Lancaster FM213

Kyt · Apr 5, 2009

TheSpec.com - BreakingNews - Corrosion grounds Hamilton's Lancaster bomber

Museum scrambles to find new props, welcomes donations

Corrosion has grounded Hamilton’s world famous Avro Lancaster bomber.

The four-engine heavy bomber — one of only two in the world in flying condition — needs four replacement propellers before it can be considered airworthy.

Discovery of the corrosion in a routine inspection is a heavy blow to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, which rebuilt the plane and has flown it for 21 years.

The museum — a registered charity that can issue tax receipts — is looking for donations to help offset the cost and get the plane back in the air quickly. It has been offered two propellers from the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum in Greenwood, N.S., but has to raise $100,000 to buy and transport 16 propellers it has located in Florida. The extra propellers will be kept as spares.

Robin Hill, the museum’s marketing manager, said it is scrambling to fix the Lancaster before this season’s flying schedule begins in May. And there is more demand across North America this year for appearances by the plane because of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada.

“Time is of the essence,” said Hill.

She said some museum members have already made donations to the cause but couldn’t say how much.

The Lancaster — rescued from a perch atop a concrete pylon in Goderich in the late 1970s — underwent nine years of painstaking, rivet by rivet restoration by a dedicated swarm of elderly volunteers before its return to the air in the fall of 1988.

The plane is dedicated to the memory of a quintessential Canadian hero — Gunner Andrew Mynarski of Winnipeg — and to all of Canada’s Second World War bomber crews. It is a priceless goodwill ambassador for the City of Hamilton.

The Mynarski Lancaster, the most ambitious restoration in the museum’s history, has flown all over North America. Built in 1945 by Victory Aircraft of Toronto, the museum’s Lancaster served most of its life with the Royal Canadian Air Force on search and rescue operations out of Newfoundland until its retirement in 1963.

The aircraft ended up on display at Goderich airport and was then donated to the museum and disassembled. The fuselage finally touched down at Mount Hope in 1979. It was airlifted from Goderich by a Canadian Armed Forces Chinook helicopter.

In June 1984, with the restoration well under way, the Lancaster was dedicated to Andrew Mynarski. A mid-upper gunner on a Lancaster that was shot down over northeastern France a week after D-Day, Mynarski was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for sacrificing his life trying to save tail gunner Pat Brophy.

Mynarski fought his way through flaming hydraulic fluid fanned by wind howling through holes in the fuselage in an effort to free the trapped crewman. Only when he thought Brophy was beyond hope, and with his own clothing on fire, did Mynarski give up. Even so, he paused, stood to attention and saluted Brophy before bailing out, his chute aflame.

Brophy, who said later the Lancaster “slammed into the earth like the sound of a thousand sledge hammers,” was miraculously thrown clear. He came to rest against a small tree about 30 to 50 feet away from the wreckage and then hooked up with the French Resistance.

Mynarski died of his burns.

The only other airworthy Lancaster in the world flies with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in England.

Donations can be made at the museum at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, or by mail to Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, 9280 Airport Rd., Mount Hope, L0R 1W0 or online at warplane.com. Hill asks donors to mark their contributions to “Lancaster propellers.”
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Kyt · Apr 5, 2009

TheSpec.com - Local - Props for Lancaster donors

Money comes flying in to help replace propellers

Hamilton's famed Lancaster will fly again soon thanks to the outpouring of donations to help repair it.

The 1945 bomber -- one of only two in the world in flying condition -- was grounded because of corrosion on its propellers.

That news, widely published, made it a lot easier to raise $100,000 to replace them.

Roughly 1,200 individuals so far have sent in donations of anywhere from $5 to $5,000.

Their generosity has amazed staff at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, the Lancaster's home beside John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport at Mount Hope.

The museum has raised $75,000 from public donations, mostly from Hamilton and area but also some from across Canada, said CEO David Rohrer.

Many contributors are first time donors who also wrote notes about what the Lancaster means to them.

"There's just a number of stories of what this airplane represents to people in our community and Canada at large," Rohrer said.

"It's a sign of sacrifice. It's a sign of freedom, a sign of duty."

Contributors include people who immigrated here from liberated countries at the end of the Second World War.

Like the Dutch "who as children saw the Lancaster dropping food in the streets of Holland to help the starving people there after occupation and at the end of the war."

Others had fathers or grandfathers who served in the war or were Lancaster crew members or pilots. Some funds came from veterans like the Hamilton senior who wrote out the $5,000 cheque.

"People were most gracious," said Rohrer. Many notes said, "This is to help the big girl keep flying. The Lanc is very important to us.'"

The museum has now received two propellers it had shipped from the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum in Nova Scotia.

But it is still negotiating to buy and transport 16 propellers it has located in Florida. The extra propellers will be kept as spares.

The only other airworthy Lancaster in the world flies with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in England. The museum hopes to have its Lancaster ready for its flying season by mid-May.

"A lot of people see it flying in the summer while it's doing its program and are very proud of the fact that it's here and it flies," said Rohrer.

"So when we had this need, people certainly answered the call."

Donations can still be made at the museum or by mail to Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, 9280 Airport Rd., Mount Hope, L0R 1W0 or online at warplane.com. Donors should mark their contributions to "Lancaster propellers."
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Antipodean Andy · Apr 9, 2009

Evidence of how people regard the Lanc. A wonderful effort to get her going again.

David Layne · Apr 17, 2009

YouTube - Lancaster FM213

A video put together to help out the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum with their fundraising drive to get Lancaster FM213 back to airworthy status. Visit CANADIAN WARPLANE HERITAGE for details on how to help.

Kitty · Apr 17, 2009

I wish I could afford to give them the rest.

spidge · Apr 18, 2009

These days $100,000 seems a pittance!

I would think they will achieve that and more!

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