Anson
Restoration Project
25
July, 2004
By: Colin Ainsworth, Project Leader
The
past month has seen a lot of progress being made in the restoration of
the Anson. Ernie Killen, Mike
Dandurand,  and
Chuck Calder constructed the rudder from scratch. This entailed taking
the measurements from the drawings, and cutting all the wood for
the frames and stringers. After this was accomplished the whole
structure was assembled and then coved with 1/64 inch plywood. The
metal rudder attachment brackets having been cleaned and painted
were then affixed to the rear of the vertical fin and the rudder
installed on the aircraft.
During
this time Peter Miller and Jerry Aucoin finished bead blasting the two
engine mounts prior to them being painted. This bead blasting
process is the most work-intensified job on the restoration
project. Each item has to be cleaned of all corrosion and inspected
prior to each piece being painted. Peter and Jerry volunteered to do
this project last February and they are finally starting to see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
By
using paint stripper the nose section was stripped of all the old yellow
paint and then painted with three coats of primer. Once this
was done new Plexiglas windows were fabricated and installed. The heater
duct was refurbished and re-installed on the starboard side of the nose
compartment.
Keith
Brenson completed the cleaning and painting all the undercarriage
support legs and brackets, and they are now ready for installing.
This
month's "Anson Trivia" is a story of what can happen when an
aircraft is flown outside its envelope.
The
following is from the book Behind The Glory by Ted Barris pages 178 and
179 as told by Norm Shrive.
"
On this particular day (January 6 1943), Caskie was just going to take
up two of his four students-Steelman and Jones. The normal procedure
when you took up two students was one would do the take off and fly for
a while, then he would move to the back of the left seat as the other
did the flying. The Anson was a big airplane, so sometimes the
instructor would also take up a third student to sit in the back and do
the map reading.
"That
day Caskie said to me, " Shrive, get your map and a parachute pack
and go out to such-and-such an Anson.' But they didn't have enough
parachute packs to cover everybody that day and I couldn't find one.
'Come on anyway,' said Caskie. "No one will know.' It was illegal
to go up without a parachute.but I took my map and got in the airplane,
We were just taxing out and I guess Caskie didn't want to get into
trouble, so he stopped the Anson turned to me, and said, 'Maybe you
better not. You'd better get out. When I get back, I'll take you up.'
" I jumped out and walked back to the flight room a couple of
hundred yards away. After about an hour, I went back up to the flight
desk and asked, 'Sir, is Pilot Officer Caskie back yet?' " No,,
just go and sit down, 'An hour and a half went by. No sign of Caskie.
Two hours...I knew there was trouble.
"
It turned out that the three of them were up near Guelph, over a village
called Crieff. There was a low flying area up there and they had come
down, belting along at about 160 knots, and when the aircraft pulled
out, the starboard wing just folded. They went straight in and burned. I
felt really sad. Steelman was a good friend. And I liked Caskie; he had
a new bride and a baby son. The luck of the draw - I missed that
trip."
A training crash that killed an instructor and two trainees prompted a
post mortem. As the airmen's bodies were removed and returned their
families for burial, the newly formed Accident Investigation Branch of
the RCAF descended on the site to go over the wreckage in search of the
cause. In spite of the charred condition of the aircraft, investigators
found a crack in the main spar of the Anson's starboard wing - a crack
that had been there before the crash.
Station authorities did not blame the manufacturer. They suspected that
the Anson had been improperly piloted just before Caskies flight. They
were right. Later that winter, Hagersville instructor Ross Truemner
discovered the truth.
"On the graduation night of the senior course, one of my four
students approached me and said, 'Sir, I have to tell you something. I
looped the airplane that lost its wing.' "
Next
month we will continue with more stories of "Anson Trivia.
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