My name is Ken Meintzer and I am on Board of Directors for the Time Air Historical Society (TAHS) based in Alberta, Canada. We are working towards the establishment of a museum in Lethbridge, Alberta that will celebrate the interesting history of this little airline that managed to grow into one of the larger regional airlines in North America, for a time.
Our society was formed about three years ago with the aim of preserving the history of Time Air, which was a regional airline based out of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada beginning in 1966. Between its founding and April 1993, when TIme Air was rolled into “Canadian Regional Airlines”, the airline expanded from flying De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and Shorts 330 and 360 aircraft to the DHC-7 and DHC-8 series of regional turbo-props, including being the launch customer of the DHC-8 300 series variant. The airline grew to serve a wide territory of western Canada and 38 destinations plus international service to MSP and SEA.
Eventually, Time Air began flying the Fokker F-28-1000 Fellowship aircraft and became the largest operator of the type for a while. This is part of the reason that the Time Air Historical Society is so determined to ensure that one of the last remaining intact versions of this aircraft (and from the former Time Air fleet) can be properly restored to display status.
TAHS has secured a purchase agreement with the current owner of F-28-1000, SN #11106, formerly registered as C-FTAV, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Prior to joining the Time Air fleet, this aircraft flew for Garuda Indonesian Airlines and Piedmont/ USAir. The caveat is that our society must raise the purchase price of the aircraft before January 31, 2019 or the aircraft will almost certainly be scrapped.
We have set our fundraising goal at $10,500 which includes the cost to acquire the aircraft and transport it to Alberta for restoration and display in our eventual museum. We have a fantastic opportunity to save this magnificent jet from being destroyed but our time is very limited.
Purchasing this aircraft is the smallest portion of this entire endeavour. This aircraft will be only one of two in any museum-type public display IN THE WORLD. Moving forward, it will be the only one of its type on public display in ALL of the Americas (North/Central/South). The Netherlands, where the Fokker F-28 was produced, does not have an F-28-1000 on display.
Please visit the TAHS Go Fund Me page and help us save C-FTAV!
Saving C-FTAV - Fokker F-28-1000 s/n11106, organized by Rik Barry
