Curtiss H87A-2 Kittyhawk Mk.I

Curtiss H87A-2 Kittyhawk Mk.I

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06/20/2003. Remarks by Trevor McTavish: "After the war, my grandfather's uncle, a Mr. Eggbert, purchased an Avro Lancaster from war surplus and towed it to his gas station outside of Red Deer, Alberta. This wasn't the only Lancaster bought by a local after the war (the CWH’s Lancaster used a center section salvaged from a Lancaster turned shed). But for a quarter, you could climb up inside the bomber and take a look around. It was something that my dad remembers quite well, since he and his brother would play in the Lanc every time the family drove through the area.

At one point a group of Americans came to town and bought the Lancaster, rumor was to make a fire bomber. Rather than disassembling the airframe by removing the wings and engines and towing everything back to the Red Deer airport the new owners figured they could just fly it out of the wheat field next door. As they started doing engine runs in preparation for flight an engine caught fire and the Lanc burnt to nothing right in the middle of the field. From what I've gathered over the years, the carburetor for the Merlin engine was notorious for leaking, and it was probably draining fuel that caught fire.

The reason I’ve mentioned this Lancaster is because the P-40 was apparently what the Americans traded for the Lanc. I guess Mr. Eggbert didn’t care what kind of roadside attraction his gas station had, as long as he had one."


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06/20/2003. Remarks by Trevor McTavish: "After the war, my grandfather's uncle, a Mr. Eggbert, purchased an Avro Lancaster from war surplus and towed it to his gas station outside of Red Deer, Alberta. This wasn't the only Lancaster bought by a local after the war (the CWH’s Lancaster used a center section salvaged from a Lancaster turned shed). But for a quarter, you could climb up inside the bomber and take a look around. It was something that my dad remembers quite well, since he and his brother would play in the Lanc every time the family drove through the area. At one point a group of Americans came to town and bought the Lancaster, rumor was to make a fire bomber. Rather than disassembling the airframe by removing the wings and engines and towing everything back to the Red Deer airport the new owners figured they could just fly it out of the wheat field next door. As they started doing engine runs in preparation for flight an engine caught fire and the Lanc burnt to nothing right in the middle of the field. From what I've gathered over the years, the carburetor for the Merlin engine was notorious for leaking, and it was probably draining fuel that caught fire. The reason I’ve mentioned this Lancaster is because the P-40 was apparently what the Americans traded for the Lanc. I guess Mr. Eggbert didn’t care what kind of roadside attraction his gas station had, as long as he had one."