'It was a journey': Historical society brings Fokker jetliner home to Lethbridge
Decades after a relic aircraft flew for a Lethbridge airline, it now has returned home for good.
Members of the Time Air Historical Society have been working to bring the Fokker F28-1000 to Lethbridge for the past six years.
Last week, the multi-truck convoy left Saskatoon en route to Lethbridge, where the plane arrived Monday morning.
“I’m very proud of the whole team,” said Rik Barry, chair of the historical society. “It's been hard to not choke back tears.”
“Lethbridge was the hometown of Time Air. Time Air was started in 1966 as a response to Air Canada that was going to be pulling service a few years later.”
The 1976 passenger jet was one of only 241 built.
Getting the 65-seat piece of history to Lethbridge was a journey.
“We dismantled the wings and part of the tail, loaded those up on one semi and then put the fuselage on another semi and transported them here,” Barry said.
“It was a journey… we had to have Fortis Alberta lift the power lines in order to get the fuselage to the airport and then had to navigate it right beside the terminal onto the tarmac.”
A Fokker F28-1000 passenger jet is being rebuilt in Lethbridge, paving the way for an aviation museum for the city.
Resting on the grounds of the Lethbridge Airport, Barry says the monumental task of reassembling the relic aircraft begins.
“The process of finding the instructions to do it led us all the way to Brisbane, Australia, where a tech school had all the original manufacturing books on the process,” he said.
Crews spent Monday using two cranes to lift the wings off the semi-truck and hoist them to the side of the plane to reattach.
“It’s a very arduous process, to say the least,” said Jesse Millington, the society’s operations director.
“On the wings, as you can see back there, ... there are runners along the bottom half and around the sides. It's about 300-plus bolts per side.”
Barry says the inside of the Fokker is a time capsule.
“There’s still the aircraft safety card from when it was in operation and even the barf bags,” he said. “Nothing has been changed.”
With the plane now on the ground, the society hopes to bring more aircraft to the city, to eventually create an aviation museum in Lethbridge.
“Everybody is doing military and everything like that but, you can see a lot of the military aircraft wherever you go - every museum has one - who has airliners? Nobody does,” Millington said.
“How many people fly a military aircraft? Nobody, except for military pilots. So, the experience and the connectivity that you have with an airliner is a lot more personal.”
Barry says he’s already wanting to bring two or three planes to the airport by the end of the year.
“I can give you a nugget that this will probably not be the largest plane that ends up coming back to Lethbridge,” he said.
The society was able to bring the plane to Lethbridge solely through donations. More information on the society and future projects can be found on the Time Air Historical Society website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From AI running wild to collapsing ecosystems, government report outlines future disruptions
From artificial intelligence running wild to collapsing ecosystems, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the near future.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Matthew Perry's death is being investigated over ketamine level found in actor's blood, reports say
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Police in Ontario say suspects charged in armed home invasion near Toronto part of 'larger criminal network'
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
Stolen septic truck swerves through traffic, spike belt needed to stop it: Manitoba RCMP
A 29-year-old woman has been charged after police say she stole a septic truck from a Manitoba community and drove erratically on the highway.
Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.