Our display at Nanton's Bomber Command Museum of Canada on June 4 marked the third year in a row that the Calgary Mosquito Aircraft Society took advantage of the museum's hospitality and the town's attractions to let people know what our organizatio is working towards. As in previous years, we brought pictures, models, pins and stories to share with the hundreds of visitors who walked through the museum and enjoyed the annual Planes, Trains and Elevators event. The day was full of things to see and do; tours of the grain elevators, a garden scale railway and of course hearing the wonderful sounds of the Lancaster engine run ups. An added bonus to the day is the Rocky Mountain Model Club and their Western Canadian Regional Model Contest. The models may be small but its one of the largest shows in Western Canada. Somewhat ironically, the competition has grown to the point that the full sized airplanes need to be moved out of the hangar to make room for the over 450 miniatures on display.

This very well attended one day event is a great opportunity for our organization to do a little funds faising with memberships, pins and prints and to share the society's recent successes in getting the City of Calgary to commit to retaining both the Mosquito and Hurricane and to committing up to $800,000 in matching funds toward their restoration. Our display has always been well supported by members willing to come out, spend a day and share their enthusiasm with those who stop by to see what we are about.

As always our thanks to the members who continue to support our efforts with their time and enthusiasm and especially the folks of Nanton and in particular the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, our future partners in restoring the Mosquito and Hurricane. Naturally We'll return to the museum on August 20th for the years' biggest event, a salute 408 Squadron and to celebrate the Museum's 25th Anniversary. We hope you can come out and join in the fun.



With grain elevators all but extinct, Nanton is unique in that its the only town in Alberta that still has three standing wooden elevators. Today they're the site of a small interactive interpretive centre and museum. (P.Cromer)



The Lancaster's engines were run twice during the day. Engines number 3 and 4 have been running for a couple years now and hopefully engine 2 will be installed and running in time to mark the museum's 25th anniversary in August. (P. Cromer)



Between engine runs, the Lancaster was open for tours. The Bomber Command Museum encourages visitors to get hands on and discover that these airplanes weren't mute display pieces but machines that barked to life and spat flames. Inside the museum is a Fleet Fawn biplane trainer that occationally runs its engine and an operational Lancaster tail turret. Plans are now underway to have a flying de Havilland Tiger Moth and a running engine on the Harvard. (P. Cromer)



Inside the museum hangar were almost 450 scale plastic models, from cars to planes to tanks and ships. The Western Canadian Regional Model Contest attracts model builders from across Western Canada. Visitors to the day's events were able to view an amazing collection of excellent models. (C. Sawyer via RMMC)



The CMS was given a large spot in the recently remodeled middle display room. Hundreds of people visited by our booth, read our literature, talked to our members and learned about our society and our goals. (R. de Boer)



Just like the Calgary Mosquito Society itself, our displays in Nanton have evolved and grown over the years, from a single tabletop trifold in 2009 (inset) to two tables and a full 8-foot high display board. (R. de Boer and P. Cromer)