Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)
RCAF HALIFAX LW170 Recovery
(424 Squadron)
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Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)
RCAF HALIFAX LW170 Recovery (424 Squadron)
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LW170 Recovery Phase I
Progress Reports
Halifax 57 Rescue
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Progress Report No.20 August 1, 2007 Registered Charity 84586 5740 RR0001
To all our members and supporters of the Halifax Project I am most pleased to be able to report on our continued success in our ultimate goal to locate, inspect, and recover RCAF Halifax LW170 from the deep.
The first thing on our agenda is to remind you of the annual memorial function and celebrations at the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum on August 25, 2007. It will be bigger and better than ever with the spotlighted group this year, the 8000+ Americans who flew in the RCAF. It will be a full day of activities and ceremonies for the whole family and we urge you to come out and see what our partners and friends are doing in Nanton at “Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial”.
In our last Progress Report 19 I told you I would be meeting on July 24 with the Irish officials of the deep sea research group to do some “homework” on the sonar survey that we are planning later on this year.
This meeting was held in Dublin as I was flying a flight for Air Canada to Dublin and was able to arrange a meeting there with the Irish sonar experts to discuss the Halifax sonar survey and the expedition planning to locate the Halifax in our survey box.
When I first began investigating the area of ocean where LW170 sank, which was 2 years ago, I was able to find that one sonar survey had been done in that area over 5 years ago by an Irish government survey. I went to the Geological Surveys of Ireland (GSI) office in Dublin and looked at their sonar survey data in our Halifax survey box area. Unfortunately, because of the way the sonar data was processed, we could not see any targets or anomalies on the bottom in our search box which were smaller that 300 meters across. (the Halifax is 35 meters X 25 meters)
With this disappointing fact in hand I continued on to find any other information on the area within which our Halifax lies. I was able to find out from other deep sea exploration groups, from all their periodic surveys in the area, that there is only a weak current running through the sonar box area, that the oxygen levels are low due to the depth being at over 5000 feet, that the salinity in the area at that depth is lower that at the surface, and that the temperature of the water where LW170 is laying is a constant 3 degrees Celsius. It was also found out that the ocean bottom texture in the area around LW170 is marine clay and sand mix with a fairly solid base that should be able to support the weight of the Halifax without too much sedimentation or concern that the Halifax has sunk into the bottom elements. The bottom terrain in this area is like small rolling hills or hummocks with only a very gradual sloping, almost like prairie landscape.
All of this data was acquired over these past 2 years with the idea that, even if we did not have any past historic survey targets to investigate when we went out on our sonar expedition, at least we would know all about the area we were going to and what to expect for conditions.
On my first meeting with our Irish sonar experts on June 25, 2007 in Galway we all decided that we must leave no stone unturned in looking for clues of the location of LW170. It was mentioned that there was a new computer program for sifting through old sonar data and that this program might be able to see anomalies on the bottom in our search box that could be of the size of a Halifax bomber. Our Irish experts said they would reprocess the data that was available and that it would be ready for our next meeting which as I told you was convened in Dublin last week, on July 24.
I was presented at that time with some great news from our Irish experts as they had some very good results with the new processing computer program. A big computer screen was used and all the anomalies in the area of our sonar survey box, that had been sifted out from the old sonar data, were presented to me. I was very excited to see several definite targets in our box. I was also told that there were 2 very definite solid targets in the area of our box which were only 1 to 2 miles away from the sinking position of LW170 !
Further evidence of the qualities of these 2 prime targets (which are about a mile apart) was shown to me that only an expert on sonar could see. I was most heartened with this great news and thanked our Irish friends for being so diligent and going the extra mile for us to help locate LW170. It appears all of us are now fully into this historic quest for LW170 and this sonar reconnaissance has yielded great dividends, through the perseverance of our friends in Galway.
After evaluating the 2 prime targets we went on to discuss the pending sonar survey to locate LW170. As we now have 2 prime targets in our sonar box all our activities will be built around a survey that emanates outward from these prime targets. IF, and the key word is IF, we can get a good image of these targets and one of them shows us the final resting place of RCAF Halifax LW170 then, ladies and gentlemen, we have a whole new ball game and the doors will be open to a truly historic project of international proportions.
As far as the timing of when we will do the survey we are hoping that this will be done this fall or early next year. The Irish research ship, as you saw from the photo included in Progress Report 19, is a very large and strong ship capable of going out in all kinds of weather. Our Irish officials have assured me that we will be included in all the planning for the dates of the sonar survey and that we be advised of all our options during the planning of the sonar expedition. You must remember that our sonar survey will be added on to the schedule of a designated scientific cruise and this is where we will gain the donation of services in kind of the ship and the sonar for locating the Halifax.
Please standby for further on this planning of the survey and the dates that we will actually be doing the survey. I will be meeting again with the Irish officials on August 7th in Galway next week to continue on in our planning details and will report back to you with any major announcements after this date when I return..
Further to these developments, Jim Blondeau, a director of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) and a film producer in Ottawa, will be accompanying me on the sonar expedition to capture all the events and technology of the expedition. We are planning on having daily reports direct from the research ship out on the water, via broadband and satellite hook-up, and are working on preparing a video/photo download site on our website at www.57rescuecanada.com so that we can, day by day, share our adventure with you, our members and supporters, and all of the world.
I am looking up now, on my office wall, at the sonar image of Halifax NA337 discovered in 750 feet of water over 12 years ago in Lake Mjosa, Norway. I remember, as Project Manager of the recovery of NA337, how that one image supercharged our project when NA337 was discovered and this image was released to the media and press. Thousands of people stepped forward to save NA337 by donating funds and services.
I envision that these events will happen again but this time it will be a huge historic event beyond anything we have done before. If we can use the best technology with determination and diligence we will be successful in saving our Halifax, this aviation treasure. We must be prepared and ready to save LW170 and we need your continued support.
“PRESS ON REGARDLESS…”
Sincerely, Karl Kjarsgaard Project Manager Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) Registered Charity : 84586 5740 RR 0001
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) P.O. Box 606 Unit 31C – 174 Colonnade Road Nanton, AB Ottawa, ON T0L 1R0 K2E 7J5 Phone 403 - 603 - 8592 Phone 613 – 863 – 1942 Or 613 – 226 – 4884
email: 57rescuecanada@rogers.com
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