The Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association's 100th Anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada, known as "Back to Baddeck" cross Canada relay made a stop in Edmundston.  Pictured are the crew of Air Canada's 1937 Lockheed L-10A Electra and the Mayor holding the Baton, City Council members and myself .

This picture was taken July 12, 2006 at the very first Edmundston Lancaster Work Days.

Our dedicated crew of six accomplished the following tasks:

1. Engine inspection - all four Merlins had cowlings removed to check for bird infestation, missing parts inventory and photo documentation.  First time since 1986!
2. Propellers and spinners cleaned and repainted.
3. Exterior cleaned and remaining openings in fuselage covered.
4. Bomb bay doors opened and inspected.  These have been closed since 1964/5.  No spares were found but overall condition of original WW2 data plates and post war modifications were excellent.  The AR conversion featured two long range fuel tanks installed in this area but were removed by the RCAF for ferry flight to Edmundston. 

I'll be updating this section with the results from the meeting held last month with Edmundston City Council. Everything went very well and all City Officials attended. There should be major action on KB882 this coming summer, including a complete airframe survey, exterior cleaning, engine inspections, creation of a KB882 society and fund raising activities. WATCH THIS SPACE!

Well, it appears that nearly five years of hard work is starting to pay off! I will be making a final and comprehensive presentation to Edmundston City Council on Monday February 27th. The intent is to provide members a concentrated and complete image of the historical importance of KB882 to Canada, the Commonwealth and the World from an engineering, manufacturing, social, military, aviation and preservation perspective. This should be the final step in securing funding, establishing a non-profit legal entity so that more WORK can begin.

From November 2-7, I spent four days inside KB882 cleaning her from nose to tail. With the assistance of several residents, we removed four very large bags of debris, garbage and incorrect parts from the aircraft. Friday and Saturday saw us removing all remaining RCAF equipment, cleaning, photographing and putting everything into inventory. The City of Edmundston recently purchased another hangar at the airport. It has been allocated for KB882's parts to be housed in the dry and secure property. And there's even HEAT! Which was a good thing because it snowed for two days during my visit. PHOTO's will be along in the near future.