Feature

TheReview

Wednesday, May 20, 1992

Aviation museum brings extinct aircraft back

by Randy Allen
The Review

The world will never see
another Dodo bird. Nor will it see
the Avro Arrow fly.

The same was said about a little
known water-borne airplane called
the Eastman Sea Rover, until the
British Columbia Aviation
Museum on Canora Road in North
Saanich got its hands on the
remains of one of the pre-
Depression era aircraft and started
the slow process of resurrecting it.

Although it will never fly again,
the museum has undertaken its
most extensive restoration project
to date, after parts of a Sea Rover
were discovered in a barn near
Duncan in 1988.

Only 16 Sea Rovers were ever
built by Jim Eastman in Detroit in
the 1920s. Five were flown to B.C
in the 1930s.

Eastman had constructed the
single engine water-borne air-
planes as an alternative to the
more common land aircraft. His
primary selling point was to offer
pilots the opportunity to fly with-
out the hassles of airports.

The five 1,200-kilogram, three-
person planes were brought to B.C
by Eastman when he decided to
enter into a gold venture in the
northern part of the province.

The venture fell through but the
aircraft and Eastman remained
until one by one they crashed or
fell into disuse.

The last known flight of a Sea
Rover was in 1945 and its remains
were discovered in Carcross,
Yukon.

Upon discovering the remains in
Duncan, the museum did not know
what type of airplane they had,
said restoration supervisor Bert
Clark.

So they photographed the most

recognizable parts and sent the
pictures to museums across North
America in hopes that someone
would know what it was.

It was the Smithsonian Institute
in the United States that solved the
mystery.

In its vast historical banks the
Institute matched photos of the
engine assembly, tail and top wing

spars to the only aircraft ever built

that used these items and approxi-

mate dimensions, determining it

was an Eastman Sea Rover.

An original sales brochure and
the history of the aircraft was sent
to the museum, which in tum used
a picture from the pamphlet to

scale out the size of the plane.

Clark said they placed ads in
B.C. newspapers requesting people
who had any information or parts.
from the five which flew in the

province to contact the museum.

Parts came from all over B.C,

including the hull which had been
cut down to make a boat. The hull
is now at Camosun College being

refurbished.

To date, Clark estimates his
team of volunteers have put in
5,000 hours of work over the past

three years on the restoration.

Although look at what has been
done is not impressive, Clark said

it is a delicate and precise job.

In order to get the shape of the
wings, the group used the only
remaining top wing rib — which is
enclosed in a glass display case —

‘to make a template.

“We would have been in big
trouble without it,” Clark said of

the rotted and fragile skeleton.

He said each rib has 250 brass
nails, uses 78 pieces of wood and
has 22.different gussets, each with
its Own shape. A single mb takes
about six hours to construct. So
far, Clark has made about 40 ribs

Switching seats didn’t fool police

The owner and driver of a 1981
GMC van is being charged with
impaired driving, operating a vehi-
cle with a blood/alcohol level
above .08, obstructing a police
officer and driving while prohibit-
ed after an incident about 8:48
p.m. Apnil 24.

Central Saanich police said the
van went through radar north-
bound on Central Saanich and
would not stop at a stop sign at Mt.
Newton Crossroad.

The van then pulled to the nght
and came to an abrupt stop. An

ands

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ADMIRING ONE OF 40 handmade ribs on the Eastman Sea
Rover is Bert Clark, who has spent Countless hours rebuild-
ing the rare aircraft at the B.C. Aviation Museum on
Canora Road in North Saanich.

for the project.
Clark figures the total amount of

time he has spent on the ribs

alone, including preparing the
pieces, has been around 1,500
hours.

The top wing, when completed,
will have over 10,000 brass nails
in it.

After all the woodwork is com-
pleted the parts need two coats of
varnish, by hand, with each coat

for a rib taking approximately 20
minutes.

He said it will probably take
them another two years before it is
finally finished. Clark says it will
be well worth the wait.

“Tt will be the only Sea Rover in
existence when were done,”
Clark said. “It will be a living
memorial to the pilots who flew
them and a small tribute to some
of the history of the area.”

~ >

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SIDNEY - 655-1515

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