Handley Page aircraft parts acquired from Malta en route to

[peter]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On behalf of 57Rescue Canada:

SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE

Aviation enthusiasts discover and return rare WW2 Halifax Bomber parts to Canada
July 10, 2011, Ottawa, Ontario -

The passion of a small but devoted group of Canadian World War II aviation enthusiasts is about to be recognized, when a special cargo container arrives in the port of Montreal on July 20, 2011.
On that day, the ‘Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)’ group will reveal the components of two rare airframes they recovered from a MALTA scrapyard; and explain their intent to use these parts as foundation to restore two Handley Page Halifax bombers. They are doing this to honour the pivotal role of the Halifax with RCAF and RAF Bomber Command during World War II, and to recognize the Halifax as a most rare and special symbol of Canadian sacrifice in Bomber Command.
Of the 10,656 Canadian names on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta, over 7,000 flew on Halifaxes and made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada and the world on this unique aircraft.
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)’s dream of beginning the restoration a Halifax bomber for the Bomber Command Museum of Canada started in 2005 when a worldwide search for a Halifax bomber began. This quest really took flight in 2009, when project manager Karl Kjarsgaard discovered a treasure trove of Halifax-Hastings parts in an unused Maltese scrapyard. The extremely rare pieces consisted of 2 wing centre sections, 4 main landing gears, and 2 Bristol Hercules engines; enough key components for the foundations of two Halifax airframes. While the newly discovered parts were technically from a post-war Handley Page Hastings aircraft, the cores of the Hastings wings were built almost identical to the Halifax wings, so Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) immediately began successful fundraising and subsequent recovery of these parts to Canada.
Now, after two years of hard work and fundraising, this significant find is finally en route by ship to Canada. Upon unloading, the parts will be transported to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa where the next phases of the Halifax Project will begin.
A huge corporate contribution to the start of the Halifax rebuild has already become a reality with SPRUNG INSTANT STRUCTURES Ltd. providing new-build aluminum alloy Halifax main wing spars from Halifax factory blue-prints. This will mark the first time since World War Two that the main spars for the Halifax Bomber have been manufactured using modern technology, from original 1943 blueprints.
Together, the wing parts and landing gear, will become the centerpieces of two starter kits to restore two Halifax Bombers. One of these Halifax airframes is ultimately destined for the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta while the other will be offered to interested museums or warbird historical groups interested in acquiring a rare Halifax.

Currently, there are only 3 restored or intact Halifax bombers in the world out of the 6,100 built. One is at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario, the second at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, England, and the third at the Yorkshire Air Museum in York, England.
Since the inception of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) this historic group has been dedicated to preserving the Handley Page Halifax bomber. The registered charity’s goal is to locate and recover lost Halifax Bombers or their components, and to bring them back home to Canada to be restored and displayed to the general public as a true symbol of excellence, honour, and sacrifice.

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) has the ultimate goal to locate and recover the only RCAF Halifax bomber known to have survived the war, which ditched and sank in deep waters off the coast of Ireland in 1945.
Canada and the RCAF used 1,230 Halifaxes during World War Two.

For more information about these projects and Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) contact:
Karl Kjarsgaard, Project Manager
57rescuecanada@rogers.com
http://www.57rescuecanada.com
In Ottawa, Ontario:
Unit 31C-174 Colonnade Road
Ottawa, ON K2E 7J5

Last edited by peter on Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Dave Cheeseman]

Very cool Peter, thanks for posting.

Cheers Dave C

[k5083]

Great news for Canadians and British warbird-philes.

The reference to warbird historical groups implies these new spars would be airworthy??

August

[JDK]

"...While the newly discovered parts were technically from a post-war Handley Page Hastings aircraft,..."
Or in non-Press Release English, Postwar Handley Page Hastings parts will form the basis of reconstructing two Handley Page Halifaxes.

It's great news and a great achievement, but doesn't deserve to be overcooked.

[old iron]

Yes, we are talking the construction of a reproduction using non-original (to that aircraft type) parts.

Are they intending to build the entire fuselage from scratch? Go to it!

[Tiger Tim]

Sounds like a huge project, hopefully they can see it through to the end.

I wonder if anyone has ever planned a similar project using the wings (and tail?) of a Vickers Viking mated to a new-build Wellington fuselage...

-Tim

[peter]

It is hoped that once Halifax LW170 is recovered,both it and this centre section and wing landing gear parts will be incorporated into a static display Halifax bomber.

[peter]

If anyone wishes to see the rest of the parts and pictures please go to the following website link.
http://57rescuecanada.com/PhotoAlbums/album_1310595551/

[John Dupre]

Isn't there a Halifax in the UK that was built up in part with Hastings components? Could these new projects ever fly?

[peter]

The Halifax in the UK is a composite new build and hastings halifax parts. No neither of these projects would be able to fly.

[Andy in West Oz]

Great news. The more the Halifax is physically represented in museums the better. Good luck to them.

[Steve Nelson]

Cool stuff! I got to see the Halifax at Trenton a few years ago..what a magnificent beast! What surprised me was the sheer size of the aircraft..it may be because it's a taildragger and the main gear is so tall, but it looked bigger (or at least taller) than most of the other aircraft in its class (Lanc, Fort, or Lib.)

SN

[marine air]

It looks like a great start!

[peter]

Latest update is that the container arrived and it has been unloaded at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa for storage pending restoration rebuild.

A nice surprise upon opening the container was a large cardboard sign that reads


Quote:
OP HAYSTACK
MALTA

over to you boys, Best of Luck!
Op Hallybag, Canada
Mario


Mario and his group were instrumental in doing the hard work of removing bolts and drilling rivets to break these sections down into their component parts to fit in the container.

See the following links..
http://www.ottawasun.com/2011/07/26/...land-at-museum

And here: Video has some audio issues..

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Vi...902/story.html

[peter]

SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE – OCTOBER 21, 2011

Huge cache of Bristol Hercules engines with spare parts discovered and recovered from a World War 2 bunker.

HALIFAX 57 RESCUE (CANADA) is pleased to announce that, in its world-wide search for all things Halifax for the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA in Nanton, Alberta, a major collection of 4 Bristol Hercules engines and several tons of spare parts were discovered and recovered from a bunker built in World War 2 in Terrace, B.C.

Thanks to the generousity and cooperation of Hawkair management and staff a deal was worked out for the Bomber Command Museum to receive all their Bristol Hercules engines, parts, and tools as a major contribution to the museum’s HALIFAX PROJECT.

Over the past 4 weeks a special operation to bring these rare engines and parts to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada was directed by Karl Kjarsgaard and his Halifax 57 Rescue crew, who travelled 3 times to Terrace to gather, box, and prepare these rare engines and parts for shipment to Nanton, Alberta. This shipment arrived and was unloaded today at our museum.

See below the first view of our Halifax 57 Rescue crew to see the BRISTOL BUNKER in Terrace – member Jonathan Kjarsgaard inspecting !




This is no ordinary collection of Bristol Hercules engines nor ordinary gathering of Hercules spare parts!

Even in England where these 1700 horsepower monsters were built to power the Halifax , Stirling, and Wellington bombers, as well as post-war transports like the Hastings, Bristol Freighter, and Vickers Varsity it is only rarely seen that a single complete Hercules comes available for sale.

See below the photo of all the spare parts gathered just before boxing and shipping to Nanton – H57R(C) member Clint Cawsey and Karl Kjarsgaard survey the goodies.



The numerous spare cylinders, heads, pistons, and sleeves are in great shape and we are taking stock of numbers and condition for future use in rebuilding these engines. Also, we will be trading with Bristol engines restorers, collectors, and museums of the world in order to maximize our Halifax Project inventory and resources at the Bomber Command Museum of
Canada.

Along with the 2 Bristol Hercules engines recovered from the scrapyard in Malta in July 2011 our Nanton museum (now with a total of 6 Hercules) must arguably have the biggest collection of Bristol Hercules engines in North America. Now with the several tons of spares we recovered this week we certainly could be called “Hercules heaven”, if you were in need of a reliable source when looking for rare or missing Hercules engine parts.

Not only will we begin rebuilding the wing sections and landing gear recovered from Malta with our new manufactured Halifax main spars but we have already started to form a “Hercules engine rebuild team” at the Bomber Command Museum.

With our Merlin engine rebuilding team leading the way at Nanton (they are all ready to run their 3rd Merlin for our Lanc) we will begin the new project of rebuilding our batch of Bristol Hercules engines to running standard. We hope to have the first Hercules running by the summer of 2012 as we have some fine engineers volunteering for such a unique task with Hercules experts in the UK standing by to advise us in our refurbishment efforts.

We will do whatever it takes to get the job done. This “Herculean gift” will not be taken for granted as we move forward in the HALIFAX PROJECT.

Currently, there are only 3 restored or intact Halifax bombers in the world out of the 6,100 built. One is at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario, the second at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, England, and the third at the Yorkshire Air Museum in York, England.

Since the inception of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) this historic group has been dedicated to preserving the Handley Page Halifax bomber and the heritage of this historic heavy bomber. The registered charity’s goal is to locate and recover lost Halifax Bombers or their components, and to bring them back home to Canada to be restored and displayed to the general public at the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA in Nanton, Alberta as a true symbol of excellence, honour, and sacrifice of our Bomber Command warriors and veterans.

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) urgently needs your donations to support the rebuilding phase of the wings and engines for the HALIFAX PROJECT. See our contact information below for all who wish to support this worthy cause.

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) has the ultimate goal to locate and recover the only RCAF Halifax bomber known to have survived the war, HALIFAX LW170, which ditched and sank in deep waters off the coast of Ireland in 1945. More important news on this quest will be reported in the weeks to come as great plans are being made for 2012.

Canada and the RCAF used 1,230 Halifaxes during World War Two with 70% of all RCAF combat operations on the Halifax.

See below as the first of four Hercules engines is unloaded for display and restoration in the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA.


[Photo courtesy of Doug Bowman]


For more information about these projects and Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) contact:Karl Kjarsgaard - Project Manager57rescuecanada@rogers.comwww.57r ... nada.comIn Ottawa, Ontario:Unit 31C-174 Colonnade RoadOttawa, ON K2E 7J5Phone: 613-863-1942 or 613-226-4884 In Nanton, Alberta:PO Box 606Nanton, AB T0L 1R0Phone: 403-603-8592