In a workshop at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alta., volunteers scrape paint and assemble parts around the wooden wings and fuselage of a historic de Havilland Mosquito.

For 10 years, a range of people — from aviation industry experts to people with very little experience — have been gathering to restore the aircraft owned by the City of Calgary.

They’re at the halfway mark of the project, but a love for aviation history, along with the dedication of the volunteers, is what’s driving the long-term plan.

“It’s a passion for doing it, and it’s a passion to see it through to the end — and it’s such a unique airplane,” said Gary Toffelmire, who has been volunteering with the project for more than eight years.

“There’s just nothing like a Mosquito.”

The Mosquito served in the Second World War and in peacetime. It performed high-altitude photo mapping work across Canada with Spartan Air Services.

In 2010, the Calgary Mosquito Society, the non-profit organization responsible for restoring the aircraft, entered into an arrangement with the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, a community museum that has developed an expertise in restoring vintage warbirds.

Part of the agreement says the society can use the museum’s shop space, along with its specialized tooling and the members’ expertise, to restore the plane in exchange for allowing visitors into the facility and giving them the…