Siren call of Viscount engines powers volunteer passion

Growing up near airport began love for aviation

By: Aaron Epp Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Monday, May. 2, 2022

Robert W. Arnold remembers what it was like growing up near the Winnipeg airport and the sounds that accompanied living beneath a busy flight path.

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Robert W. Arnold remembers what it was like growing up near the Winnipeg airport and the sounds that accompanied living beneath a busy flight path.

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Robert W. Arnold remembers what it was like growing up near the Winnipeg airport and the sounds that accompanied living beneath a busy flight path.

“When you live close to the airport, people either hate it or love it,” the 71-year-old says. “I turned out to really love it.”

A self-proclaimed aviation fanatic, Arnold indulges his passion as a volunteer at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.

Robert W. Arnold, a volunteer at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada since 1976, with the Vickers Viscount, the largest of the 90 aircraft in the museum collection at its new location opening May 19. (Jessica Lee / Winnipeg Free Press)

The museum houses 90 historic aircraft, as well as 70,000 artifacts and photographs. Its former location closed in October 2018; its new facility on the campus of the Richardson International Airport will open May 19.

Arnold, a retired long-haul trucker, started volunteering at the museum in 1976. He’s helped out in a variety of capacities over the years, including restoring engines, recovering aircraft from the wilderness, and giving input into the museum’s displays.

Arnold is most passionate, however, about his role as custodian of the museum’s largest aircraft: a Vickers Viscount.

Built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. in England, the Viscount became the world’s first turboprop airliner and first turbine-powered aircraft to enter scheduled service in North America. Trans-Canada Air Lines (predecessor to Air Canada) purchased 51 Viscounts between December 1954 and May 1959.

Trans-Canada’s head maintenance base was in Winnipeg, less than a kilometre from Arnold’s childhood home. He recalls hearing the unique sounds the Viscount’s four Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines made as staff performed various tests.

“That unmistakable whine would be the first thing I’d hear when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I’d hear before falling asleep at night,” Arnold says. “To this day, when I put my mind to it, I can still hear that familiar sound as if it had never left.”

The museum’s Viscount operated from February 1958 until April 1974. It was donated to the permanent collection in late 1982.

Arnold was part of the team of volunteers that initially travelled to Gimli to prepare the Viscount for long-term storage, but his interest in the plane really took off 40 years later.

In 2012, Arnold received a call from one of the museum’s founders. The centre was cleaning out its archives and wanted to know if Arnold would be interested in several boxes containing Viscount blueprints, drawings, photos, maintenance manuals and other documents related to the airplane and its maintenance program in Winnipeg.

Arnold took the material and, in the course of sorting through it, started sharing it with the Vickers Viscount Network, a virtual museum started by two men in England dedicated to documenting and telling the story of the aircraft.

Arnold says it is a calling to research and share information with others about the turboprop Vickers Viscount. (Jessica Lee / Winnipeg Free Press)

In addition to the archival material, Arnold’s St. James apartment (he lives near where he grew up) contains a number of Viscount parts he’s accumulated and restored over the years.

“Someone once looked at it all and said, ‘You could almost build a new Viscount,’” Arnold says. “Supply me with the wings and fuselage and I could probably do it.”

Aviation is a driving force in Arnold’s life. It’s a force those around him don’t always understand, but one that energizes him.

“The Viscount has become a passion for me,” says Arnold, who sees researching the plane and sharing information with others as a calling. “Sometimes, a calling finds you instead of you finding it. This is a calling that found me.”

Anyone interested in getting involved at the museum can visit royalaviationmuseum.com/volunteer.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca

Volunteer opportunities

The these listings, please contact the organization directly. Volunteer Manitoba does not place volunteers with organizations but can assist you in finding an opportunity. To learn more about its programs and services, go to www.volunteermanitoba.ca or call 204-477-5180.

Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services (NEEDS) is seeking volunteer assistants to help staff members operate the remote after-school homework club. This program runs during the school year, Mondays through Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., helping newcomer and refugee children and youth in Grades 1 through 12 with homework in various subject areas. Email volunteers@needsinc.ca or call 204-940-1279 to apply, or go online to http://wfp.to/QHw for more information.

Inclusion Winnipeg is seeking board members with fund development experience. Experience in the following is considered an asset: capital or endowment campaigns, donor relations and retention, governance, and accreditation. The board meets about 10 times per year, and board members are expected to participate in a committee (governance, finance, advocacy, fund development) and attend the annual general meeting and planning sessions. Apply by email, with a resumé and cover letter, by June 15.

Orioles Bike Cage is seeking volunteers for a variety of tasks. Greeters, cleaners and organizers are needed, and help is always needed doing renovations on the small building. Volunteers also also needed to help with transporting scrap metal and rubber, handling social media and poster design, delivering flyers, and more. Apply in person, by email at oriolesbikecage@gmail.com, or at www.bikecage.ca, by Aug. 1.

SHADE (Safe Housing and Directed Empowerment) needs a graphic designer to help with social media and print material advertising for fundraisers and programming, and with additions to the website and communicating with potential community partners. Volunteers should have two-plus years of experience in graphic design and using Adobe Photoshop. This work can be done from home, except for external relations meetings once or twice per month and showing up to help at fundraiser events. Apply by email at swinstanley@shadewinnipeg.org or online at www.shadewinnipeg.org.

Volunteers are needed to make thank-you calls to donors on behalf of the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation. The initiative will encourage donors to continue to support fundraising efforts. Applications are being accepted for participation over the next two months. The time commitment is one to two hours per week. Volunteers will participate remotely, by telephone. Email ccmbvolservices@cancercare.mb.ca or phone 204-787-2121.

The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada is seeking committee members for the Winnipeg Brain Tumour Walk. Volunteers will help the walk co-ordinator plan and implement the “pit stop,” seek potential sponsorships, and source and collect items for a virtual auction. Committee planning for the walk continues until the event on June 17. The level of commitment is flexible. Email cmcdonnell@braintumour.ca by June 1.

The Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities is seeking enthusiastic, creative and committed volunteers to join its fundraising committee. Events, donation drives and corporate sponsorship strategies are the primary objectives. Volunteers will attend a virtual committee meeting once a month, with additional time possibly required. For more information, email operations manager Kaye Grant at operations@mlpd.mb.ca.

The North Centennial Seniors Association of Winnipeg is seeking volunteers for its Grandma & Grandpa Swim Program. This nationally recognized program offers one-on-one pool play time with preschoolers from participating daycares. This is a one-hour commitment per week, in the pool or during snack/party times. A police record check is required. Call 204-582-0066 with any questions. Email letter of application to toncsc@shaw.ca.

Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter needs volunteers to help with animal care and shelter maintenance. Duties include feeding and watering cats, cleaning and disinfecting kennels, washing dishes, unfolding newspapers, and general cleaning and dusting. Must be 18 or older. Many different shifts available. Call Carla or Michelle at 204-832-9880. Go to www.petrescueshelter.com for more information about the shelter.

The Assiniboine Park Conservancy is recruiting volunteers ages 14 and older for roles in the park and zoo this summer. If you are interested in volunteering at the Leaf in Canada’s Diversity Gardens when it opens this fall, you must apply before June 15 to participate in training. For more information, go to http://wfp.to/QLH or email volunteer@assiniboinepark.ca.

Age & Opportunity’s senior immigrant settlement services needs culturally sensitive volunteers who enjoy working with older people to check in weekly with socially isolated clients in their first language. Volunteers who speak multiple languages are encouraged to apply by emailing their resumé to mkapoor@aosupportservices.ca.

The Canadian Red Cross is seeking volunteers. When disaster strikes, you can help, and the Red Cross can show you how. Go to www.redcross.ca/volunteer, email volunteer@redcross.ca or call 1-844-818-2155.