Brandon air training museum preps for emergency roof repairs

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This article was published 17/12/2022 (1036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — In an 80-year-old hangar, volunteers shuffled antique aircraft around Friday in preparation for emergency repairs.

In early November, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum announced it would close to the public indefinitely to tackle structural issues.

Though it’s not ideal to have to shut the doors, museum board vice-president Art Brown said it’s better it happened during slower winter months than during the busier summer.

An exterior metal truss installed during repairs in 1985 is exerting pressure on the Second World War-era hangar in a way that is torquing the original wooden beams holding up the roof and causing them to crack, officials said.

The hangar is one of several hundred constructed across Canada in 1940-41 to train pilots from across the British Commonwealth. In Brandon, the hangar has been turned into a museum dedicated to telling the war training mission story.

The municipal, provincial and federal historic site is owned by the City of Brandon and leased to the museum for a token annual fee.

Until temporary repairs are made, there is concern that under stress, such as significant snowfall, the roof could collapse.

“Obviously, we’re a little apprehensive,” Brown said. “But as of yesterday, our engineers told us we were OK, and they’ll continue to monitor and advise us if we got to a point where we’d have to clear the museum or get people up on the roof to clear snow off, which is a huge task with the size of the building.”

Repairs will take the form of custom-made vertical metal support columns extending from the hangar’s floor to the wooden beams, helping them bear the load. They’ll be adjustable, so the proper tension can be dialed in.

The installation, according to Brown and executive director Stephen Hayter, is likely to take place sometime in January.

To prepare for that work and to allow contractors on site, some of the exhibits and vehicles in the hangar had to be shuffled.

On Friday morning, a twin-engine Bristol Bolingbroke Mark IV, designed for maritime patrol and bombing duty but repurposed as a trainer aircraft, was on the move.

The rear of the bright yellow beast was hooked by chain to a modestly sized forklift. The two tires under the plane’s wings were put on skates made of wood and fitted with smaller wheels, while the tire at the tail end was left in contact with the ground.

Moving the large, three-wheeled plane required a few stops to reposition the chain, to change angles and even move a pair of wings from another plane standing vertically on a dolly. After about 20 minutes, it was tucked in the hangar’s southeast corner.

The cost of the temporary shoring is estimated to reach around $200,000. The extent and design of the permanent repairs are still being worked out but expected to be more expensive, museum officials said.

The museum is approaching all three levels of government for financial assistance, with officials set to appear before Brandon city council Monday.

According to Hayter, the museum has reached out to Brandon–Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire to co-ordinate possible federal assistance.

Since the province has designated the museum as a Manitoba Star Attraction, Hayter said he’s hopeful the government will be interested in contributing to its survival.

“The emergency shoring will keep us stable and keep us safe, but ultimately we need to do the permanent repairs so the hangar can last the next 20 to 50 years,” Hayter said.

“Without that, we’re just putting a Band-Aid on a situation that we have to do something about if we’re going to continue to do what we do at the museum.”

— Brandon Sun