Handley Page Hampton Damaged in Snow Storm (12/30/08)
Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:23 pm
Did anyone see this?
http://www.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/letters/story.html?id=8ff95c82-9117-46f7-b7e8-a3b2e72d190d
http://www.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/letters/story.html?id=8ff95c82-9117-46f7-b7e8-a3b2e72d190d
Snow breaks historic aircraft
Langley Advance
Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Dear Editor,
Despite the best efforts of volunteers, the recent extreme weather has caused considerable damage to some exhibits at the Canadian Museum of Flight at Langley Regional Airport.
Hardest hit is the museums' Handley Page Hampden, a Second World War bomber that was raised from the ocean depths off Vancouver Island in 1985.
Ongoing efforts to clear the rapidly accumulating snow from the wings of the aircraft were overwhelmed during the night of Dec. 26, when snow caused a failure of the left wing's internal structure. The wing separated from the fuselage and collapsed onto an adjacent display case containing one of the aircraft's original engines.
The wing itself suffered considerable damage at both the root and tip. Further damage is visible on the tail of the aircraft, although a full investigation of this area has yet to be completed.
The museum's Hampden is the sole survivor of its type on display anywhere in the world, although another example was recovered recently from a crash site in Russia, and is under restoration in Britain.
The twin-engined Hampden was part of the Royal Air Force's front line equipment at the start of the Second World War, but was soon rendered obsolete and retired from active operations against Nazi Germany in the summer of 1943.
One hundred sixty Hampdens were built in Canada during the Second World War, and many were used on the West Coast to train crews in the difficult mission of attacking enemy shipping with torpedoes. The museum's aircraft was lost on just such an exercise on Nov. 15, 1942, when it crashed into the ocean moments after dropping a practice torpedo.
Following its recovery, the aircraft was the subject of a long and challenging restoration to static display condition, completed in 1998.
It is anticipated that a lengthy program of repair will be required to put the airplane back into display condition, and the museum is putting out a plea for the public's assistance in providing both financial and practical support to help rebuild this important piece of Canadian history.
Contact the museum at 604-532-0035, or at cmflight@telus.net.
Gord Wintrup and Rob Currington,
Canadian Museum of Flight
Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:40 pm
That is dreadful news Ryan. What a huge blow to the museum.
I hope it can be repaired, and also put under cover inthe future.
I hope it can be repaired, and also put under cover inthe future.
Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:10 am
why was it outside? 
Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:05 am
Nathan wrote:why was it outside?
Well, it looks like the museum has only a very small hangar to store aircraft in.
Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:06 pm
That's a real shame. I was there last summer. It's a pretty small museum, and clearly they don't have a lot of money, but I enjoyed my visit. It's clearly a labor of love for those guys.
Here's a couple of pictures of their Hampden.
It looked like there was a lot of corrosion when I peered inside, and I'm sure the wings were pretty weak. The engines had been replaced with fairly crude plastic replicas made from PVC tubing if I remember right.
Here's a link to all my pictures from that museum:
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff18 ... =slideshow
Here's a couple of pictures of their Hampden.
It looked like there was a lot of corrosion when I peered inside, and I'm sure the wings were pretty weak. The engines had been replaced with fairly crude plastic replicas made from PVC tubing if I remember right.
Here's a link to all my pictures from that museum:
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff18 ... =slideshow
Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:28 pm
F2G- Sorry to hear about the Hampden. Enjoyed your pics, but had to laugh- My aviation maintenance school has that very same ground power unit seen under the twin Beech C-45 in our Mx hangar, and it is occasionally used for training!
Robbie
Robbie
Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:45 pm
I also just made it there last year and they don't have alot of room to put aircraft inside. They have a small fleet that flies so those get to be inside. I hope they can fix her back up. You can see my pics of her here----> http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=9709300 ... den&m=text
Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:53 pm
Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:57 pm
OUCH!
Hope they can get her fixed up..and eventually undercover.
SN
Hope they can get her fixed up..and eventually undercover.
SN
Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:40 am
i live quite close to the hampden and have seen her many times. once i even snuck up inside and sat where the pilot would have sat 
. VERY narrow aircraft, its would be hard to fathom the balls required to fly that thing. they have done a very impressive restoration of the aircraft considering what little they had to work with. i suspect that it is mostly new structure with as much original material as possible used. that being said, it was never built to fly, so i would say that it is an excellent static representation. it would be nice to see it inside and get some guts into it. the snow around here has been brutal, and now the big melt is on. my34 foot boat has had the cover blown off of it and now its full of snow and water. my basement has flooded. and its only just begun to melt. were in for it bigtime around here!! i digress. i'm gonna give them a call tomorrow and see if there is something that i can do to help. i would be surprised if that was the only problem that they are having right now!!! 
. VERY narrow aircraft, its would be hard to fathom the balls required to fly that thing. they have done a very impressive restoration of the aircraft considering what little they had to work with. i suspect that it is mostly new structure with as much original material as possible used. that being said, it was never built to fly, so i would say that it is an excellent static representation. it would be nice to see it inside and get some guts into it. the snow around here has been brutal, and now the big melt is on. my34 foot boat has had the cover blown off of it and now its full of snow and water. my basement has flooded. and its only just begun to melt. were in for it bigtime around here!! i digress. i'm gonna give them a call tomorrow and see if there is something that i can do to help. i would be surprised if that was the only problem that they are having right now!!!
Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:32 am
I just got back from a month away. A couple days before I got back to Vancouver I learned about what happened and was quite shocked, but not totally surprised considering what the snow has done in the past.
The Canso I tried to acquire for the CMF in the past had its keel damaged due to snow building up on the tail and having it tip the plane rearward.
Anyways, the Hampden was mostly new-build, but the centre section, tires, and a few other sections are original. The airplane was restored with no intention to have it fly. I have a feeling that might be why there was some structural failure.
There are plans already rolling ahead to build a new hangar on the other side of the airport to house our entire collection indoors, so within the next two years (given enough funding) we'll finally have the Hampden and all our other airplanes under-cover.
Cheers,
David
The Canso I tried to acquire for the CMF in the past had its keel damaged due to snow building up on the tail and having it tip the plane rearward.
Anyways, the Hampden was mostly new-build, but the centre section, tires, and a few other sections are original. The airplane was restored with no intention to have it fly. I have a feeling that might be why there was some structural failure.
There are plans already rolling ahead to build a new hangar on the other side of the airport to house our entire collection indoors, so within the next two years (given enough funding) we'll finally have the Hampden and all our other airplanes under-cover.
Cheers,
David
Mon May 25, 2009 10:20 pm
Hi folks,
so I finally found the time to make it out to Langley to check out the Canadian Museum of Flight again after quite a while since my last visit. I finally got to see the damage that was done to the Handley Page Hampden and the efforts thus far to repair it.
Below are a few pictures from May 23rd 2009:
As you can see, the wing has been re-attached to the fuselage, but there is a considerable amount of extra support to keep it all together while it's being worked on.
I hope these pictures give you a good idea of the damage.
I wasn't able to ask what time-frame the repairs will be under, nor exactly what kind of work is going to be done, but what I can tell you is that while I was there, there were a couple University of the Fraser Valley Aerospace students volunteering their time to get her back to the condition she was in before she was damaged.
Cheers,
David McIntosh
so I finally found the time to make it out to Langley to check out the Canadian Museum of Flight again after quite a while since my last visit. I finally got to see the damage that was done to the Handley Page Hampden and the efforts thus far to repair it.
Below are a few pictures from May 23rd 2009:
As you can see, the wing has been re-attached to the fuselage, but there is a considerable amount of extra support to keep it all together while it's being worked on.
I hope these pictures give you a good idea of the damage.
I wasn't able to ask what time-frame the repairs will be under, nor exactly what kind of work is going to be done, but what I can tell you is that while I was there, there were a couple University of the Fraser Valley Aerospace students volunteering their time to get her back to the condition she was in before she was damaged.
Cheers,
David McIntosh
Mon May 25, 2009 10:55 pm
Thanks for the photos and update David. I wish them all the best with the restoration and eventual hangarage.
Tue May 26, 2009 11:29 pm
Hey David M.
Are they building a new hanger? I wish I was still out there too help!! I am in Edmonton now but I am still responsible for parts of that region. In this economy extras are hard to get approved , but if they need equipment (pallets and a mattress!!! good on you boys
) PM me I will do my best!
Mike
Are they building a new hanger? I wish I was still out there too help!! I am in Edmonton now but I am still responsible for parts of that region. In this economy extras are hard to get approved , but if they need equipment (pallets and a mattress!!! good on you boys
) PM me I will do my best!
Mike
Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:31 pm
My dad and I stopped by the Canadian Museum Of Flight on the way home from Abbotsford. Here are some shots of the Hampden. Not much going on with it yet. Hopefully they can get some donations coming in and get her back to her old self.
