Warbird Information Exchange

Nearly two years ago, volunteers set out with “incredible optimism and naivety” on a mission to raise $800,000 to restore two vintage aircraft that had been collecting dust in city warehouses for decades.

On Wednesday, the Calgary Mosquito Aircraft Preservation Society announced it had reached its fundraising goal, six weeks before deadline.

It’s the latest development in a story that has spanned years, long divided city council, and included a public tug of water between local airplane enthusiasts and an overseas buyer.

“The theme here is yahoo,” said Richard de Boer, president of the Calgary Mosquito Aircraft Preservation Society.

“With the help of so many people we’ve accomplished perhaps what is the last stumbling point to accomplishing all of our goals.”

The society was formed in 2007 in an effort to keep the city’s rare Second World War de Havilland Mosquito and Hawker Hurricane airplanes in Calgary and restore both aircraft. “The airplanes both have a tremendous Canadian history to them. They both started out as military airplanes during the Second World War,” said de Boer.

The airplane enthusiast said nearly 8,000 Mosquito aircraft were built and only 30 remain in the world, two of which are still able to fly. More than 14,000 Hurricanes were built and today there are less than 40 worldwide.

In 2012, the City of Calgary agreed to let the society manage restoring the rare airplanes to museum quality.

The society was given two years to raise $800,000 in cash, labour and donations in kind, and the city agreed to match that amount, bringing the total amount that will go the restoration $1.6 million.

The decision to keep the planes in Calgary was greeted with great disappointment by an Englishman who had put a major offer on the table for the Mosquito, which was built in 1946.

“It was a very contentious situation,” said de Boer.

Coun. Jim Stevenson, who helped craft a recommendation to keep both aircraft in the city in 2011, said he’s long believed the society would come up with the funds and he’s pleased they’ve accomplished just that.

“We put our trust in them and they’ve come through,” Stevenson said.

“That’s important to me because at the time there was quite a split on council about whether or not they could actually do it.”

Raising nearly $1 million was no easy feat and involved a lot of work from dedicated volunteers who tapped into a range of resources.

“This has been nothing been incredible optimism and naivety from Day 1,” said de Boer.

“I had no idea how to raise $800,000 but I knew it was important enough that I would dedicate my resources, my self and inspire others to jump on board and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”

While the society will now subcontract the Hurricane restoration to a Wetaskiwin company, society volunteers have been restoring the Mosquito at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton since 2012.

Passionate volunteers, who range in age from children to octogenarians, have already dedicated hundreds of hours to restoring the Mosquito and it’s expected the work will take at least another five years.

“In essence, we’ve inherited a parts collection that used to be a Mosquito,” said de Boer of the time-consuming work.

Once the Hurricane and Mosquito are restored, the airplanes will be returned to the City of Calgary and put on display.