Canada's Largest Air Force Base, CFB Trenton, is Home to the National Air Force Muesum of Canada. (Part 1: The Resurrection of the Halifax Bomber.)
In order for me to take you inside the National Air Force Museum of Canada, we must go onto the Military base itself. It is located within the city of Quinte West, Trenton ward, Ontario Canada. The base is protected by different levels of security, including its own Military police force so we will be respecting all their rules and regulations.
(I don't think that civilians can be court martialed, but I don't want to test my luck.)
No stopping outside the air field is permitted. The best I could do was to take a drive-by photo, for you. The base itself sits on over a 1,000 acres and the entire perimeter is fenced and monitored for National Security purposes.
I can, however, take you right into the National Air Force Museum which is located on the base and is a virtual treasure trove of aviation and Military Air Force history.
It is home to the Handley Page Halifax bomber. It's the World's only known surviving bomber of its kind from World War II.
It has been dug out and exhumed, after being buried at the bottom of a lake in Norway called Lake Mjosa, 750+ feet under water.
Painstakingly restored by over a 100 volunteers, many of whom had flown in one during the war, it took 10 years to restore and 350,000 man hours to bring it back to life.
70% of the bomber was intact when it was brought out of the lake after it had been under water for over 50 years.
It is remarkable.
The complete restoration is well documented and there are several videos.
This particular video was uploaded to YouTube on Mar. 6th, 2009 by Thierrydamilano.
The Halifax Bomber has 4 engines. Each one, once started boast 1700 horse power.
This is a framed newspaper article that was printed by a local paper and now hangs beside the Halifax.
It's a very large plane and often the pilot and crew were flying it in the dark in temperatures reaching -40 degrees F.
It was cold.
This shows an exhaust pipe which would also provide heat for the cabin.
Giant wheels.
Bomb bay doors open.
Machine guns.
Silk parachute with cords still intact.
Remnants of a self sealing fuel cell.
The expanse of the body of the plane, getting close to the back of the plane.
The back of the plane with its machine guns.
A closer look at those big guns:
The entire Halifax Bomber from the back:
The entire Halifax Bomber from the front:
It's an absolutely fantastic restoration, worth making the time to see and a labour of love for many.
The Halifax Bomber was mainly flown by Canadians and was a true workhorse of World War II. It's a huge part of our Canadian aviation history.
This is a little Cessna and me. ;)
Thank you for joining me on a tour of the extremely rare, Halifax Bomber.
I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.
~ Rebecca Ryan
Thanks so much for another of your great travel/interest posts. From canoes to aircraft. I've always enjoyed these types of museums...spent many an hour in the Air and Space Museum in DC. Would like to visit and see this one day as well.
Thank you for commenting and remembering about the canoes @ddschteinn!
I'm doing my best to try and document what I have in my "backyard" that is interesting. You could easily spend 4 hours at this museum. They have a large out-door section too.
Great you are cataloguing the neighborhood. And fun too. I can imagine spending a long time in this museum...I once spent 8 hours in your wonderful Miniature Museum in Victoria. Gave me a free pass for next time as an appreciation award. Probably get out of this one after a couple of days! Have a nice New Years.
I love your story @ddschteinn!
I can relate. I am a sponge when it comes to learning through a Museum's efforts. It does take time to really understand the significance of what you are observing and understand the stories that support it.
This was really interesting! Thanks for posting about these planes.
Thanks for taking the time to read it and comment @justtryme90.
I'm not an aviation buff or a war historian but the effort that was put into the restoration of saving this piece of "world history" is mind-blowing and I was keen to preserve it on the blockchain.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
That's the base where I became a member of the Royal Canadian Legion. It was during the time of the height of my activism locally -- and when I was harassed by the fascist #PoliceState in Oshawa (video proof on my YT channel) standing up for veterans, holding a Canadian flag in the rain - yes, the police and city hall again involved in this nonsense because.... #Fascists
In addition to my other posts to you about your themes on this recently -- the airport lands 2 mins N. of my house w the Military themed museum and tanks -- also have a large plane like this on a stand out front of the RCAF 420 Wing. where I was the Executive Secretary for awhile.
yes, the wing here is numbered 420 lol
Hahaha! Well I can tell you what I'd be doing outside 420...
Write about what you know and what is near and dear to your heart so at the very least it can be preserved on the blockchain.
I didn't know that we had a training camp for international espionage... if that's what happened there.
Yep, 100%.
I was an activist on this cause and that is how I met many people connected to this, trying to preserve this part of our heritage is the LSS.
Official website for Lynn and Camp X is here -- it gets lost with all the info online. I guess I know more than the average person about this angle of things.
http://camp-x.com/
http://www.cbc.ca/xcompany/
Definitely go back here or elsewhere - find the first episode of X Company -- watch it and if you like it -- you have a good overview of the whole scenario. I would encourage that for anyone with interests in these types of things. If you pause the credits at the end of each show --- you will see my friend LPH I am talking about named as official consultant for the show. I always get a kick out of that. He always appreciated the help of anyone who helped him or donated or promoted this cause for Camp X.