Warbird Information Exchange

Yeah! Yours looks superb (although it would be nice to see her with original blisters).

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Hi Guys,

Sorry if this has been covered more recently than in this thread but I was recently driving through Nanaimo and saw this aircraft on the side of the road. I was curious as to why it was just sitting there so I did some research and came across this forum. What a great community! So this thread is a couple of years old and it would seem that nothing has progressed any further ? Does anyone have an update on its status ? Did it sell ? I really with it could be rescued by the museum and put into storage for restoration. Such a shame to have it sitting there.

bumpity-bump
what happened daveymac????

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All I did was press this red button here...

Hey guys,

well, I was about to say that nothing new has been going on with this Canso.... but then I checked my e-mail a few hours later and a friend of mine who I'd been working with to try and save the Canso.

He just let me know that the Canso at Nanaimo has just sold to a group in Oregon. He figures it is the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville. OR. Can anyone confirm this?

It's a shame we couldn't keep this airplane in Canada, but you can't do much if you don't have money. I am glad to see the Canso will be carefully looked after though, but dang... I wanted to save it for our museum.

Thankfully there are other Canso's out there.

Peace,

David M

Bittersweet news I guess then! Thanks for the update. Shame it couldnt stay in Canada though.

Yeah, it's a tough pill to swallow, but it's a relief knowing it won't just be sitting in Nanaimo being neglected anymore.

As for my quest to find a Canso for the Canadian Museum of Flight... well, it continues.

Looking around at surviving examples I wonder if it would be possible to acquire a surviving Boeing Canada PBY-5A built at the factory that was here in Vancouver, BC. That would be even better than the Canso from Nanaimo.

I'll keep you all posted if I can dig anything up. Speaking of digging, there are two crashed Cansos on the west coast of Vancouver Island, one in Bella Bella, and another in a lake in NWT. A lot of work... but a freebie if we can pull one out. ha.

Peace,

David

Daveymac - of the identfiable and complete 'Catalina' survivors worldwide, only three are Boeing of Canada-built examples. One is the PB2B-2 VH-ASA hung from the roof of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia so zero chance of getting that one! The Museu Aerospacial da Forca Aerea Brasileira at Campo dos Afonsos, Rio de Janiero has a former RCAF Canso A serial 6527, originally RCAF 9752 so, again, likely to be unobtainable given it is a museum already. The real 'prize' from your point of view is the former RCAF Canso A 9767 (more recently C-FCRR and US reg N9767 currently reserved) at Orly in Paris which is not only airworthy (albeit has not flown for a long time) but also has a combat record against U-boats! Probably beyond your resources even if it were for sale. Years ago when it was still in Canada, the Canadian Warplane Heritage wanted it but were unable to get it and eventually got C-FPQL instead. So, getting a 'BOE CAN' example may be a big ask!

Good luck!

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David Legg
Editor, The Catalina News
The Catalina Society
Author: Consolidated PBY Catalina - The Peacetime Record

Ya know David, that's the Canso I've got my sights on now. I think it would be perfect for our museum, as long as we can find the money for it, and if the current owners are even considering selling the plane. I just don't know, but yes, that would be the ideal airplane for our museum.

The only downside is the non-original nose, but boy what a beauty. Great history too.

As I was researching other Cansos... I distinctly remember finding information online about an RCAF Canso that sunk in a lake in NWT. Spitfire Lake, I believe. But now that I've tried to google it again, all traces of it are gone.

While in RCAF service the Canso was taxiing on the water of Spitfire Lake and hit something causing a hole in the hull and eventually it sunk. I remember finding pictures of it online, showing how the wingtip was reachable from the shore, as it stuck out of the water. There were even stories of people climbing onto the wing and having a lunch.

Can anyone recall this airplane? And if so, can you provide me with more information?

By the way, I am absolutely certain this is not the same airplane as C-FNJE which was pulled out of a lake in the North West Territories as well.

Peace,

David M

I recently went through my old photos and found a few photos of C-FNJB in better times. These were taken in 1980 when I flew for Norcanair in Laronge, Saskatchewan. That was the year the Govt of Saskatchewan bought three Canso's from Norcanair. The Govt. didn't have time to train their own crews, so Norcanair was contracted to supply the pilots. The three aircraft (C-FNJB Tanker 10, C-FNJF Tanker 14, and C-FUAW Tanker 16) remained in Norcanair colours and were repainted yellow and re-numbered prior to the 1981 fire season.

You should digitally clean up those first two and sell them as posters!

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Like this?


before


after


before


after

Nice!

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Those are really great pictures! Thanks for bringing them out into the open. That's actually a paint scheme I've never seen in my research of C-FNJB.

Peace,

David

I have lots more photos. Unfortunately they are not great quality.

Going through the various photos, I have noticed many variations in the "Clipper Bow". If the flat Bomb Aimer panel is still in place, can it also be called a Clipper Bow"? I assume these are all post war custom fabrications when the turret was removed. Does anyone have any more information on these variations?

I recognize two of those guys. Bob D and Dave D. That would be back in the Flying Firemen days.