Piece by piece, WWII airplane resurrected

Restoring 1941 Avro a 'labour of love' for military aviation buffs

By Paul Pickrem

GREENWOOD — A piece of Canadian military aviation history is coming back to life as an aircraft used for training pilots, navigators and bombardiers is being painstakingly rebuilt in Greenwood.

A team of volunteers made up of three air force aviation mechanics and 10 mostly retired military personnel has put more than 9,000 hours into the careful restoration of a twin-engine 1941 Avro Anson MK 2 aircraft.

The volunteers said in a recent interview they look forward to gathering in the shop behind the aviation museum near 14 Wing Greenwood from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Monday and Tuesday to work on a project that began in December 2003.

"It’s a labour of love," retired flight engineer Butch Fleury said in an interview.

A team of volunteers, made up mostly of active and retired air force personnel, is shown with the 1941 Avro Anson military training aircraft they are restoring for the Greenwood Aviation Museum. Over the last four years, more than 9,000 hours of painstaking work has gone into the project, which they describe as a labour of love.

 (PAUL PICKREM)

"We want to see it be as close to original as possible."

"It’s a challenge just to see if we can do it," team leader Colin Ainsworth said.

The frame for the plane was found on a farm in Alberta. A nose section was found in a farmer’s field in Saskatchewan, where Mr. Ainsworth said it was home to a nest of prairie rattlesnakes.

Other parts, such as instrument panels, wing tips and a rudder, have come from various places.

Mr. Ainsworth said he wonders if there is a yet-to-be-discovered treasure trove of parts closer by, since the planes were built at the Amherst plant of the Canada Car Foundry.

Many of the team members say they look forward to the camaraderie as well as the challenge.

"We swap a lot of stories," retired radar technician Ernie Killen said.

"These guys tell a lot of lies," he added with a grin.

"The military is a way of life," said aviation technician Peter Campagna, who recently retired after 21 years of service. "When we get out and go our separate ways, it gets a little lonely. But, this keeps us close to the base. We’re still around and still involved."

Team member Brian Hadley has a family connection to the Anson. His father Tom was trained as a navigator on one of the aircraft in Winnipeg during the Second World War.

"We’re preserving part of the history of the British Commonwealth Training Plan," he said. "And, it gives me a way to support the museum, which is important to me."

The completely restored aircraft will become a static display in the Greenwood Aviation Museum in time for the 100th anniversary of flight in the Commonwealth in 2009, a fact the volunteers are proud of.

"It’s important," said Al Sheppard, 71, who retired in 1985 after 31 years. "Because we get to show what the Canadians did during those years and how well they handled themselves."

"They could fly on bubble gum and a smile," said Cpl. Dustin Colwell, who worked on the seven-cylinder radial engines.

"We work on modern aircraft. It’s nice to see how the old stuff went together."

"We’re taking something from the past and preserving it for the future," said fellow mechanic Phil Weedon.

"It’s almost like being part of history yourself."

Mr. Ainsworth said he got a sense of how important the preservation of the past can be when a veteran RCAF pilot broke down in tears while sitting in the plane’s cockpit in 2005, relating how the last time he sat in an Anson was while training as a pilot in 1943.

"If it affected him like that, it will affect a lot more people," he said.

"For us, that’s a reward in itself."

( ppickrem@herald.ca)