Behind the scenes tour

[cooper9411]

Has anyone taken the "behind the scenes tour" at the NMUSAF in Dayton? I've been on it a few times and it is well worth it. They take you onto the base and into the restoration hangar. One of the first times I was on the tour is shortly after the B-17 Memphis Belle had arrived. The plane was completely disassembled and the tail section had been stripped of paint and you could still read the names of the people who had signed it over the years. The museum was trying to locate as many of the people as possible and I was told that some of the signatures belonged to people who actually built the plane. While on the tour they let you take pictures and I was up on a ladder in front of the cockpit looking straight at it and took a picture. I found out that all they do in the restoration hangar is to make the planes look pretty, they don't do anything with interiors unless the plane will be accesible to the public. The last time I was there they had two B-17's they are restoring, and to see two pieces of history like that was awesome. There is always something being restord in the hangar and the guide said that there are a few hangars that are full of aircraft waiting to be restored and that some of the planes they have came from one of the many warehouses that the Air & Space museum has chocked full of vintage aircraft. Anyways, I would highly recommend that if you get the chance to take the tour, by all means do it.

[Misterg97]

Has anyone taken the "behind the scenes tour" at the NMUSAF in Dayton? I found out that all they do in the restoration hangar is to make the planes look pretty, they don't do anything with interiors unless the plane will be accesible to the public. The last time I was there they had two B-17's they are restoring, and to see two pieces of history like that was awesome. There is always something being restord in the hangar and the guide said that there are a few hangars that are full of aircraft waiting to be restored and that some of the planes they have came from one of the many warehouses that the Air & Space museum has chocked full of vintage aircraft. Anyways, I would highly recommend that if you get the chance to take the tour, by all means do it.

I'm not sure that your quote of not doing anything to the interiors is accurate ... acutally it's quite the opposite ... I would imagine some of the other WIXER's would agree with me.

[mustangdriver]

I would say that may have been the case 40 years ago, but over the years the museum has gotten much better with their restorations. The same trend is true with flying warbirds as well. In the last 10 years the museum has raised the bar even higher in the shop to rival some of the NASM restorations. The collection that was restored in the past years were gone through again and brought up to today's standards. This is still going on today. The interiors are restored and brought back to as close to combat ready for that time period as possible.

[cooper9411]

I was just stating what was told to me a few years ago by one of the restoration area employees. I volunteered time on the B-17 Champagne Lady at Grimes Field Urbana Ohio and Tom the supervisor is friends with the supervisor at the restoration area and Tom called to see if they were still looking for an A&P and put me on the phone, I am trying to remember the fellows name I spoke with, anyways what he said to me was , " we don't do any hydraulic or wiring, we just have to make them look good". I'm not trying to cause conflict and I agree most of the aircraft there are mostly complete examples. Just some of the older examples are not as complete. I'll get ahold of Tom and get the guys name that I spoke with.

[Steve Nelson]

I know some of the aircraft in the collection are mainly "cosmetic" restorations, but the Belle is getting the full treatment down to the last detail. When I took the tour last spring, there was a heating unit sitting there that had been built from scratch, using the original from "The Swoose" as a pattern. Mind you, this complex unit will be mounted inside the wing, where it will never be seen unless the aircraft is disassembled.



As for not bothering with wiring and hydraulics...



Admitedly, I've had my gripes about some of the NMUSAF restorations, but most of those are due to work that was done many years ago, when "just make it look good" outweighed "get it right." I'd love to see some of the earlier restorations get the same treatment as the Belle (namely the B-24 and Marauder) but considering how many totally urestored airframes are waiting in the queu, I think it's probably best that the limited resources and manpower are focused there.

SN

[cooper9411]

Did you happen to see the vacuum chamber that the staff made? It is used to form new plexi-glass domes for turrets. That was cool. I'm sure as time goes by the restoration crew can really restore some of the aircraft that are already on display. Did you happen to see the top turret for the Memphis Belle? That was one of their biggest projects they were working on. If you are going to do something, take the time to do it right and let your work do the talking for you.

[Steve Nelson]

Did you happen to see the vacuum chamber that the staff made? It is used to form new plexi-glass

Yep..this mold was to make new canopy glass for the P-75A restored a couple years ago. When last toured the shop in September, they had just made a new bubble canopy for the Skyraider.



The staff is also making a new rudder from scratch for the A-25. The Naval Aviation Museum loaned them the corroded remains of the rudder from the SB2C recovered from a California reservoir last year to use as a pattern. In return, the NMUSAF is making two rudders..one for their own Helldiver, and a second for the Naval Aviation Museum. A great example of inter-museum cooperation!

Did you happen to see the top turret for the Memphis Belle? That was one of their biggest projects they were working on.

As a model builder, you'd better believe I photographed every nook and cranny of that turret. It's a really magnificent restoration. What's amazing is the incredibly heavy framework on the turret dome (very "steampunk" looking)..within just a matter of a few months, plexiglass molding technology had advanced to the point that the Martin dorsal turret dome needed no framing at all, just some reinforcement strips glued to the inside.









The Belle's ball turret is interesting as well. It still has a couple of nicks from flak, which will be left as-is. Also, the tour guide told us that everything inside was restored and repainted, except the wooden gun handles..since they were still stained with the sweat of the gunners.



The Belle is going to be absolutely magnificent when she's done!

SN

[APG85]

Fantastic! Look like there's some kind of lube or something leaking in that turret...

[cooper9411]

Last time I was there they had just started the template for the rudder. Nice to have all of the tools that they have.

[Zachary]

"we don't do any hydraulic or wiring, we just have to make them look good".

I suspect the fellow meant that wiring and hydraulic lines are not replaced. There is no need to put new wiring and lines in a static restoration. Preservation of original parts is always preferred in a static restoration when at all possible.

Zack

[StangStung]

I just called today and got an interminably long "leave your number after the beep" message. Any chance someone here can pm me a direct line where I can talk to a real person to get on the list for the behind the scenes tour?

[BK]

I just called today and got an interminably long "leave your number after the beep" message. Any chance someone here can pm me a direct line where I can talk to a real person to get on the list for the behind the scenes tour?

Follow this link and fill out the form for the date you want to visit:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/visit/tours.asp

Right now you can only register for tours through May. In a few months you can register for later tours.

[StangStung]

Perfect BK, thanks!

[cooper9411]

Take a good camera for indoor pictures. And then post them here for all to enjoy.