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WE’RE BACK!!! Welcome to our brand new Lancaster FM104 Restoration web site. Our thanks go to our good friend web designer super star, Jason at Spirit Sentient (www.spiritsentient.com) for the time, effort and creativity that he donated in order to make this new site possible. We’re glad that you found our site and invite you to visit often as we will be updating our progress with interesting text and photos on a regular basis. We also encourage you to become part of our team either by volunteering to work with us, donating any Lancaster parts or memorabilia that you might have or purchasing one of our authentic Lancaster FM104 gifts for yourself or a friend. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions we would appreciate it if you would pass them along to us. Your input is always appreciated. 2009 – A Great Year an update by Andrew Walz, Project Manager FM104 – April 2010 Looking back over the past year I’m amazed at the kind of progress we have made. Work on many areas of the aircraft have advanced significantly and sometimes unexpectedly, much to our pleasant surprise. The centre section of FM104 is the keystone of the airframe and was the main focus of our work in 2009 and continues to be in 2010. Without a sound structure here, we have no aircraft…just a collection of parts. The repair sections for the front spar web have been completely reverse engineered from the remnants of the originals and pieces salvaged from our donor aircraft – the wreck of FM118. The original stiffeners from FM104 have been riveted in and the work of splicing the repair pieces into the front spar is underway. When complete it will be virtually indistinguishable from the original. The centre section floor is progressing very well. Recent improvements in our welding ability have allowed us to repair and re-use original components that only a year ago were slated to be good for patterns only. This work has involved much grinding and dressing of welds. The folks doing this have become so good at it that most of the repairs are invisible. Because of this, we’ve been pleased to discover that very little new material has to be introduced and very little of the original material must be discarded. Of all the ribs that came with FM118, only 3 were deemed to be beyond hope of salvage. Components for repair of the aft fuselage where it attaches to the centre section have been rebuilt and are virtually ready to be installed. They only await the completion of the centre section. Much material from FM118 is incorporated here as well. The side structure of the bomb bay is 60% complete. The work here has been astounding and is the very best metal work that we have done to date. Our Merlin engine #3 is in the final stages of work, with only the gear case for the super charger to be completed. Our talented volunteers have had to invent specialized tools in order to restore the engine. Despite the challenges involved, they have risen to each and work on the other 3 engines will be much easier because of this. One of the propeller units is in the final stages of restoration and will be reassembled in the coming weeks. Once finished, it will the replace the un-restored units hanging on the wall and remain on display until we are ready to install it on one of the aircraft. A rare set of rear turret hydraulic controls is currently being gone through and is progressing well. The hydraulic valve system that the turret used is typical British engineering: brilliant, yet a mechanical nightmare (in this engineer’s opinion!). The pilot’s seat riser has been chemically treated for corrosion, primed and is ready for assembly. The coming year will see further progress to the centre section and floor, completion of engine #3 and its propellers, completion of the pilot’s seat (90% reproduction and great work by our volunteers) and commencement of work on the landing gear. Its a safe bet that 2010 will keep us more than busy enough. We love it. Summer, 2010 Update Our Lancaster FM104 is missing many important parts from both airframe and engines, gauges at the crew stations etc. Many of these are rare and difficult to find. All have a price tag that is usually out of reach. Our own fund raising and assistance from the museum’s budget allows for the purchase of some of the tools, blasting media and chemicals that we require it is rarely sufficient to provide the money for the purchase of aircraft components. That is why our work depends so much on the generosity of donors. We are grateful to all of them. That is why we are pleased to announce the donation of a much needed part required for the completion of our Lanc. Mr. William (Bill) Berry and his sons Michael and Jamie (see photo) recently visited the museum to see how the restoration was progressing. While checking us out, they surprised our team of volunteers with donation of a carburetor for one of the aircraft’s 4 Merlin engines. Mr. Berry and his sons share a passion for historic aircraft. They have a special interest in turret restorations and have a few family turret projects on the go. Hats off to the Berrys! Donations are a fine example of how people can help the Canadian Air and Space Museum and our Lancaster MkX FM104 restoration project. The museum depends on donors and private sponsors to support our educational programs, exhibits and improvements to its collection. Tax receipts will be issued for all donations over $15.00. You can also check our Lancaster FM104 web site Gift’ page. You’ll find interesting and unique gifts for the aviation enthusiast in your family. If you have a skill to share and an interest in working to preserve an important piece of Canadian aviation history, we invite you to join our restoration team. Your help is always gratefully appreciated. PROGRESS UPDATE – October 30, 2010 So far, 2010 has been a year of tremendous progress. We have at any given time perhaps 12-18 volunteers who are able to devote their time to our Lanc on a regular basis. This being the case, our team leader Andrew Walz decided early this year to put a hold on some of the many projects being worked on and concentrate our efforts on fewer but higher priority aspects of the restoration. Consequently, we’ve really made great strides in the restoration of FM104. The center section of the airframe has been at the top of our ‘to do’ list. Completion of this section will allow us to join the entire fuselage together, stand our Lanc on its own 3 legs and re-attach the wings. Of course, these projects remain very much in the future but we can’t even think of moving on to them until the center section is restored. A great deal of time and energy has gone into producing the tooling for the 18 -20 new ribs that must be made for the center section floor. The first set of rib blanks for the aft fuselage is now complete. We’re also near completion on 2 new floor skins for the center section and the aft fuselage floor. Engine #3 is really coming together. The wheel case is being rebuilt and tooling is in the works for the final stages of restoration. After 35 years of neglect and exposure to the elements the engines were in, to say the least terrible condition. Engine #3 is the first of 4 to be worked on and in many respects it was a learning experience in disassembly, cleaning, restoration and reassembly. Much of what had to be done was new territory and we’ve had to be inventive and ingenious in developing procedures and tools. You can say that we’ve had to write a new text book on engine restoration! The first of the 4 propeller and hub assemblies is now fully repaired, restored and only awaits painting before final assembly. On the topic of paint, we were stymied as to the correct paint color codes for the propellers and hub. Accuracy in all aspects of the restoration is of the utmost importance. A number of years ago one of our volunteers was visiting the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and met a 30 year volunteer and now one of the head docents, Scott Willey. An email to Scott asking for help with the paint codes resulted in a wealth of information about WWII paint codes and more modern corresponding paint codes and sources for more information if required. We are now good to go. The pilot’s seat and riser is 90% complete, a far cry from less than a year ago and the bomb bay side panels after extensive and meticulous rebuilding are 85% complete. These are amazing accomplishments considering the number of volunteers and the limited time we have each week to work on our Lanc – Wednesday afternoons/evenings and Saturdays. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated team, some with specialized skills and some who are more limited but willing to do whatever ‘drudge’ jobs must be done and learn new skills as required. We are also appreciative of all those friends such as Scott Willey who are always willing to take the time from their busy days to help us out with advice and information. Our next update will be in 2011. We look forward to being able to boast more progress. December 21, 2010 Before the year is out, want to add a sincere note of thanks to a couple of terrific people: Paul Blackah of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/ and Michael Oakey of Aeroplane Monthly Magazine www.aeroplanemonthly.com, both of whom have been most generous recently. Our photo gallery page features an ‘anatomy of a lancaster’ album. In it we feature several diagrams of various Lancaster parts and sections. Some of these have copyright protection and it is usually necessary to pay a royalty for the use of these. One was owned by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and others by Aeroplane Monthly Magazine. We contacted both asking for permission to use their diagrams. Mr. Blackah of the BBMF and Mr. Oakey of Aeroplane Monthly immediately offered us the use of their property at no cost. Mr. Oakey went even further. He not only promised to include our Lancaster FM104 web site address as a link in future issues of his magazine but invited us to submit periodic updates with photos of our work for publication. All of the members of the Lancaster FM104 Restoration Team are grateful to both of these men who gave generously to our project. We also wish all of our friends, fellow vintage aviation enthusiasts and visitors to our web site a very happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year. 2011JANUARY 24, 2011 Our December 21, 2010 post included news that our Lancaster FM104 Restoration Project had been invited to submit updates to Aeroplane Monthly Magazine for publication. We were pleasantly surprised in early January when one of the magazine’s editors, Tony Harmsworth contacted us asking for a short article and a photo for inclusion in the February issue. We had very little time before the copy deadline to prepare an article, but our project leader, Andrew Walz was up to the task and handled the job post haste. The end result is to be seen in the February issue of Aeroplane Monthly. Our team is tremendously enthusiastic about the exposure that our work will have amongst the vintage aircraft community. Please follow the link and read the article. Better yet, go out and purchase a copy of the magazine. http://www.aeroplanemonthly.co.uk/
March 10, 2011Our entire Lancaster FM104 Restoration Team is saddened by the recent and tragic passing of the Canadian Air & Space Museum’s staunch friend and board member, Paul Oberman. Mr. Oberman was a successful real estate developer with a vision that set him apart from most others. Rather than tearing down historically interesting or important buildings to make room for redevelopment, he saw the potential of these structures and found a way to restore and preserve them as viable and integral parts of the communities in which they stood. The North Toronto Station is a perfect example of how Mr. Oberman was able to save an historically important building as the inspiring center piece of the neighborhood as well as a commercially profitable venture. As a member of our Museum board, he recognized the historical importance of many of the buildings at Downsview Park, especially the WWII era hangers. Many people simply talked the talk that these hangers must be saved. Mr. Oberman understood the need for a realistic plan to insure the future of these hangers and threw himself enthusiastically into to work necessary to turn the dream into a reality. Paul Oberman was a visionary and a community builder. His untimely passing is a loss beyond calculation to our Museum, Downsview Park and to the City of Toronto. Our thoughts are with his family. He will be missed.
MAY 28/29, 2011 – WINGS & WHEELS WEEKEND The Canadian Air &Space Museum hosted its 6th annual Wings & Wheels Heritage Festival this past weekend. Wings & Wheels is a two day party during which the museum throws a giant open house to show off its collection, attract old friends and introduce itself to many visitors who were not familiar with the museum and its emphasis on the proud history of Canadian contributions to the world of aviation and space travel. We don’t just toot our own horn. The museum invites numerous aviation related businesses and organizations to set up shop in the large hangar next door and exhibit their products and services to the visiting public. Flight schools, rare aviation book and memorabilia dealers, model aircraft vendors, Air Cadets, Sea Cadets, helicopter sales and instruction people…..we’ve got them all showcased. Adding to the excitement is the variety of aircraft – private, commercial, military and vintage – that fly in for the weekend. Some of the special aircraft that added sparkle to the Festival were Hawk One – As for our own Lancaster FM104, the Wings & Wheels weekend was a great success. The other aircraft that are our usual ‘room mates’ were moved outside for display, leaving the entire hangar to FM104. These two days give us a marvelous opportunity to greet repeat visitors to the museum and introduce FM104 and our restoration work to those who have never been to the museum. Most of these people have never had the opportunity to get so close and personal to an historic aircraft of any type, let alone one as impressive as our Lanc. While walking around the air frame, they pass by our table of ‘official Restoration Team’ souvenirs – ball caps, t shirts, pens, fridge magnets – sales of which are used to help fund our restoration work. For two days we are constantly fielding questions about the aircraft, its history and our work in restoring it. A middle aged man was asking about the history of our Lancaster then began to talk about his parents. He related their experience in Holland near the end of the war when the population was facing starvation. His emotions rose to the surface as he described how they were reduced to eating grass and tulip bulbs in an effort to survive, then the relief and elation his parents felt when they saw waves of RAF Lancasters flying at low altitude, packets filled with food dropping from their open bomb bays. This was ‘Operation Manna’. The Allies arranged a cease fire with the German commander in Holland so that Bomber Command aircraft could fly in unopposed and drop food supplies in order to provide emergency relief to the populace. This brief story is a perfect example of the importance of our work in restoring FM104. FM104 is a part of history and an important reminder of the sacrifices, all too often the ultimate sacrifice, made by all those whose served in Bomber Command as well as land and sea forces. They served in order to insure that their children and grand children would have the good lives that we now enjoy. The Wings & Wheels weekend was a long two days for our team, but a weekend that we all enjoy and look forward to. Now that the weekend is over we will be returning to our work restoring and preserving our Lancaster. We’ve got a long, long way to go. Our progress may seem slow but we are extremely meticulous and the results are and will continue to be comparable with work done at some of the most prestigious aviation museums.
SUMMER 2011 UPDATE September 20, 2011 The reconstruction of FM104’s centre section floor has been an ongoing project, made all the more difficult by the fact that when we took possession of her, she didn’t have one! In order to place our Lanc on the steel plate atop the concrete plinth on which FM 104 rested for 35 years, that section of floor was cut away and disposed of. Our acquisition of the forward section of FM118 several years ago gave us a centre section floor. Although much of it was badly damaged and could not be restored many components served as templates for new pieces. The rear section of the floor however was missing and it has been a major challenge to find the correct specs in order to fabricate new ones. A major break through came when, after many hours of research and sleuthing Jack came across Copy Zone Achieves in England. Amongst Copy Zone’s 29,000 diagrams of lanc components Jack came across several detailing some of the ribs (called ‘intercostals’ on these pages). The rest of centre section has seen significant progress. Final tooling for all missing ribs and beans are in work and 60% complete. All salvageable material from FM118 has been repaired. Some of the parts would probably have been considered write offs by other restoration projects, but our dedicated team found ways to save and re-use them. As for other aspects of the restoration:
As you may be aware, the Canadian Air and Space Museum, home to our Lancaster FM104 Restoration Project has been served an eviction notice by the landlord, Parc Downsview Park. The museum has been given 3-6 months to vacate in order than the historic hanger which houses it be razed and replaced with a 4 ice rink recreation complex. Our museum members are fighting this with every tool at our disposal and we hope that this situation will be resolved to allow the CASM, and by extension FM014 to remain where they are. If you wish to support this effort, please see the ‘We Need Help’ box on our home page. In the meanwhile, our work on FM104 will continue. Our Lanc is owned by the City of Toronto rather than the museum and we are working with the City historical branch to come up with an alternate plan for the future of FM104 should the museum be forced to close. Our ‘old lady’ has survived almost 20 years of flying and another 35 on an outdoor display plinth. We are confident that she has many more years in front of her. And our team will be there with her.
November 30, 2011
As you already know, on September 21 Parc Downsview Park, landlord of the Canadian Air & Space Museum served the museum with an eviction notice. At the heart of the PDP action was its agenda to transform the land into a ‘world class’ sporting facility. A full year before the eviction notice was served, we believe that PDP signed a contract with a developer to tear down our building and replace it with a complex of 4 skating rinks. Our building (it was designated many years ago by the Federal Government as an historic building and as such immune from the wrecker’s ball. It seems as if all reference to that designation has disappeared recently from government web sites) was part of the deHavilland Aircraft Company and for over 80 years was home to much of Canada’s aviation innovation and development. War winning Mosquito fighter-bombers were built there during WWII. Iconic aircraft such as the Beaver, Otter & Chipmunk were designed and built there. Canada’s first satellite, Aloutette was assembled in the building and Spar Aerospace, the firm that designed and built the robotic CanadaArm for the shuttle program was born in there. The museum has been given until the end of March 2012 to vacate the building and our membership is fighting to reverse the PDP decison. We are working to bring pressure to bear on the Prime Minister, Mr. Harper to instruct Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works under whose jurisdiction PDP falls to instruct PDP to halt its plans and allow our museum and its historic home to remain. Our FM104 Restoration Team has organized to make contact with Canadian Legion branches in the greater Toronto region and arrange to make short presentations to their members asking them to sign petitions addressed to the Prime Minister. We will undertake to mail the petitions. It is uncertain at this point what will happen to the museum’s collection. FM104 is owned by the City of Toronto, not the museum. At such time as the museum is forced to close the City will determine the disposition of our Lanc. Our team lead, Andrew Walz has been in contact with the City but as of this date there is no plan in place for the Lancaster. Until this situation is resolved we and fate of the museum in known, we cannot initiate further restoration and are finishing work on existing projects. At the same time we are completing a detailed inventory of aircraft parts, packing assemblies and in general organizing for a possible move to parts presently unknown. Your efforts to help us save our museum and Lancaster Restoration Project would be greatly appreciated. * Check the museum’s web site for information. www.casmuseum.org * contact your local Member of Parliament and express your concern for the future of 65 Carl Hall Dr. and the Canadian Air & Space Museum http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/compilations/houseofcommons/memberbypostalcode.aspx?menu=hoc * ask for a copy of the petition to Prime Minister Harper and mail it to him. Ask your friends to sign and mail a copy. contact: crawfordboys@gmail.com * contact your local Canadian Legion branch and ask for member support. http://branches.legion.ca/ You will be lending your voice to an important crusade. March 22, 2012Unfortunately, all efforts to save the Canadian Air & Space Museum at its historic home have failed. Parc Downsview Park, the Crown Corporation which oversees the property is set to close our doors for good at the end of this month and begin the process of razing the building in order to replace it with a 4 skating rink complex. The museum board, members, public and media supporters were unable to convince our Prime Minister, Steven Harper of the importance of maintaining a major museum dedicated to Canadian aviation history in the major population centre that is Toronto. Our Lancaster FM1o4 is owned by the City of Toronto. While we are inventorying parts and preparing our Lanc for moving and storage, the City has yet to inform us of what its plans for the aircraft are. Hopefully we will have an answer very shortly.
APRIL 12, 2012We began several months ago with the daunting task of sorting and cataloging the myriad parts, large and small that are Fm104. Over this past 6 weeks we’ve been working hard to pack up all the components of FM104 and organize them in storage boxes and on pallets and expect to to have the job completed by the end of next week. We are just awaiting word as to to where our Lanc will be stored until such time as the future of the museum is determined. The museum’s board, with 2 goals in mind has been in contact with the GTAA (Greater Toronto Airport Authority) and private sector aviation companies. The first and most immediate is to find extra storage for the museum’s collection. The second goal is to request their help in finding an new home for the museum and their possible sponsorship of the museum. Updates on this can be found by going to the CASM web site: www.casmuseum.org We’ve added a new photo gallery that you may wish to visit: ‘Packing Up’ . This features photos of the sad process of readying FM104 for storage. |
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Picture Of The Month Veteran RAF Bomber Command Lancaster pilot and restoration volunteer Philip Gray sits in the 'office' of FM104 |
