Page 26 - The Remains of the Original HD-4

ISSUE : Issue 21

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1978/12/1

The Remains of the Original HD-4 The hull of the HD-4 prepared for the move from the beach to the A. G. Bell Museum. The work of conservation on the remains of the original HD-4 (carried out prin? cipally by Susan Mahoney and Krysia Spiry- dowicz of Parks Canada), was intended to stabilize what was left of the craft, ra? ther than make it look new again. Bell and Baldwin had no intention of conserving the HD-4. It was really just a full-scale mod? el, and once thoroughly tested they were through with it. It was beached at Beinn Bhreagh in 1921 and was not moved to the museum grounds until 1956. In the mean? time, children had played in it, birds had nested in it, and people had ripped off pieces to build bonfires. The work of stabilizing the HD-4 included structural repairs where really necessary, cleaning it and painting it with a colourless pro? tective resin, injecting glue into parts that were extremely soft, and taking out the nails, inserting dowels and nailing again through the original holes. The conserved hull of the HD-4 is displayed in Hydrofoil Hall in such a way as to take advantage of the fact that someone had cut the original into sections; it is interior of the craft. The photos here in- digplayed in a way that permits the public elude the HD-4 prepared for moving in 1956, to walk between the sections and see the conservation work underway and the display. Our thanks to the staff and guides of the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Park serving in the summer of 1978, for their generous assistance in preparing this article. They supplied nearly all the photographs used here. The back cover and cen? tre photo above are by Owen Fitzgerald. And thanki~to Ray Martheleur, Sydney, for special photographic lab work. __??_,.' A Complete Selection of Tropical Fish b'ym Biirs Pet Centre 333 George Str*eet in Sydney next to Island Crafts Phone 539-2243 Pet Supplies and Accessories Exotic Birds and Small Animals r' HAGEN i

Cape Breton's Magazine