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LW170 Recovery Phase I
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Progress Report No.22
February 1, 2008
Registered Charity 84586 5740
RR0001
Top of the New Year to all of our members and
supporters of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada). Wherever you are and in all your
activities we wish you all the best, most of all health and happiness.
As we proceed in our honourable quest to locate RCAF Halifax LW170 we are
reminded of the 3 years of effort we have made to build up the project and
acquire all the knowledge and resources we can so as to be successful in
finding her.
I believe that 2008 will be a decisive year in our progress and we will soon
be able to see the sonar image of this our historic aircraft LW170. All of
the vital progress made in the past few weeks is included below and you will
be very pleased with all that has transpired.
I forsee that by mid-year 2008 we will have the crucial sonar image and
exact coordinates of LW170. If this will happen I can see us blowing this
story wide open to the world media and press and then we will be able to
really begin the quest to save Canada’s rarest combat aircraft.
Soon it will turn to 2009, the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada
and there are several events planned to celebrate this milestone of aviation
in our country.
If your were to look back at those 100 years and choose an aircraft, just
one, that symbolized and epitomized the Canadian experience of flight,
excellence in the air, and sacrifice for their country and the world there
is but one aircraft which stands out from all the rest in our 100 years of
flight, the Handley Page Halifax. (Remember that Canada had over 1200
Halifaxes and 400 Lancasters in RCAF service. Only the Lancs of the RCAF
were brought home in 1945 but the RCAF Halifaxes were left behind to be cut
up in the British scrapyards)
If the total numbers of men who flew in bomber air combat for the RCAF are
the greatest in numbers of all the RCAF operations in the greatest air war
ever seen, and if the majority of those killed-in-action who flew and
sacrificed for King and country in RCAF action were on the Halifax, then we
would (with some debate) have to select the Halifax as the one in our
aviation history that symbolizes the majority Canadian experience of flight.
In every town, on every city block, from coast to coast there is a family
whose loved one served on a Halifax or in Bomber Command, so many paying the
ultimate price for the Freedom we enjoy today.
Of the 1,230 Halifaxes used by the RCAF squadrons during this most momentous
time in our aviation history there is but one known to have survived the war
and the cutting torch, and she is our LW170.
So I propose to you, all our members and supporters, that we double our
efforts to locate LW170 in 2008, and I also propose, that in the year of the
100th anniversary of flight in 2009, that we bring home to our shores the
rarest and most prevalent aircraft ever to have flown for Canada during
those 100 years.
There is the Maple Leaf, there is the Beaver, there is Hockey, and there is
the RCAF Halifax !
Keep your eyes on the target.
Sincerely,
Karl Kjarsgaard
Project Manager
On to Business – these are the HALI-FACTS:
I have not been able to communicate with you about recent developments about
the Halifax Project because I was waiting for word from our friends at the
Marine Institute of Ireland about the plans for our sonar survey to locate
LW170.
Due to some delays over the Christmas season we did not receive word from
Ireland until Jan. 6 that our application for the ship time on the Celtic
Explorer research ship was approved ! This was most gratifying to learn that
this huge high-tech research ship, with all its expertise of crew and great
tools, was gladly going to be provided by our Irish friends for the sonar
survey to locate LW170. The Halifax sonar survey will have to be
“piggybacked” on a 2008 scientific survey of the Celtic Explorer which does
several cruises per year exploring the Irish waters.
I should point out that the ship time for such a sonar survey is the
greatest cost of such an expedition. We truly appreciate the Marine
Institute granting us this ship time as the value of this service, if we
were being charged commercially, would be from ($50,000 to $100,000 Canadian
)!
Initially we were going to plan and include the sonar
survey for the Halifax in the early part of 2008 but due to a ship
maintenance delay and sonar tools availability problems Halifax 57 Rescue
and the Marine Institute have agreed to reschedule the Halifax sonar survey
to July 2008. At this time there is a scientific cruise planned that is near
our Halifax sonar survey box as well as the weather being historically in
July the best for doing the deep sonar survey.
I should point out that not only do we have the green light from the Marine
Institute for the ship time but we also have the talents and experience of
Fiona Fitzpatrick, the deep water sonar expert. Fiona has agreed to oversee
and advise me, as Project Manager, in the preparations for the Halifax sonar
survey this summer.
I will be meeting with Fiona on Feb. 23 in London, while I am on one of my
flights for Air Canada, to plan the details of the Halifax sonar survey and
start arranging for the sonar equipment for the planned July scientific
cruise of the Celtic Explorer.
Halifax 57 Rescue has the responsibility of arranging and paying for the
deep water sonar system that will be used to locate LW170. Thanks to the
volunteering of Fiona to advise and assist us, we will be able to make these
preparations over the next few weeks. I will keep you advised of the
preparations for the Halifax sonar survey in the up-coming Progress Reports.
We are well on our way towards locating LW170 as we prepare all the tools
for our mission.
With regard to our finances in paying for the special sonar system and tools
required we are doing moderately well for funding. Originally the Irish
officials and sonar companies quoted us the price range of ($28,000 to
$35,000 Canadian) to pay for the sonar lease/rental. It appears that with
the exchange rates of (dollar to euro) fluctuating and increased insurance
rates for the sonar systems being rented/leased the costs for required
equipment will be rising in the order of (30 to 40%).
Thanks to all of you who so generously donated funds to our sonar survey
costs with even our partners, the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum,
making a substantial donation for the sonar fund during these vital times of
preparing for the Halifax sonar survey.
I am waiting to receive a major donation from a concerned supporter in
Alberta who has promised these funds in the immediate future. Also, there
have been several wonderful people come forward in the past few weeks and
donate sizeable amounts to our cause because they believe in our project and
our efforts.
Remember, all donations to Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) are tax deductible and
you will receive a tax receipt from us for that tax year.
In fact, I am sending out the tax receipts for all donations in 2007 this
week so all of you who donated in 2007 should receive them during the week
of Feb. 11 – Feb. 15.
Also, there has been a promise by a major personality and his group for
support for the Halifax sonar survey costs which I will be able to announce
in the next Progress Report when all details have been worked out between
Halifax 57 Rescue and this prominent historic group. We are indeed heartened
by these offers of support and continued help in our historic quest.
Please do not assume that we are out of the woods financially with the
latest donations. As I have stated before, there are many “incidental” costs
which are adding up for our sonar survey and we must be prepared to cover
all our expenses and all contingency costs, should they appear on the scene.
As Project Manager, I urge you now to send in your donations and funds for
this honourable project NOW so that we may get over the financial hump and
pending sonar survey costs of such a venture. Think about the greatness and
significance of this project (with all the work and resources we have put in
and gathered to this point) and that for the sake of a few hundreds or
thousands of dollars we may have to leave LW170 in the deep and you will
know what to do.
And for those of you who will still sit on the fence and watch us as we
strive to find this “needle in a haystack”, turning the impossible into the
difficult and then succeeding against all odds, I wish to let you know that
I have personally guaranteed the Marine Institute that whatever costs cannot
be
covered by Halifax 57 Rescue, they will be covered from my own finances.
Our great aviation history cannot be ignored nor hidden. It is not for sale
nor can there be a price tag put on it.
We must do as those young aircrew did for us, as they flew and fought some
60 years ago, and
“Press on regardless, whatever the cost.”
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
www.57rescuecanada.com
email:
57rescuecanada@rogers.com
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