Two chunks of a huge silver plane fill the middle space of a hangar at the BC Aviation Museum.

Boxes and bins line shelves along the walls, filled with bits and bobs B次元官网网址� some that the restoration team isnB次元官网网址檛 sure where they belong, and others sorted to where they figure the parts belong.

ItB次元官网网址檚 presumably all the parts to the 1944 Avro Lancaster Mark 10 shipped to the North Saanich site by the City of Toronto in 2018.

B次元官网网址淲e got a kit,B次元官网网址� explained project lead Gary Powe, joking about the puzzle volunteers have been putting together for years now.

Leaning on existing knowledge, the other remaining 16 around the world, old schematics, math and educated guesses, theyB次元官网网址檙e sorting it all out to get a good static display.

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Built in 1944, at Victory Aircraft Limited in Toronto, the FM104 was sent to the UK in early 1945 but didnB次元官网网址檛 ever see combat. It had been mounted on a concrete slab in a city park for more than three decades.

B次元官网网址淚 have photos of us having picnics under it,B次元官网网址� said Cheryl Thorpe, seated metres away from the nose of the aircraft she once played under.

The FM104 is part of her childhood as a picnic site, and the Lancaster in general, serves as a reminder of the war trauma her father endured B次元官网网址� first serving on a Lancaster as a mid-upper gunner then as a pilot.

B次元官网网址淚t was a miracle he came back because he did 38 missions,B次元官网网址� Thorpe said.

SheB次元官网网址檚 been cleaning bits and bobs of the engine for about five years now B次元官网网址� starting around the time the plane landed at the museum.

Her son Chris Thorpe does similar detailing duty nearby, tackling one of four Merlin engines nearby B次元官网网址� and knows how it works inside and out.

Several of the volunteers buzzing about the room have personal connections to that aspect of the planeB次元官网网址檚 working life.

Ryan GeorgeB次元官网网址檚 grandmother worked on them in the UK. While this one was made in Canada, it still offers that connection to the past.

At the museum, the shop managerB次元官网网址檚 father worked in them, and PoweB次元官网网址檚 own father flew in them.

A woman visited recently who worked riveted wings on Lancasters in the 1940s.

B次元官网网址淚t could well have been on this aircraft,B次元官网网址� Powe said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of family connections with this particular aircraft.B次元官网网址�

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While FM104 didnB次元官网网址檛 ever see combat B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淒uring the war it never had guns in it,B次元官网网址� Powe said B次元官网网址� it did full a full career changing lives. It returned to Canada in June 1945 and was retrofit to become a coastal surveillance and search and rescue plane, amassing 7,000 flying hours until it was retired in 1964.

There were notes in the nose where crew indicated who or what they were searching for, typically in the Arctic, Powe says.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a history angle of it, but I guess also an engineering history of it B次元官网网址� ideas that are still viable or workable today,B次元官网网址� Powe said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e all old geezers, but to get younger people interested in engineering and manufacturing techniques thereB次元官网网址檚 a real value there.B次元官网网址�

This Lancaster wonB次元官网网址檛 likely ever fly again, but thatB次元官网网址檚 not the goal. The idea is to get it looking like it flew a week ago.

Powe hopes to have the floor and pilot seat in place as well as the front instrument panel installed and partially populated by the time the BC Aviation Museum B次元官网网址� packed literally to the rafters with aircraft B次元官网网址� hosts its annual open house in August.

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