Great News for FNJE and the Canso Crew
by Doug Roy on 07/12/10
After several months of structural work, today was a moment of truth for the Canso. We have had Mark Bach, a structural engineer from Kelowna, working on many repairs to the aircraft but the area that was of our greatest concern was the pylon, the area where the fuselage meets the wing, which had been significantly damaged during the hard landing, sinking and subsequent recovery of the fire-fighting Canso from the waters of Sitidgi Lake, near Inuvik, NWT.
We were concerned that the wing would not correctly fit back on the fuselage after the repairs were done (in spite of Mark's well founded confidence that everything would be all right). It was just a matter of having to lift the wing and make sure it would work.
Well, that is exactly what happened this morning! FNJE was pushed half way out of the shop and placed under the wing which was waiting suspended by two grain bin cranes and a farm tractor loader. The wing was then carefully lowered to the pylon. It took a little shifting this way and that way but before long the two pins, connecting the wing to the fuselage, slipped into place. Like a hand in a glove. What a great relief!
We talked about it after the work-bee and realized that this was the moment when we knew for sure we had a viable project! Canso PBY 5A C-FNJE will fly again!
