Society hopes to land rare Aircraft

Society hopes to land rare Aircraft

Time Air Historical Society hopes to land rare plane in Lethbridge

A group of Alberta aviation enthusiasts is hoping to buy a decommissioned jet and give it a permanent home in Lethbridge.

The plane is a Fokker F28, which was once flown by Time Air, a now-defunct regional carrier with roots in southern Alberta.

“Time Air was formed in 1966 by Stubb Ross,” said Rik Barry, chair of the Time Air Historical Society.

“It started as Lethbridge Air Transport, became Time Airways, then shortly after became Time Air, which served Lethbridge and area until approximately 1992.”

This particular jet currently sits in Saskatoon.

The society is in the process of raising $10,500 to buy the plane before it is sold for scrap.

Barry said they have until Jan. 31 to secure the purchase of the aircraft, and if bought, it would need to be moved from Saskatoon to Lethbridge no later than March 31.

A company has already agreed to transport the plane for free if the society can make the purchase on time.

“It’s a beautiful aircraft and it’s very, very rare in a museum,” said Arnold Begeman, a board member of the Time Air Historical Society.

“There’s actually none on public display in North America.

If the plane can be purchased, the society hopes it can be ready for public display during the next air show in Lethbridge scheduled to take place Aug. 1-2, 2020.

“This was the silver-anniversary Fokker aircraft,” Barry said. “The 25th-anniversary logo for Time Air was placed on the aircraft.

“It was the only aircraft in their fleet of Fokker F28s that had that particular livery.”

GoFundMe page has been set up to help the society with its fundraising efforts for an opportunity that may never come to pass again.

Saving C-FTAV

Saving C-FTAV

Saving C FTAV – Time Air’s 25th Anniversary Fokker F-28-1000. This short video shows a brief history of the Fokker F-28 C-FTAV, of Time Air. Our gofundme campaign efforts to save C-FTAV (Serial Number 11106) from being scrapped are commencing.