Lancaster
canopy gets
an overhaul
Malcolm Uhlman & Dave Saulnier
Greenwood Military Aviation Museum
If you’ve been by the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum’s Air Park
lately, and if you have an eagle’s eye for details, you may have noticed
the museum’s Avro Lancaster is sporting a new, convertible look for winter.
The make-shift aft canopy, removed from the Greenwood Military Aviation
Museum’s display Avro Lancaster for winter work. D. Saulnier
Greenwood Military Aviation Museum volunteer Robert Mullan, open canopy
of the museum’s display Avro Lancaster. The museum’s volunteers are fabricating a new canopy in their workshop this winter. D. Saulnier
In the never-ending quest to counter Mother Nature’s harmful weathering effects, volunteers Robert Mullan and Dave Saulnier have been beavering away to restore the aircraft cockpit’s yellowed and crazed Plexiglas greenhouse. They worked through the summer and fall months measuring, cutting and forming new glass for much of the forward-half of the canopy and, while the work isn’t complete, the difference in the clarity of the old versus new panes is striking. Deteriorating weather conditions forced them to consider working on the aft section of the canopy in the warmth and shelter of the GMAM workshop, so off it came during the final weeks of October.
The new “convertible look” meant a plywood bulkhead had to be fabricated to seal the aircraft off from and about 100 rivet the fuselage be plugged with latex sealant. The framework for the rear half of the canopy had been originally made of laminated spruce bows during the war, likely due the scarcity aluminum and the abundance of skilled carpenters at the time. It had long ago rotted away and been replaced by a make-shift steel frame, thought to have been reconstructed in the1970’s. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear to have been made using authentic drawings, so the canopy frame, along with all of the fitted Plexiglas panes, were misshapen.
Mullan and Saulnier plan to fabricate an all-new aft canopy throughout
the winter months. They’ve begun by locating technical drawings and
fabricating a mock-up of a short section of the upper fuselage, onto which
they will form new aluminum canopy bows. The bows will be fitted with
formed Plexiglas panels, and the entire structure will be installed onto
the aircraft in the spring.
If you'd like to see this type of work firsthand, feel free to contact the
museum's front desk for a tour of the work-shop this winter.
The restoration shop is open 9 a.m. to noon every Wednesday and
Thursday morning,
Greenwood Military Aviation Museum volunteers are following this 1940’s schematic
as they reconstruct the museum’s display Avro Lancaster canopy. D. Saulnier
WINTER HOURS
Open Wednesday through Saturday
10:00 am to 4:00 pm
We will be closed for the holidays from 21 Dec 24 to 7 Jan 25 and will be reopened on 8 Jan 25
We are now looking for volunteers to help deliver our signature Flight Education program as well as assistance in other areas as we celebrate to 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air force. All appropriate training is provided.