At first glance, the assignment must have seemed like something out of a Mission Impossible movie, but one even Tom Cruise would refuse to take on: Trek into the wilderness north of the Arctic Circle, retrieve a broken plane marooned on the edge of a remote, frozen lake, and find a way to drag it out of the bush some 2,500 kilometres back to civilization.
Oh, and do it in early spring when temperatures are still hovering around -40 C.
Sound like a fool’s errand?
Not to Don Wieben, a vintage airplane enthusiast who has restored a number of older aircraft and flown them around Canada.
For this project, his prize was an abandoned Canso — an amphibious plane built during the Second World War to hunt submarines and protect convoys crossing the Atlantic. Just a handful of the aircraft remain in the skies today, which is why Wieben, a farmer from Fairview, Alta., decided to recruit a group of relatives, friends and neighbours for an elaborate rescue mission.
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Overheard when the aircraft first rolled off the assembly line, “That thing can’t fly”
CANSO
A very cool story, in more ways that one. The cooperation that Mr. Wieben and friends received is testimony to the inherent good will generally found in the average person. Congratulations are well deserved all around.
One of the most beautiful heritage aircraft ever. We have one sitting at the Nanaimo regional airport, but it is obviously not in flying condition. It is painted yellow and probably was last used as a water bomber. Another WW2 aircraft, a Martin Mars water bomber from Flying Tankers in Port Alberni, flew over our house about 4 summers ago. Was probably flying around 1500 feet. Could hear it a long way off and everything shook as it passed. A beautiful sight to see.
mid island mike
mid island mike