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The 'Yahoo, and Bring on Summer' Report from the Calgary Mosquito Society!
Hey Mosquito and Hurricane fans! Mucho on the go this past quarter and almost all of it good. For one thing, we set a record for volunteer hours in a quarter. Yea you! Between board members doing board (bored?) things, tweaking the Hurricane engine and restoring the Mosquito, our fine volunteers invested 2306 hours, just in the past three months. Wow! That beats our previous record for a quarter by 300 hours. If you think of one person working 40 hours a week, 2306 hours is over 57 weeks' work or 14.4 months. That is a lot of hours.
Want to hear something even more impressive? Since we began working on the airplanes in August 2012, our dedicated devotees have put in over 82,930 hours. That is big; very big. What a devoted gang we have supporting our vision. Thank you, and read on to find out what we are accomplishing with all of these hours.
Hurricane
We met with Sean Roach from the City, as well as board, staff and volunteers from the Hangar Flight Museum on April 23 to talk about issues concerning the Hurricane, such as us reinstalling the running engine, ongoing maintenance, a first public run event and future runs. Their staff and board members indicated that they had to get agreement from Eagle Helicopters to use the ramp on the north side of their building and consult with their insurance carriers about having a fueled and runnable airplane on the premises. There were also discussions about a tow bar and tug to move the airplane to and from the ramp. We were asked to delay installing the engine until after their Father's Day event, June 21. That date was further pushed to late July because of a delay in rafter repairs on the building.
At their request, we will be meeting with the Hangar's Hurricane committee again on July 9th.
The engine itself is now in excellent running condition. We did a couple of runs in May, but found a magneto was not doing proper magneto things and that the engine was overheating after just 4 or 5 minutes. Dick S. and grandson Jordan F., under the watchful eye of Bomber Command's prime Lanc guy, Dr. Brian Taylor, spent the better part of an afternoon retiming one magneto and changing a couple of sparkplugs. The overheating issue seems to have been resolved with a high pressure radiator cap.
At left is Jordan F. who started with us in 2012 when he was just 8. He is about to begin his second year at SAIT toward his Aircraft Maintenance Engineering license. Here he is adding some Merlin time to his training log. 'Grandpa' Dick S. is helping with mag timing and plug changing. At right, is Zach M. learning and providing encouragement.
Good lord willing and the crick don't rise, we will move the engine to the Hangar Flight Museum and begin reinstalling it, the week of July 20.
The first of two runs on June 6th with Davey D. on the throttle and Dick S. on the fuel. Both runs went very well with not a single drop of any fluid escaping from the engine. The troublesome magneto also seems to have been cured as well. Great work guys!
Mosquito
Jack McWilliam
We shall call this quarterly account the chicken or the egg report in reference to how things are coming and going together.
The wing trailing edge is the next major project on our journey to bring this girl back to life, now that the upper skin replacements are complete. 'New hire' Al P. has done a beautiful job building what we have nicknamed the 'stairway to heaven.' Using all of our old scaffolding and benches, Al built an escalating series of long run steps along the upper surface of the port wing so as to give us easy access to the rear wing spar, upon which we will reconstruct the trailing edge. This elongated stairway runs from the port wingtip to the wing's center section. When the port side trailing edge is finished, the 'stairway to heaven' can be reversed and moved to the starboard side to repeat the process.
As Jack refers to him, this is 'new hire' Al P., working on the last section of his 'stairway to heaven', a series of steps that will allow the crew access to the rear spar on which we will build the trailing edge. Welcome aboard Al. Great work.
Having completed the stairway work platform, Al was concerned about his next job from the seemingly bottomless job jar, whereupon master wood guy and chief 'wingman' Gary T. dropped a stack of trailing edge blueprints in Al's lap. Al was last seen leaning over the prints late into the night, by candlelight, with a Tim Horton in hand and a frown upon his brow.
As with the top surface of the wing, the trailing edge was badly weathered and deteriorated from its time outdoors when in the care of 410 Squadron at Cold Lake in 1990. Most of the wood for the trailing edge will have to be replaced, but the trailing edge is also a maze of mechanical components as well.
Gary T. went home with the drawings and returned with a plan to build up the trailing edge on the wing itself, but without permanently attaching it until the whole assembly is complete. This is where the aforementioned chicken and egg enter the picture. The copper bonding straps have to be attached to the rear spar before the trailing edge can be attached. But then the egg jumps up and says, 'we need to paint the aft spar face before the copper goes on.' And then another egg jumps in to ask when structural pieces, such as aileron and flap attach brackets get secured to the trailing edge. (The next Mosquito restoration is going to be so much easier...).
Once these components and structure come together, we will need to feed the plumbing through the trailing edge ribs. Alan W. and Colette P. have been cleaning those pieces for the better part of a year.
Above, Alan W. and Colette P. at the seemingly never ending and oh so glamorous job of scraping, cleaning and polishing bits. Below is Gary T. using the newly completed 'stairway to heaven' to develop a plan for restoring and installing the trailing edge.
From the trailing edge we move to the under side of the wing where Michael H. is sorting out the conduits and brackets for re-installation in their respective fuel tank and undercarriage bays. Anything literally out of shape goes to Dick S. for straightening, which has been a time consuming and delicate job, requiring strength, ingenuity and patience.
In late June we unpacked a box of beautiful new felt from Florian and Marina at Brand Felt in Mississauga, ON for installation in our fuel tank area for shimming and securing the fuel tanks. In Richard's soon to be published story about former Spartan camera operator Roger Tessier, the significance of the felt is illustrated in dramatic fashion, so from my perspective, Florian and Marina supplied us with an unexpectedly critical material.
Jack M. and Michael H. look over the newly acquired stock of felt from Brand Felt. It took a long time to find a supplier that could provide the proper density and colours. The felt is used to hold and buffer the fuel tanks securely in their bays. (And if you don't think that is important, read Richard's story in the August issue of AEROPLANE)
Another group that has stepped up to the plate to give us a hand by machining new screws, are the guys at Talnea Machining, specifically Simon, Dillon and Lindsey. We required a number of 3 inch long, #4BA, screws with countersunk heads. After months of searching, I had all but given up until I discovered this group who were willing to take it on. They completed an impeccable job and are now working on shouldered bolts for the main landing gear, as well as screws for the stress panels on the underside of the wings. All of this is necessitated by the fact that 80 year old screws, embedded in wood, are often half gone due to corrosion.
A clear illustration of why we need new bolts and screws: Old v. New. A big thanks to Talnea Machining for these. Lots of shops are capable, but a number turned us down because of the small quantity required.
We also owe thanks to Josh at Arron Machine Shop, who took the time to extract a small screw from the piston on one of our flap rams. Despite having 7 flap rams and needing just two, this one had to be saved at all cost as it was our best of the batch. The balance are badly corroded because of the dissimilar metals (aluminum and steel), mixed with a touch of old school hydraulic fluid.
The rams have been re-chromed and we yet need to clean up the threads. We will send the cylinders out for electrolytic nickel plating as soon as I can get at it.
The easy explanation as to why we need to re-chrome the flap ram cylinders.
Anodizing is already set up for the end caps and pistons. After many months of Saturdays, I think Trevor J. is getting bored with these components, but we are coming to a close with them.
The infamous pin in the flap ram piston above. Below is a whole assembly machined by our very talented Gary T. in an attempt to make a puller for that stubborn pin. In the end we went to Arron Machine Shop for the fix.
Last note in the wing department is to mention the good work of Cam B. and Davey D. in disassembling and painting aileron components.
On Saturdays Don H. climbs into the rear fuselage and is often not seen again for the balance of the day. We can assume he is busy restoring the camera bay and camera operator station, as well as the systems in the back end of the fuselage.
Both Don H. in the rear, and Andy W. in the front end are having bracket issues in their respective corners of the fuselage. As well, welding is a bit of an issue for us as we don't have an aluminum welder in the group.
Andy W. continues the job of hunting for avionics, communications and navigation components for the fuselage. eBay has been a good source for some, and we again owe thanks to the Bomber Command Museum for allowing us access to their storage and spares department to source some of these parts. They couldn't make it any smoother and easier. If they have it and don't need it, but we do, its ours: Done and done. Big thanks to curator Karl K. and Dr. Brian Taylor. The Hangar Flight Museum has in their storage area some Nav-Comm components for the Mosquito, but we have been waiting for access for over nine months now. Overall, we are still looking for 41 of the 109 pieces necessary to complete these systems.
Some of the latest acquisitions by Andy W. for the navigation and communications systems on the airplane. eBay has proven to be a good source with pieces coming from around the world. As well, the good folks at the Bomber Command Museum have been very easy to deal with as well as very generous and allowing us to access and use goodies in their spares department.
Not directly Mosquito related, but I want to acknowledge the tremendous work done by Dave A., Steve S. and a gaggle of our younger volunteers in tackling the tear down of the Bomber Command Museum's Merlin 68 engine. This includes Andrew S., Matthew S. Zach M. and Jordan F. The boys, with some adult supervision, have been at it for over a year, fighting the technical challenges, complicated by a tremendous amount of corrosion on an engine that sat in a damp climate in an unsealed can for many decades. It's been great to see them take on the challenge and work together with a shared sense of pride and joy; an impressive piece of work.
Here the 'Wise Master', aka Dave A., imparts his many decades of mystical learnings on a gaggle of young apprentices: Andrew S., Zach M. and Jordan F. as they work to tear down a Merlin 68.
Events and Miscellaneous
The Hangar asked our VP Jack M. to help identify some of their surplus spares stock, which included Cessna Crane, Anson and B-25 parts. Jack and Davey D. ended up hauling three loads down to the Bomber Command Museum.
It's event season at Bomber Command which included May 16th's 40th Anniversary event, June 6th's Rocky Mountain Model Club Display and Contest and June 20th's Open Cockpit & Indigenous Peoples Day, all of which featured the usual engine runs, talks, cake, and hundreds of visitors on each occasion.
Top is the poster for the museum's 40th Anniversary event on May 16th. Bottom, a scene from the June 6 Rocky Mountain Model Club Contest and Show event. On these days, we fulfill the 'Honour and Educate' part of our mandate by talking to the many visitors about the Mosquito and Hurricane.
Upcoming, and of great interest to our group, is Mosquito Celebration Day on July 18th.
Upcoming, and of great interest to our group, is Mosquito Celebration Day on July 18th. Over the past couple of years, it has turned out to be one of the best attended events on the Museum's calendar. As usual, it will feature engine runs, including our Hurricane Merlin, a restoration update by Jack M. and a 1 pm talk by Prez Richard about how a Mosquito ended up in Nanton, AB.
We also have another fundraising casino coming up on August 21 and 22. Thanks to board member Michael H. for all the organizing, paperwork and volunteer chasing.
In the last quarter we have added several articles to our website about Spartan Air Services and their use of the Mosquito. These were sourced from a variety of publications such as Air International and the Canadian Aviation Historical Society journals and provide a comprehensive history of the world leading Canadian company that flew our airplane. Thanks to our Communications Director Brian C. for getting those posted. You can check them out here: https://www.calgarymosquitosociety.com/home.htm We'll be adding three or four more over the next couple of months.
The article by Prez Richard in AEROPLANE, about Spartan Air Services camera operator Roger Tessier comes out in mid-July and can be ordered online in digital form, or hardcopy at: https://www.key.aero/aeroplanemonthly#waystobuy Copies won't hit the newsstands in Canada until late August or early September as they are now literally sent overseas by slow boat. Along with an annual restoration report, we have the cover story and 9 pages. AEROPLANE editor Ben Dunnell said of the article, "It really is one of the best I think we've run for a long time. Splendid stuff." Yea us!
An original illustration of our airplane graces the cover of the August edition of AEROPLANE magazine, which features the story of Spartan camera operator Roger Tessier, as well as an annual restoration update report. Coming soon to a newsstand near you!
In March we were contacted by Peter Roberts, the president of the Mosquito Aircraft Association of Australia, to inform us that due to changes in Royal Australian Air Force policy, their group would no longer be allowed to restore the Mosquito held by the RAAF, and were thus winding down their affairs and disbanding. They used the balance of their funds to publish a book on the Mosquito's Australian story; the history of production, use by their air force and the story of their individual airframe. They offered to send us up to 25 copies at no charge and would not let us cover even the transportation costs. It is an excellent book of nearly 500 pages. We have sold almost all to devoted members of our group. It's a bittersweet end for a devoted group of volunteers.
In mid June four of our board members attended the annual convention of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society in Kelowna, BC. For the first time in over 65 years, the convention was co-sponsored and organized by another organization, Aviation Cultures out of Australia. The whole thing was hosted by the KF Centre for Excellence, owners of Mosquito sister ship, CF-HML. They were good enough to roll their Mosquito outside and fire it up for us. Lots of good presentations and papers and a great opportunity to mix, mingle and connect with aviation history and aviation museum people across Canada and around the world. We were thrilled to make contact with a group in Australia that not only has a Mosquito, but has a sizeable quantity of original plans for the type.
Top, Jack M., and Bruce G. enjoy the sight of former Spartan sister ship, CF-HML firing up as part of the CAHS convention in Kelowna, BC. Below, Prez Richard delivers the opening presentation on the first day of the three day event which was attended by over 70 aviation historians and museum personnel from across Canada and Australia.
Onward summer!
Richard de Boer, President
July 8, 2026
Website - Calgary Mosquito Aircraft Society
