Save the Canso - Update

Technically, today is not the 2nd anniversary of the start of the Save the Canso Project, but it is the day when we reached the Dempster highway after six weeks of planning and two weeks of hard work, under extremely difficult conditions.  What a victory!  There was still a lot of work ahead of us but reaching the highway after 20 km of frozen Sitidgi Lake and 20 km of tundra and creeks was indeed a milestone.  At this point we were only 20 more km. by road from Inuvik, NWT and the NTCL barge site, along the MacKenzie River.

This is a very busy time for a number of us, between work on the Canso and spring seeding on the farm but, over the next month or so, we will attempt to recap some of the history of the project - the planning and execution of the salvage and restoration of FNJE.

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Brian Wilson just got back from attending his son's wedding in Mexico and was not very impressed with the Pink Panther's work on on his newly constructed English Wheel!  He has asked everybody to show their hands to check for pink paint - but nothing yet.  Brian says that if he can't narrow it down it one guilty person - he'll have to get even with us all!

On the positive side - the rollers arrived so Brian is busy with the finishing touches on the English Wheel.  I sure it will work well, regardless of the colour...

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Over night the Pink Panther struck again and left his trade mark "pink paint" calling card on Brian Wilson's newly constructed English Wheel! 

Who did this deed? Was it an inside job? Check the Photos button to see the handy work.  I don't think I could get Brian to stand beside it now for a new photo!

More to follow.

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Well it's back to work - Mark Bach, our structural engineer, said he had a nice, quick trip home to Kelowna, BC for Easter and he is now back to help us stay on track.  It's good to have him back and hopefully the restoration moves along as well as it did the first time he was with us.  Don Wieben and Henry Dechant are both trying to be there every day to help out.

Special thanks again to Betty James at the Dunvegan Inn for providing accommodations for Mark.

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Wednesday night is becoming a highlight of the week for many of us who are really enjoying a few hours of work on FNJE.  We even have three guys driving from over an hour away to be part of the project.

The hours fly by with a wide variety of tasks and new challenges and we finish the evening with a cup of coffee and a little discussion about the progress.  If you are in the area and want to help just call Don or Henry - their numbers are in the Contact Us button on the webpage - and join the fun. 

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For the past several weeks we have taken over Brian Wilson's shops on his farm, just south of Fairview. One shop has the FNJE fuselage taking up half the space - there is still a little room for his equipment - and the other shop has the wing, with the right out-board section removed, taking up all the space. Brian was one of the original Canso Crew who made the trip to Inuvik to salvage the aircraft and his ongoing help and support is most appreciated.

Progress - For the past three months we've had Don Wieben and Henry Dechant working in the shop most week days with drop-in help, when available, from the other original crew members: Joe Gans, Norbert Luken, Doug Roy and Brian Wilson.  About three week ago, Mark Bach of Kelowna, BC, an aircraft maintenance engineer with lots of structural experience, assessed the damage and started repairing and rebuilding.  Mark has now returned home for Easter but while in Fairview he worked at least eight hours a day - every day.  A year ago at this time, Mark spent six weeks in Turkey rebuilding the keel on one of the water bombers that had been sold by Buffalo Air to the Turkish Government.  The damage to the keel occurred as a result of an attempted wheels-up landing during flight training and was a feature episode on the reality t.v. show Ice Pilots NWT.   The thirteen episodes of Ice Pilots NWT are currently in reruns on Wednesday and Sunday nights on the History Channel. 

On top of that we have had three Wednesday evening sessions - Canso Nights - where each night about ten willing and eager Canso enthusiasts have shown up to lend a hand and spend four or five hours removing parts, stripping fabric, cleaning and, generally, whatever needs to be done.  Don and Henry spend time during the week planning small projects for everyone who shows up so there isn't a lot of time wasted asking what needs to be done.

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We just had our first General Meeting of the Fairview Aircraft Restoration Society, on March 10, 2010.  Thanks to everyone who attended - great discussion and everyone seemed to really enjoy the video. 

Special thanks to Betty James of the Dunvegan Inn, Fairview, for the meeting room/coffee etc. and the hospitality she has been extending to our structural engineer, Mark Bach, the past few weeks.

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Greetings to all the Save the Canso followers. 

Yes, this is a work in progress - and we are making great progress! It's been a long road from the early days of the project, March 2008, when the inspiration came to travel 2500 km. from our home in Fairview, Alberta to Inuvik, NWT, Canada.  The aircraft, Canso PBY-5A C-FNJE, started its life in 1943 with the RCAF and served on the east coast of Canada on submarine patrol in the north Atlantic during WWII and later was converted to a water bomber and used to protect Canada's forests.

This page will be used to keep everyone informed about the progress of the restoration and provide some of the history of the recovery and the early life of this Canso.

Thanks for your interest!

The Canso Crew

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