CF-100

[Guest]

Aviation museum seeks help from city to save crumbling Cold War-era jet

 

Yolande Cole

Updated: October 1, 2018

The Avro CF-100 Canuck on display at the Hanger Flight Museum in Calgary. Gavin Young/Postmedia

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Directors of a local aviation museum are hoping to see the city step in to help protect a historic aircraft from further deterioration.

Jim Williams, the chair of the board of directors of the Hangar Flight Museum, said the CF-100 Canuck displayed outside the building in northeast Calgary is “in pretty rough shape.”

“You can see what the elements have done over time,” Williams said. “There are certainly holes in the airframe that would need to be repaired, and some deterioration, especially on the wings of the aircraft.”

That deterioration has come from decades spent on display outside. Earlier this month, Williams told city councillors about the plane’s current state. In the short-term, he proposes moving the aircraft inside to prevent further damage.

“That’s one of the things we’re working on actually right now, is to find a location for it,” Williams said. “It has to be obviously big enough to house an aircraft, so a hangar or other facility.”

Ideally, the organization hopes to find somewhere where the city-owned asset can be restored — a project that Williams describes as a big and expensive challenge. He is hoping such an effort could be supported jointly through the city and through fundraising.

“In the meantime, we’re trying to work with the city and on our own to develop a plan that will allow us to deal with this aircraft before it gets worse,” he said. “That’s the goal, and I think that’s the city’s goal too. They don’t want it to deteriorate any more than it already is.”

The CF-100 has an important history in Canada, Williams said. The plane served with No. 440 RCAF “Bat” Squadron at Bagotville, Que., in 1953 before it was converted to a dual control trainer and assigned to an operational training unit at North Bay, Ont.

Corrosion has eaten away the fuselage of the The Avro CF-100. Gavin Young/Postmedia

The aircraft was acquired by the No. 783 Wing (Calgary) RCAF Association in 1963 and was later donated to what was then known as the Aero Space Museum.

The Canuck was the only fighter designed and built in Canada that made it into service, according to the museum.

“(The CF-100) was the predecessor to the Avro Arrow … and was certainly an aircraft that was flown widely by the Royal Canadian Air Force, both here in Canada and overseas in the early days of the Cold War,” Williams said.

“And this particular aircraft happens to be one of the older ones still around. There are a few of them scattered around the country on display, outside primarily some air force bases across the country, but this is certainly an old aircraft with a lot of history behind it.”

Here is a goto to the video interview:

https://globalnews.ca/video/4858058/cf-100-canuck-aircraft-restoration-project-update/

[boestar]

Here is a thought.  align with SAIT and have their Aircraft Structures students do some of the work to drill off the old skins and install new ones.  This accomplishes both training and the refurbishment of the aircraft.

 

[J.O.]

I thought "bot training" was a Russian initiative.

[Kip Powick]

In a nutshell...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice the degradation of the aircraft prior to this time.

Preventative maintenance could have alleviated the situation they now find themselves in.

Gonna be expensive

[Fido]

On 1/17/2019 at 9:25 AM, Malcolm said:

hoping to see the city step in

 

You want it You pay for it

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Fido said:

      On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 9:25 AM, Malcolm said:

hoping to see the city step in

 

Actually I never said "hoping to see the city step in". I for one don't care if the carcass is refurbished  or not.  Those who do can pony up. No money from us tax payers.