[no4mkit]

As promised, here's some photo's taken last month of the Handley Page Halifax under restoration in Canada. The external shot's are not the greatest as I only had a pocket digital with me, and light was very poor due to the weather, but you still get an impression of the Hally's size and the completeness of the fine work the restoration team has done (externally she's 99% finished, but there's about a years work left to do inside).

This is a static restoration so this Haifax will never fly again, but that's not due any shortcoming of the restoration crew. There's several technical reasons for this that I won't bore you guys with, but aside from that it was never the goal to make her fly, only to have a lasting tribute to the many Canadian crews who flew and perished on operations in Halifaxes. If you had seen the pieces this aircraft arrived in Canada as several years ago you too would be amazed with the finished product.

Here's some pics of the outside...

[no4mkit]

Though the public will not be allowed inside the aircraft, the interior will be (in a years time) complete to the original configuration of NA337, as the exterior is. You'll notice in the next photo there is no mid-upper turret. NA337 is a Halifax A Mk VII, a special duties aircraft used for glider towing, resupply drops of weapons and equipment to the resistence, and the covert insertion of spies and agents in occupied Europe. It was on a resupply drop over Norway that NA337 was shot down. An interesting note - the German anti-aircraft gunner responsible for the shoot-down was interviewed after the war and admitted it was his first time firing his guns in anger!

I was allowed a rare climb around inside NA337 so here's a few pics...




Just inside the crew entry door seen above, this is the view forward. The checkerboard area made the "Joe hole" under the clamshell doors more visible inside a darkened aircraft on night operations. Through here the agents, or "Joes" (cause you never asked names) parachuted into occupied territory.



A bit further forward are the wing spars. The wood panels don't look very comfortable, but this is the crew rest station. Ahead behind the wall on the left is the flight engineers station.



Beyond the engineer is the cockpit for the sole pilot. Some panels here have yet to be installed.



Below and forward of the cockpit are the radio operator, navigator and bomb aimers stations (or it would be if this were a bomber)



Finally, the rear turret. The rear gunner was the only crew member who survived. Although the pilot made a successful ditching on Lake Mjosa, the crew left the unconcious gunner in the life raft while the rest attempted to swim to shore. Sadly they misjudged the distance to shore and the effect of the frigid water.



A final little interesting tidbit: The recovery team presented the rear gunner, Thomas Weightman, with his thermos of coffee he had left behind in his turret following the crash. It was still there when the Halifax was raised in the early 90's, and still had coffee in it!

[flyXwire]

"Jolly good 'ole chap" ...Thanks for sharing pics and info. We ought to have a place to archive information like this stuff for posterity's sake. How it about mods?

[Captain Eddie]

Well done, no4mkit, well done! Thanks for the pics. As Tony the Tiger says, the're grrrreeeeaaaaattttt! And I agree with flyXwire, it would be great to archive it, if possible.

[Aircrafty]

Originally Posted by no4mkit

A final little interesting tidbit: The recovery team presented the rear gunner, Thomas Weightman, with his thermos of coffee he had left behind in his turret following the crash. It was still there when the Halifax was raised in the early 90's, and still had coffee in it!

And it was still hot

[SKUNKY]

...and the Nutra-Sweet packs, although damp, were still usable.

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

...and the Nutra-Sweet packs, although damp, were still usable.

[STARMAN 352ND]

WOW.....Thanks for posting the pictures no4mkit..
To be able to get inside the Halifax is sweet.
JP

[mustangdriver]

What a beautiful restoration job they are doing, and have done. I have got o get there to see that.

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

...and the Nutra-Sweet packs, although damp, were still usable.

Also found along with the Nutra-Sweet packs was a copy on tape of "The Best of Jennifer Lopez and Brittney Spears singin' the hits of WWII from the Andrew Sisters".