One of the last Second World War de Havilland Mosquito bombers left in Canada will remain in a Calgary warehouse for now, a city council committee decided Wednesday.

A buyer from the United Kingdom had expressed interest in purchasing the twin-engine aircraft, which has been in storage in a Kensington warehouse since the 1960s, but the committee has decided not to sell it.

Hundreds of Alberta servicemen flew the de Havilland Mosquito during the Second World War.
(CBC)

The directors of the Calgary Aero Space Museum, which is in charge of caring for the warplane, had endorsed the deal, worth a possible $1.5 million.

But Richard De Boer, an aviation buff and founding member of the museum, lobbied against the sale and said the city or museum should restore the aircraft because of its significance for Calgary.

"That very airplane arrived in Calgary the day after VE-Day," de Boer said Wednesday.

"So the city's celebrating, everybody's going wild and here comes [a] de Havilland Mosquito known as F for Freddie, 213 combat missions, and it shows up and it starts buzzing downtown Calgary, lower than the rooftop level of the Palliser hotel and the Hudson's Bay building — a spectacular event."

'It can be propped up, glued up, kibbled together and it might stand up for a while, but it is not a museum piece.'— Ald. Gord Lowe, museum board member

Ald. Gord Lowe, who sits on the museum's board, said the directors are disappointed by the committee's decision because the museum doesn't have the money to properly restore the aircraft.

"The Mosquito, in my view, cannot be restored in its current situation," said Lowe. "It's been butchered. It's been ground. It's been damaged. It can be propped up, glued up, kibbled together and it might stand up for a while, but it is not a museum piece."