Two chunks of a huge silver plane fill the middle space of a hangar at the BC Aviation Museum.

Boxes and bins line shelves along the walls, filled with bits and bobs 鈥� some that the restoration team isn鈥檛 sure where they belong, and others sorted to where they figure the parts belong.

It鈥檚 presumably all the parts to the 1944 Avro Lancaster Mark 10 shipped to the North Saanich site by the City of Toronto in 2018.

鈥淲e got a kit,鈥� explained project lead Gary Powe, joking about the puzzle volunteers have been putting together for years now.

Leaning on existing knowledge, the other remaining 16 around the world, old schematics, math and educated guesses, they鈥檙e sorting it all out to get a good static display.

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Built in 1944, at Victory Aircraft Limited in Toronto, the FM104 was sent to the UK in early 1945 but didn鈥檛 ever see combat. It had been mounted on a concrete slab in a city park for more than three decades.

鈥淚 have photos of us having picnics under it,鈥� said Cheryl Thorpe, seated metres away from the nose of the aircraft she once played under.

The FM104 is part of her childhood as a picnic site, and the Lancaster in general, serves as a reminder of the war trauma her father endured 鈥� first serving on a Lancaster as a mid-upper gunner then as a pilot.

鈥淚t was a miracle he came back because he did 38 missions,鈥� Thorpe said.

She鈥檚 been cleaning bits and bobs of the engine for about five years now 鈥� starting around the time the plane landed at the museum.

Her son Chris Thorpe does similar detailing duty nearby, tackling one of four Merlin engines nearby 鈥� and knows how it works inside and out.

Several of the volunteers buzzing about the room have personal connections to that aspect of the plane鈥檚 working life.

Bryan George鈥檚 grandfather worked on them in the UK. While this one was made in Canada, it still offers that connection to the past.

At the museum, the shop manager鈥檚 father worked in them, and Powe鈥檚 own father flew in them.

A woman visited recently who worked riveted wings on Lancasters in the 1940s.

鈥淚t could well have been on this aircraft,鈥� Powe said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of family connections with this particular aircraft.鈥�

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While FM104 didn鈥檛 ever see combat 鈥� 鈥淒uring the war it never had guns in it,鈥� Powe said 鈥� it did full a full career changing lives. It returned to Canada in June 1945 and was retrofit to become a coastal surveillance and search and rescue plane, amassing 7,000 flying hours until it was retired in 1964.

There were notes in the nose where crew indicated who or what they were searching for, typically in the Arctic, Powe says.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a history angle of it, but I guess also an engineering history of it 鈥� ideas that are still viable or workable today,鈥� Powe said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all old geezers, but to get younger people interested in engineering and manufacturing techniques there鈥檚 a real value there.鈥�

This Lancaster won鈥檛 likely ever fly again, but that鈥檚 not the goal. The idea is to get it looking like it flew a week ago.

Powe hopes to have the floor and pilot seat in place as well as the front instrument panel installed and partially populated by the time the BC Aviation Museum 鈥� packed literally to the rafters with aircraft 鈥� hosts its annual open house in August.

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