Moorabbin Airport Museum takes on restoration of former AVRO Lincoln RF342

A mammoth project to restore one of just four remaining World War II-era Lincoln bombers left in the world is in the dedicated hands of the volunteers at Moorabbin Airport Museum.

A massive project to restore one of only four remaining World War II-era Avro Lincoln bombers left in the world has taken flight with a volunteer-run aviation museum hoping restore an old warbird back to its former glory.

The dedicated band of plane enthusiasts at the Moorabbin Airport Museum want to turn the fuselage of an Avro Lincoln back to as close to its original condition as possible.

Slated to take four to five years to complete, general manager Ewan McArthur said it would be the museum’s “biggest project ever”.

The almost 80-year-old plane — originally used in England to conduct icing trials, where the aircraft’s performance was tested in different weather conditions — was first flown in 1944.

Moorabbin Air Museum general manager Ewan McArthur with the fuselage of the Lincoln heavy bomber. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The Lincoln saw service with the RAAF from 1946 and was used in combat during the Malayan Emergency.

Mr McArthur said getting the museum’s Lincoln — model RF342 — plane to fly would be “impossible” due to the scarcity of existing parts, however, once the restoration had been completed, flying fanatics would have the opportunity to “get right up close and into it”.

“The cockpit itself will be quite big, it has a seven-person capability,” Mr McArthur said.

The museum will both source original parts for restoration and use original patterns to rebuild plane parts that had not survived the test of time.

“Some parts are too far gone so we will have to make them again,” Mr McArthur said.

He said the idea of the project was to restore the plane to a level where it won’t have to “be touched for a few generations”.

“We have multiple products underway but this would be classed as a special project,” he said.

“It’s definitely our biggest project ever.”

Moorabbin Air Museum GM Ewan McArthur is hoping to restore the former Lincoln heavy bomber — with a little help. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Once restored, the plane would join the museum’s collection of planes that played an important role in Australia’s aviation history.

Some of the parts in the plane will be replaced to reflect the official Australian made models as they were made historically, including reinstalling an original cockpit.

“The plane previously had a Lancaster cockpit, which now resides in a private collection in America — we want to restore the original Lincoln cockpit,” Mr McArthur said.

Avro Lincoln’s joined the RAAF 1946. Picture: supplied.

The museum has asked for public assistance to get the restoration underway, with an online fundraiser aiming to raise $10,000.

“It’s never a cheap undertaking,” Mr McArthur.

“We are just in the starting phase to get things underway.”

Originally published as Moorabbin Airport Museum takes on restoration of former AVRO Lincoln RF342