Mosquito could be shipped out of Canada

Kyt · Jan 25, 2008

Vintage warplane could be shipped out of Canada

One of only five Second World War de Havilland Mosquito bombers left in Canada is in danger of being sold to a British buyer, a Calgary aviation buff warns.

Hundreds of Alberta servicemen in the Royal Canadian Air Force flew the twin-engine aircraft during the Second World War. One even crashed into the Calgary airport control tower during a victory tour in May 1945.

Only five remain in Canada, including a restored one in Edmonton and one that has sat in storage in a Kensington warehouse since being acquired by the City of Calgary in the '60s.

Calgary's Aero Space Museum is in charge of looking after the warplane and one of its founding members said Wednesday that there is a deal underway to sell it.

"It [the museum] has recommended to city council that they sell the de Havilland Mosquito airplane to a buyer in the U.K. for $1.5 million with half a million dollars of that coming back to the museum," said aviation buff Richard de Boer.

Neither the museum nor the City of Calgary would comment on the plane and its fate, but Ald. Gord Lowe, who sits on the museum's board, confirmed it has been the subject of many recent closed-door meetings.

De Boer said he believes the museum wants to use some of the proceeds from selling the Mosquito to restore a Hawker Hurricane, which is also currently in storage.

"This organization is dependent on selling artifacts and that must stop," said de Boer.

The city turned down an offer by the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum to restore and house the Mosquito for free.

Lowe said he feels the Mosquito has little connection to Calgary.

"The aircraft was actually built after the war. It was built for the RAF. It was built in England, was flown by the RAF for a very short period of time and then sold," said Lowe. "[The Hurricane] has the potential to be restored to be a very significant artifact."

De Boer said the city should let other museums restore the planes and keep both in Alberta to honour Canadian veterans.

There will be a public debate on the Mosquito's future at city hall later this year, but de Boer said he's prepared to ask the Department of Canadian Heritage to block any sale on cultural grounds.
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Antipodean Andy · Jan 25, 2008

This trade in warbirds is an international thing and is all swings and roundabouts. No one likes seeing aircraft leave their shores, but it happens and this will certainly benefit the Hurri...and who knows what this "collector" planst to do with the Mossie?!

Kyt · Mar 14, 2008

City balks at sale of museum's vintage plane

A proposal to sell a Second World War-era plane encountered turbulence at a city committee Wednesday, with aldermen opposed to the vintage Mosquito leaving the country.

But members of the Aero Space Museum -- which orchestrated the proposed sale in exchange for its Hawker Hurricane being restored and an endowment fund for future restorations -- said the offer is the best chance for both planes.

"We have two boxes of junk that will never move," said Gord Lowe, an alderman who spoke to the committee as a private member of the museum's board, of the two planes.

"The Hurricane will stay in a box, it's a huge loss to Albertans and to Calgarians," Lowe said.

The committee heard the Mosquito and the Hurricane are in storage, with pieces in cardboard boxes.

A number of airplane enthusiasts appeared before the committee to express concern about letting go of the de Havilland Mosquito Mark 35 -- which was built in England after the Second World War and came to Canada in the mid-1950s to be used for photo mapping.

"This is about one thing and one thing only. Money," said Richard de Boer, who used to sit on the museum's board. "They need the money to fund ongoing operations."

Some argued that volunteers could restore the Mosquito and pointed to an offer from the Nanton Lancaster Air Museum to take the plane on loan and put it back into shape.

"If the Mosquito were to go to Nanton, we'd repair it at our own charge. We have the skills, we have the ability. I feel the plane should not leave Canada," said one man, who volunteers at the Nanton museum.

The dogfight over the deal boils down to how best to preserve both planes, which have been neglected for decades.

"What we're weighing here is the high cost of doing nothing," said Erika Hargesheimer, the city's general manager of community and protective services.

Lowe and the museum board argue the Hurricane -- built in Montreal in 1942, based with the RCAF's 133 Squadron in Lethbridge and used to fly home defence missions off the West Coast during the war -- has more heritage value and that leveraging the Mosquito can provide long-term stability for the museum.

"The museum is struggling to maintain its current collection, struggling to restore other aircraft in our collection, struggling to maintain our education program," Lowe said.

The majority of the committee opposed selling the plane overseas. But the actual recommendations being voted on weren't related to approval of a sale.

It will go to city council March 17.
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The Calgary Sun - Museum stung over decision to keep Mosquito

The plan to sell a vintage Second World War aircraft to an overseas collector was grounded by a city committee yesterday.

The community and protective services committee shot down a scheme to sell a city-owned de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber to a buyer in the U.K.

Under the deal, the buyer would have restored a Hawker Hurricane and handed over a substantial cash donation.

The deal, worth a reported $1.5 million, would have seen the other city-owned aircraft returned, along with an endowment that would help the struggling Aerospace Museum of Calgary continue to operate.

But the notion of the classic bomber flying off to a foreign country, never to return, saw the plan scrapped in a 4-3 vote.

Committee members did call for a report on alternate options, however.

The decision angered Ald. Gord Lowe, who appeared before the committee as a member of the museum, not as a council member.

He felt the decision will see both planes remain stored in boxes. "The Mosquito, in my view, cannot be restored in its current condition -- it will be patched up, glued up, kibbled together and it might stand up for awhile, but it's not a museum piece," he said.

"The Hurricane, which was my real focus in this endeavour, will stay in a box and that's, in my view, a huge loss to Albertans and Calgarians."

He blamed a small group of aircraft enthusiasts for scuttling the plan by bombarding aldermen with suggestions there may be a local home for the Mosquito.
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morse1001 · Mar 14, 2008

I think that they should do what is best for the museum and collection in the long run. No doubt the Mossie will be well kept by its new wners and who knows we might be graced by its presence in the Display arena!

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