Restoring a piece of aviation history

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony Jennings
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Half a century of aviation history in the form of a B-52 static display at the Air Force Armament Museum here is undergoing restoration thanks to the Adopt-a-Plane program.

In the past, federal prison inmates assisted the two-man restoration staff in maintaining the planes. Since the closure of the Federal Prison Camp, the museum has preserved these pieces of history through the Adopt-a-Plane program, which aims to have individual organizations take responsibility for maintaining a specific aircraft. The 96th Security Forces Squadron and the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron volunteered to maintain the B-52.

"This was not only an opportunity for us to save the Air Force money, but to save a piece of history," said Senior Airman Joshua Estep, 96th SFS investigations/antiterrorism officer.

John "Chuck" Yeager, museum aerospace specialist, said the aircraft is slowly deteriorating due to Florida's adverse weather conditions.

"There's mold under the wings and I've had to place patches on several areas of the aircraft," Mr. Yeager said. "The plane is just in bad shape and needs restoration."

The aircraft is the biggest restoration project the museum staff has worked on in many years, according to George Jones, museum director.

According to Mr. Yeager, the restoration will take approximately 54 gallons of primer and 28 gallons of paint and is expected to be complete by mid-January. Expenses on a project of this magnitude are estimated at $7,500.

"It feels good to know we are giving back to the community by preserving a part of our aviation history," Airman Estep said. "Veterans of old wars can bring their grandchildren here and tell them how they flew in these historical aircraft."

The B-52 G static display was first assigned to the 4135th Strategic Wing at Eglin in September 1959. It was last flown by the 2nd Bombardment Wing at Barksdale AFB, La. During Desert Storm the B-52s completed approximately 1,620 sorties; in fact, the B-52s managed to drop almost a third of the entire tonnage of bombs dropped by U.S. aircraft.

"This aircraft in particular really made its mark in aviation history," said Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones spoke passionately about restoration efforts because he knows the important role each plane played in keeping America safe and the role they continue to play today.

The museum is the only opportunity for many of the 100,000-plus yearly visitors to see aircraft up close and personal.

"If we don't take care of these planes, we'll only be able to see them in books in the future," Mr. Jones said.