The effort to restore a damaged Canso by a volunteer group in Fairview, AB got a major boost this month from city at the opposite end of the country.
- The Fairview Aircraft Restoration Society now has engines for its Canso thanks to St. Anthony and Stephenville NL.
The cities of St. Anthony and Stephenville in Newfoundland and Labrador just happened to have a set of almost-new Pratt and Whitney 1830s they weren’t using so a cross-Canada swap was negotiated.
The Fairview Aircraft Restoration Society is cleaning up and painting the unserviceable engines it has and will trade them for the flyable ones in a static display Canso in a Stephenville park. The Newfoundland Canso was donated to the town by the provincial government with recently-overhauled engines.
Engines were the last major acquisition the Fairview group needed to get its aircraft into flying condition. It was plucked from a lake in the Northwest Territories and towed, barged and trucked to Fairview several years ago.
It was formerly operated by Buffalo Airways as a water bomber and sank on Sitidgi Lake while scooping water.
The Fairview volunteers have repaired the resulting hull damage and gone through all the other systems but buying replacement engines was financially out of reach.
Under the deal with Stephenville and St. Anthony the Fairview group has agreed to give the eastern communities part of the proceeds if they ever decide to sell the Canso. No date has been set for the aircraft to fly again.