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Lancaster
KB976 Section 10 - KB976
and KB994
Connection
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The story of
Lancaster KB994 is interwoven
with that of KB976, so this
section is here to record the
links.
The
fuselage of KB994 was located
at a farm in Alberta for
years, see lower down this
page for a detailed story of
the life that it had including
a brief attempt by RCAF 408
Squadron to rebuild it.
1. When
KB976 had its long nose
replaced with a standard
shorter nose in 1969, the
short nose came from KB994.
2. When
the hangar collapsed on KB976,
KB994 was purchased and
shipped to England as a
replacement for the damaged
main fuselage.
3. The
original long nose of KB976
was attached to and came with
KB994's fuselage. When
separated, the long nose
became the basis for Jeremy
Hall's fuselage build. See
Section 9
4. The
majority of the KB994 fuselage
went with KB976 to Florida
where it now resides as a
dismantled Lancaster kit
awaiting reconstruction.
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Photograph
taken by and provided courtesy of
Dick Richardson
Prior to flying KB976 across the
Atlantic, here is Captain
MacKenzie in KB994.
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Photograph taken
by and provided courtesy of Dick
Richardson, this time with Dick in
the cockpit.
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Photo
Courtesy of Dave Welch
KB994 August 1973 at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
These pictures show it in
1973 having already donated its
nose to KB976 to replace KB976's
long nose.
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Photo
Courtesy of Dave Welch
KB994
August 1973 at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
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Photo
Courtesy of Dave Welch
KB994
August 1973 at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
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Photo
Courtesy of Dave Welch
KB994
August 1973 at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
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Photo
Courtesy of Dave Welch
KB994
August 1973 at Wetaskiwin,
Alberta.
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KB 994 had
another life for a few years
before again becoming a factor
in KB976's story. The above two
pictures show it in Canada as
part of a restoration project by
RCAF 408 Squadron. It has been
fitted with the standard short
nose section of KB976's long
nose. The story of its
restoration is found at the
following link and reproduced
here too -
From http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/s,kb994fliesagain.html
"KB994
Flies Again - The
Convoluted Story of a
Canadian Lancaster by Jon
Spinks (July 31, 1984)
Victor Leonhardt, a farmer in
the Drumheller area, had started
collecting "Barnyard Bombers" in
1946 with Avro Anson JS119; four
more followed soon after. Then,
on January 22 1947, there was
another collection of aircraft
being auctioned; not trainers
this time, but huge four-engined
bombers...Lancasters! On that
winter's morning, KB796, KB834,
KB941, KB994, and many other
combat veterans and new machines
alike stood, awaiting their
doom. Mr. Leonhardt had bids on
two aircraft; KB941 and KB994.
In
April 1945, KB941 had arrived in
England after being ferried from
Canada; KB994 arrived one month
later. After the turrets were
fitted at a Maintenance Unit,
KB941 joined 420 Squadron at
Tholthorpe Yorkshire, where it
became PT-U. '941 returned to
Canada in June 1945 and was put
into storage at Pearce, Alberta.
KB994 went to 408 Squadron at
Linton-On-Ouse, also in
Yorkshire. '994 became EQ-K and
returned to Canada on July 17
1945, before being put into
storage at Claresholm, about
twenty miles from Pearce. Both
aircraft were ferried to Penhold
for disposal shortly before the
auction.
As
with the five Ansons, Mr.
Leonhardt became the owner of
both KB941 and KB994, after
paying a mere three hundred and
fifty dollars each. The next
problem was moving the aircraft
from Penhold to Drumheller, a
distance of over ninety miles by
road. The aircraft were in
flying condition, but the
tenderers had to sign a form
stating that none of the parts
auctioned would be used on
flying aircraft. The Leonhardts
were planning to move the
aircraft on the ice covering the
Red Deer River, but the winter
of '47 had been fairly mild and
the ice wasn't thick enough, so
eventually the aircraft arrived
in Drumheller after being towed
on their own wheels with the
tail-wheel in the back of a
truck!
While in Drumheller, both aircraft
had their wings removed and parts
found their way onto tractors and
into clotheslines! During the
1960's, the Leonhardts moved from
Drumheller but the family,
particularly Mrs. Leonhardt,
couldn't bear to leave the
Lancasters behind. Needless to
say, the fuselage of '994 and
centre of '941 followed the
Leonhardts another hundred and
fifty miles to a farm west of
Pigeon Lake. There, more parts
went missing, more parts were
sold, and more parts were used on
the farm.
In 1969, Dr. Ernie Johnson of
Calgary bought the nose of KB994
to go on KB976. Later, both KB976
and KB994 were bought by Neil
Menzies, and when '976 went to
Scotland, more parts of '994 were
removed. KB994 had many visitors
while it sat in the Leonhardt's
yard. Many ex-air force personnel
have been to reminisce and many
enthusiasts came (and went)
planning the restoration of '994,
including a couple who asked how
often the Leonhard's flew the
plane! There were many dreams of
"saving" KB994, but it wasn't
until July 1984 that anyone took
over from Victor and Elsie
Leonhardt.
During April of 1984, Phil Nelson,
of the Canadian Warplane Heritage
Museum, mentioned to Master
Warrant Officer Joe Drouin, of 408
Tactical Helicopter Squadron, that
Jon Spinks knew the location of an
ex-408 Squadron Lancaster, and as
a reunion of 408 Squadron was
planned in July, it might be an
idea to try to get the Lancaster.
MWO Drouin learned from Mr. Spinks
that KB994 belonged to Neil
Menzies, but was still located on
Victor Leonhardt's farm at Pigeon
Lake. MWO Drouin contacted Mr.
Leonhardt and Mr. Menzies, with
the result that Mr. Menzies very
generously donated KB994 to the
newly established 408 Squadron
Museum.
On July 21, members of 408
Squadron travelled to Pigeon Lake
to prepare KB994 to fly again.
Debris was removed from the
inside, and the fuselage was moved
onto open ground; '994 would make
a test flight on the 25th and then
would fly onto Canadian Forces
Base Edmonton on the 26th. During
the morning of the 25th, 447
Squadron sent a Chinook Helicopter
to Pigeon Lake, slings were slung,
and KB994 flew for the first time
in thirty-seven years. Take-off
went well, but there was a problem
landing; the skids in the bomb bay
did not reach out past the
fuselage, with the result that the
Lancaster rolled down a hill!
Fortunately, there was no
structural damage but the canopy
was destroyed. Finally, July 26
arrived. 447 sent a Chinook out to
Pigeon Lake again and the
Lancaster was placed upright on
longer skids that would prevent
any rolling. As the Lancaster came
into view at C.F.B. Edmonton, the
Chinook was moving at a steady
thirty knots, and '994 resembled a
very large pendulum. Only later
was it learned the Chinook was
having engine trouble and nearly
jettisoned the Lancaster! At about
2:30, KB994 landed for the last
time, at her new home.
Having a wingless, tailess,
engineless, noseless, fuselage
will present great problems to the
members of 408's Museum, but they
do have the resources of the
military, and as the Canadian
Armed Forces maintained Lancs
twenty years ago, there should be
no reason why KB994 shouldn't be
restored to her former glory in
the squadron she served with
thirty-nine years ago.
JON SPINKS / AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The author would
like to thank Mrs. Elsie
Leonhardt for the help received
in the above article, and if
anyone could help 408 Squadron
with parts for KB994 or
photographs of 408 Squadron,
please write to them.
The commanding officer that took
over No. 408 Squadron following
KB994's arrival lacked the
enthusiasm for the restoration
project that his predecessor had
demonstrated and, according to
one ex-408 member, "strictly
forbade" any effort towards it.
The fuselage, bomb-bay doors,
and other parts languished
around No. 408's hangar for a
time until the late 1980's when
ownership of the aircraft was
returned to Neil Menzies.
Mr. Menzies subsequently sold
the aircraft to Charles Church,
a private collector in England
who was planning to make use of
it in conjunction with the
eventual restoration of
Lancaster KB976 which he had
previously acquired. Most of
what remained of KB994 was
shipped to England.
Tragically, Charles Church was
killed while flying a Spitfire.
His Lancaster collection was
purchased by Kermit Week and
parts of both aircraft are
currently stored in large
containers at Kermit's "Fantasy
of Flight" in Florida, USA.
Victor and
Elsie's son, Ernie Leonhardt, is
a long-time supporter of the
museum. He regularly locates
Lancaster parts on the family
farm which he donates for our
use. "
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KB994's
main fuselage arrives at
Bruntingthorpe in the UK as a
replacement for KB976's damaged
sections.
These rearmost sections are now in
Florida with the remaining parts
of the KB976 'kit'.
Above
photographs taken by and
provided courtesy of Dick
Richardson.
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Lancaster KB976 Section 8 - 1988 to
2014
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