Hamilton, Ontario Canada — The story of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s flying Lancaster, one of only two currently flying in the world, is legendary to say the least. From 1977 when “FM213” was acquired from the Royal Canadian Legion in Goderich to 1988 when it was first flown restored as “KB726 – the Mynarski Memorial Lancaster” to today where it has completed 24 years of museum flight operations; the Lancaster has been the worthy recipient of thousands of museum supporters, who have all made this dream possible.
The Lancaster was built by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario in 1945 at the current home of Lester B. Pearson International Airport by Canadians and is the crown jewel of the museum’s flying collection. This iconic aircraft has been flown coast to coast in memory of the thousands of Canadian airmen, ground crew and civilian workers at home who served our country in the time of need and has inspired many new generations of Canadians to learn about this era of sacrifice.
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum intends to fly the Lancaster well into the future and carry on with this important mission, but we need you to help us accomplish our worthy task. As we approach our 25th year of flight operations in 2013, we are at a point where the four mighty Packard Merlin 224 engines are nearing the end of their operating life and will need to be overhauled in a planned sequence. The museum already has all the professional contacts in place with the two engine overhaul facilities that have the capability to overhaul these V12 engines. We will be able to operate the Lancaster throughout the planned overhaul sequence, but the costs of these engine overhauls and specialty work is significant.
In order to overhaul the four engines in succession will cost the museum in excess of $500,000 but will allow us to safely operate our Lancaster well into the future and prevent the premature grounding of this iconic aircraft. With your continued faithful financial support of the “Lancaster Engine Overhaul Appeal”, we can raise these funds necessary to keep the “Mynarski Memorial Lancaster” in our Canadian skies for many, many years to come. We hope you will please help us by saying yes to this appeal for funds and that you will also know that by doing so you are a very important part of the continuing great legacy of the Lancaster and her flying salute to perhaps the “Greatest Generation of Canadians” to ever serve our country.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE LANCASTER “KEEP US FLYING” CAMPAIGN.