Restoring vintage planes preserves AF history

  • Published
  • By James Coburn
  • 37th Training Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Craftsmen who restore Lackland’s 40 historical aircraft displayed around the base often are greeted and thanked by old warriors who visit the base to watch their grandsons and granddaughters graduate from training.

“It’s real interesting, because they’ll tell you all kinds of war stories from their life and their past history,” said Miguel Basaldua, a licensed aircraft mechanic who has restored planes such as a C-47 Skytrain -- a plane used to drop paratroopers during World War II.

Workers are greeted “at least once or twice a week” while they are restoring the historic planes around the parade field or in the air park by one of the base’s gates, Mr. Basaldua said.

These are a different breed of “sidewalk superintendents” -- tough old Airmen who have gone through hellish wars over Europe and in the Pacific, Korea and Vietnam.

They stop by to admire the work of mechanics and painters sprucing up their old birds and say, “Hey, I flew in that type of plane,” Mr. Basaldua said. Then they will tell about “the places they flew when they were in the Army Air Corps.”

Mr. Basaldua specializes in working on sheet metal for the contractors who maintain the historical planes.

The seven contracted mechanics and painters do more than maintain and restore the historical aircraft, said Brian Laurence, site manager. They are responsible for maintaining trainer aircraft used to train military working dogs and handlers.

They maintain more than 100 static vehicles used for security forces accident investigation training. They also build and maintain target frames used on gunnery and grenade ranges at Lackland Training Annex and nearby Camp Bullis.

“(The) most visible work we do is restoring planes around the parade field,” Mr. Laurence said. “It’s important, too, because of the graduations and how the public views Air Force heritage.”

A water-based latex, environmentally friendly paint, is used for the static aircraft, rather than the polyurethane used to paint operational Air Force planes, Mr. Laurence said.

Larry Sterling, a painter and foreman, has helped restore a C-47 -- the first type of plane in which he flew. The Vietnam veteran painted planes at the former Kelly Air Force Base nearby before he retired from there in 1995. He has been painting planes here since then.

“I love it,” he said. When the job is completed, he said, “it gives me a little pep, a little pride that I accomplished something, and it looks nice.”

“You try to do the best you can because you’re trying to preserve Air Force history,” Mr. Basaldua said.