It's hard to believe that it's been a little over two years since the Calgary Mosquito Society was formed, and almost a full decade since the City of Calgary's Mosquito and Hurricane were
last seen in public.
As you're all aware, the battle to gain stewardship of these two airplanes led to a very heated political battle, one that saw the issue brought up in numerous newspaper and website
articles, letters to the editors, television segments, etc. We pleaded our case in front of Calgary City Council several times, and even turned it into a bit of a municipal election issue.
We're pleased to announce that on December 8th the Community and Protective Services Committee voted unanimously in favour of not only keeping both aircraft, but to place them into the care
of a local volunteer-based organization and to support them with a dollar-for-dollar matching up to a maximum of $800,000. The matter will go before the entire City Council to be ratified
early in the New Year.
One of our members said, "Getting the politicians to make a decision will be our biggest challenge." It's great that they made their decision, and that it was in our favour. With the
worst of the politics behind us we can move forward and begin thinking about restoration.
Over the past two years many of you have come out to general meetings, to membership drives, or manned our booths at air shows and events throughout Alberta. We'd certainly miss many names,
but on behalf of everyone in the Society we want to express our heart-felt thanks.
We would also like to thank those companies which have, without us even having an airplane, offered their support. It's fantastic that there's so much interest in these planes.
In the coming months, we expect that City Council will accept the Committee's recommendation and we'll be looking at relocating both aircraft from the City's warehouse to the Bomber Command
Museum of Canada in the spring. It's from here that we'll begin the task of cataloging both airplanes, determining what work needs to be done, and developing our plan of action. Imagine
the day when we will all enjoy the sound of seven Merlin engines running in downtown Nanton (four on the Lancaster, two on the Mosquito and one on the Hurricane).
You should also have noticed that the entire Mosquito Society website has changed. Our 'web guy' called the previous versions our 'war pages' - something quick and dirty to give the Society
a presence on the worldwide web. This new version will hopefully keep members and non-members up to date with progress reports on the restorations, Society events, and an assortment of
stories related to the Mosquito, the Hurricane and aerial survey in general - fulfilling our Honour and Educate mandates.
2011 will be another busy year, full of fundraisers, planning and restoration. We'll continue to need your memberships and donations so please remember to renew yours and continue to
spread the word - we're going to have airplanes to restore.
The Calgary Mosquito Society