info check these websites:

www.vintagewings.ca
www.bombercommandmueum.ca


Excerpts from Nov. 10, 2010, Progress Report #36

At this date we have about $10,000 in the bank. I figure we will need upwards of another $10,000 to cover the shipping costs. Please consider that, if you could donate your 2011 contribution soon in the new year, it would help us greatly to fund this shipping cost. There is so much we can do when the parts get back to Canada.

Thanks for the following support:

- CPR has agreed to ship free the container of parts (arriving by ship) from the port!

- Mullen Trucking has agreed to ship the container free to the unloading facility from the rail yards!

- We have had an offer from a prominent national facility in the Ottawa area, to store and possibly start rebuilding the wings..

- George Rosskopf, our 57 Rescue director, in Ottawa, and the Halifax rebuild engineer from the Trenton museum, is gating and copying data for the rebuild of the wings.

- A CAD Computer Operated Machine Shop has agreed to assist in making up the final plans for computer machining parts needed to begin our wing sections rebuild.

- A Major Corporation that deals in aluminum beams for structures has researched our needs for main wing spars and has a solution for our spars using one of their major beam applications. This could be a huge cost savings for machining new main spars for the Halifax wing rebuild.

- This week we talked to Deep Ocean Research Ltd. regarding progress on the European commercial job they are negotiating for, with which they would do the Halifax LW170 sonar survey while transiting. Basically we are now planning for the summer of 2011. I did point out that above all other priorities for this sonar survey we must obtain the sonar image of LW170. So we have agreed that I would expand my search for a sonar ship beyond just their vessel to other companies.

- We have the basic funding to cover the sonar work set aside for this purpose and this will go ahead.

- I have come up with a possible fund raising plan which will help us in these formative and crucial development stages for the rebuild of the wing sections from the scrap yard, as well as our needs for funding to set up a rebuild shop. We have two (2) complete Hastings cockpits which we saved before they were cut up! (one cockpit will be going to the local museum for their great help in acquiring the wing parts.) The other is available to any museum that would like a Hastings project.


The first photo above shows the spare Hastings cockpit that is available for purchase or trade.
Photo number two shows two European workers dismantling the Hastings/Halifax undercarriage
to facilitate getting everthing in one 40 foot shipping container.


The second "Operation Cleanup" of museum aircraft components stored on Bob and Carol Evans' acreage, adjacent to the Town of Nanton, took place October 23.

The first such "operation" took place two years ago when 20 Avro Anson "carcasses" and other aircraft parts were loaded on trucks and trailers and moved to the Logie Family acreage near Cayley (eight miles north of Nanton).

This time it was mostly smaller items that were moved. There were a multitude of engine cowlings, aircraft fuel tanks, an Orenda engine in its original container, two mock-up gun turret training carts from a movie site, etc. These were transported to the new location on the Logie acreage.

The Evans family has stored these hundreds of items for the past two decades at no cost to the museum, but they felt the time had come to clean up their acreage.



Two pickup trucks and flatbed trailers loaded with cowlings, fuel tanks, etc.



Loading a mock-up turret training cart - the container with the Orenda engine loaded.


Many members of the Canadian Aviation Museums Association have entered into a "Reciprocal Membership Agreement" whereby members of participating museums receive free admission to the other participating museum.

We encourage membership in our museum which will, in turn, allow you to enjoy the following:


The Anson is making remarkable progress. For the longest time it seemed like for every piece that we finished 10 more would pop up and need restoration. Currently the original Rudder is approximately 75% complete. Two ribs, plywood covering and some fabric are all that stand in the way of Annie getting a newly restored rudder. The rudder when finished will be well over 80% original. A remarkable feat, I think, considering the piece had been stored for many years and had become the comfortable home for many a mouse.

In addition to the rudder, restoration has begun on the tail plane and continues on the fuselage. In the next newsletter I hope to be able to show progress pictures on the tail plane and perhaps a completed cockpit and an aft fuselage full of formers and stringers.

John Maze works at rebuilding the Anson rudder.
Some 75% of the original wood that is sound
will be left in place.


Your board has contracted with AME, Greg Morrison, to finish the four Tiger Moth wings. Greg, who teaches an AME course at SAIT in Calgary, has just finished a summer course and doesn't go back until January 2011. The board accepted his quote for covering the wings with fabric, and finishing them to an airworthy state.

On November 3, under Greg's direction, the wings for the Tiger Moth 4080 were trial fitted to the fuselage to make sure everything fitted together, prior to applying the fabric. The Spring 2011 newsletter will have a full report.



There was lots of help trial fitting the wings

Doug Robertson and Greg Morrison
check the final rigging of the wings.



Tiger Moth wings are fitted and rigged.



This project has not been moving quickly enough in the last year or so for several reasons, including locating a fabricating shop to make up a new wing centre-section main spar.

That is about to change. We will be consolidating all Yale parts in the museum this winter, including the restored rear fuselage, forward tubing section, engine mount, etc. These will be mated together on a spare wing center-section as a static display, ready for viewing in the spring.

New signage dedicating this project to the memory of the late Jonathon Spinks will be made up to go with the display.



Yale center section awaiting a new spar.










The Society's member "at large," Maurice Galli, from Rocky Mountain House, AB, is seen above applying the earth green and brown camouflage to the Lanc's port elevator. Maurice has been painting aircraft in our museum intermittently for two decades. Two of the aircraft that have been the subject of his artistry over the years are the Blenheim/Bolingbroke and the Tutor Jet. We extend a grateful THANKS to Maurice for his continuing interest and help!











Visitors view the Tutor during one of the summer events. Volunteer, Maurice Galli, spent one winter applying SnowBird colours to it.




Editor Note;
While we continue to receive many positive e-mails and letters, we have opted to use this column for other news items in this publication.

Victor Polichek
Vernon, B.C.

George Lammiman
Winnipeg, Manitoba

John A. Murphy
Abbotsford, B.C.

Trevor E. Schubert
Kamloops, B.C.

Harry Volk
Calgary, Alberta 		Hazel Watt
Nanton, Alberta

Joe Sheriff
Creston, B.C.

Lyle F. James DFC
Sarnia, Ontario

Deryck Bazalgette
Devon, England

John Donald Clay
Calgary, Alberta 		Noel W. Hodkin
Powell River, B.C.

John H. Stevenson
Lethbridge, Alberta

Lionel Eddy
Nanton, Alberta

Willemena Dozeman
Nanton, Alberta
The Nanton Lancaster Society extends deepest sympathy
to the families and friends of these former members and supporters.
May God Bless.


As I sit down to writ this note, with Remembrance Day just around the corner, I am once again reminded of just how big a sacrifice was made so that we may live in a country free of oppression. It is with a particular fondness and sadness that I remember those individuals who left their homeland but did not return.

Continuing to tell the story of those who served in Bomber Command jet the volunteers at your museum very busy this past five months. With multiple events held each month it was a very busy summer indeed. From monthly engine runs to special events, from traveling displays to hosting movie crews at the museum, there was never a lack of things to see or do.

Next year promises to be just as busy as this year. Five engine run dates have been set and will be posted on our website shortly.

Event planning has begun with our "major" summer event theme this pear to be the Society's 25 anniversary.

Yes, that's right, for twenty five pears the Nanton Lancaster Society has been helping to spread the work about Bomber Command and the part it played in shortening the war.

Also, honoring the young men who served and in many cases gave their lives to ensure the freedom we enjoy today, is a major part of what we do.

Make sure you come join us for what promises to be another spectacular year.

     Sincerely
      Rob Pedersen

As I finally complete the draft of a new newsletter, I look at this column and wonder what words of wisdom to put down that I won't regret seeing in print.

Anyway, here goes! This newsletter addresses the beginning of a new phase for the Museum and the Society that operates it.

This new era begins with the renaming of the museum. The new title, Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC) is the result of your board of directors' realization that the museum now fits that tattle. Building of the Memorial Wall honoring fallen Canadian bomber crews was a major move towards this change. The imminent arrival of the Halifax bomber components makes it truly appropriate.

The 24 years that have now ended were typified in the former name, the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum. Even so, the Society remains as the operating entity of the BCMC museum.

Anoter action, recently completed, helps establish the end of the former era. That being the removal of most of the stored aircraft parts and pieces from the acreage near Nanton belonging to my wife and I. It was amazing to look through the myriad items that have been acquired over the past two decades as they were being loaded.

We look forward to major advances in the future that will see our museum expand even more and its collections increase. Do plan to visit us in the coming new year - there will be new displays and a new look.

     Sincerely
      Bob Evans



Bomber Command Museum of Canada