Recently the museum came in possession of sections of a BCATP Bolingbroke airplane. Here is the story from museum volunteer and incoming Flying Committee chair, Jeff Bell:
The Bolingbroke came to us via way of an email from an RCAF helicopter pilot/instructor operating out of Portage/Southport, MB. While on a training mission, the pilot spotted the aircraft in a bluff of trees. Upon landing, he provided the GPS coordinates to the CATPM.
With these coordinates, we were able to track down the land owner, and a meeting was arranged with the museum and the land owner. The aircraft was accessed and assessed during this meeting.
The aircraft had been moved to the site by a distant relative, who purchased the aircraft from Crown Assets after the war in 1946. The relative was apparently most interested in getting the tires off of it. During the war, tires were rationed, so many farmers bought airplanes to simply get the tires. The aircraft was purchased from RCAF Station McDonald, and was pulled to the site with the wings still attached.
The aircraft was largely picked over when it was located. The center section was damaged due to how it was sitting. Unfortunately, some previous souvenir hunters had removed much of the rear/upper fuselage at some point in the past.
We were able to remove the remaining items, which will add considerably to our Bolingbroke project in the future.
The museum is grateful to the landowner, and the RCAF for assisting in the location of this artifact!
Museum President, John McNarry noted that there the fuselage is mostly cut away so there are no side serial numbers. The centre section, other than landing gear, is badly hacked up as well. He also noted that under the yellow, the paint on the cockpit sides was camouflage.
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial 