BAND OF BROTHERS

PILOTING THE RESTORATION OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT AT THE CHENNAULT MUSEUM

article by MARÉ BRENNAN and photos by BRAD ARENDER

Two days before Air Force One touched down at Monroe Regional Airport the men who are normally hard at work restoring aircraft at the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum (CAMM) hangar are busy installing American flags atop the cyclone fence along the road the President will soon be traveling. Creating a patriotic welcome is nothing new for this band of brothers who’ve answered the call to restore and protect vintage military aircraft. Most of the planes this team is restoring have a direct connection to Monroe’s Selman Field, where the majority of World War II navigators were trained, or to General Chennault’s Flying Tigers; others are relics of later wars that get their due respect as well.

Says Chennault Museum’s CEO Nell Calloway, “We are very proud of our aircraft restoration team. Most of the men who work on the planes are veterans, and many worked on aircraft in the military. Those who weren’t in the military feel they are serving those who did. If they did not love this country and what it represents, they would not do it. There is a great comradeship among them, and many war stories are told. It is also a way they can honor the machines of war and teach future generations about the history of our country.”

For those who love aviation, a trip to the Chennault Museum’s hangar is not to be missed. The restoration volunteers are there on Tuesdays and Fridays during the week. Lately, their work has been concentrated on restoring an F-86 fighter jet, which is now covered in layers of primer, ready for paint. In its earlier days, the F-86 was simply aluminum, not painted at all. But time and the elements have done a number on this aging veteran.

Adds Calloway, “Our volunteers spend thousands of hours and dollars restoring our aircraft only to have to leave them outside and subject to the elements. These men work selflessly and volunteer time and energy to each restoration project. The sun is very hard on the paint, plus we are always subject to hail and storms. We asked TBA Studio-Tim Brandon Architecture to design an aircraft park that would get the airplanes onto concrete pads and also to design a covering for them. We wanted to make it a visitor-friendly place that people would enjoy seeing and reading the history of the aircraft. Tim volunteered to help us out and designed the park. We then started working on grants and a capital campaign to raise the funds. Recently the museum received an EDA grant from the federal government for the project.”

Jim Glass, one of the volunteers at the hangar, relates the effort it takes to relocate these massive aircraft. For example, to retrieve the museum’s A-7 fighter plane, Charles Tullos and Jim did a reconnaissance mission to see how it would have to be moved. The state approved a route and luckily the A-7’s wings folded to a height of 23’ 9”, which was just under the state’s maximum of 24 feet. The men received a Louisiana State Police escort from the B-Troop. Jim laughs, “When the first trooper showed up with a license plate that read, ‘B-52’ and the second one’s was B-57, we got super excited.” After the A-7 was loaded onto a low-boy trailer, the men started north traveling only on state and local highways.

The F-86 was found at an abandoned VFW Hall and was getting vandalized. The team had already been working on a MIG-15 (what North Koreans and the Chinese flew during the Korean War), and the F-86 was the United States’ answer to the MIG. “We had to take the wings and tail off of the F-86 to get it back to Monroe,” says Jim of the Herculean effort it took to retrieve the large fighter jet.

Glass is an Air Force-trained navigator for B-52s. Because of changes in the military, he became a part of the Air Force’s security forces in the Air Police, the infantry of the Air Force. After being stationed all over the world and installing the first security forces at Cheyenne Mountain and being a squadron commander of police in Vietnam, Glass became an instructor at Lackland. While in the reserves in the Army National Guard, he became a licensed pilot. “My mother said from the time I could walk, if there was an airplane, I had to climb on it or go look at it,” he smiles. “I even met my wife in flight training. We were together 59 years and 9 days, when she passed a little over a year ago.”

Tom Shutt served in the Marine Corps, doing helicopter work in 1968-69. “I was an aviation structural mechanic, also known as a ‘tin bender,’” says Shutt, who’s experience comes in mighty handy when restoring these vintage aircraft. “I was retired and bored, and when they got the A-7, I thought, ‘Now that is something I can do.’ And I passed the test,” he laughs. “The test to work in the hangar is, ‘Do you know the difference between a hammer and a wrench?’ I have really enjoyed this work and am a firm believer in what we do at the Chennault Museum.  Shutt currently serves on the Museum’s Board of Directors.

Shutt describes one of his restoration highlights, “When we finished the A-7 restoration, the best part was meeting the pilot who had actually flown the plane we restored and others who flew the A-7 in general.”  Sonny Kifer, who lives in Newellton, flew 18 combat missions off the Kitty Hawk in Vietnam in the A-7 at the CAMM. He and his wife checked his old log books and determined this particular plane was the one he flew based on the plane’s call number. What a reunion!

Judge John Harrison, a retired District Judge and member of Chennault’s Board of Directors, stops by to catch up in the hangar with the restoration team. According to the men, it helps to have good legal advice when acquiring approval for aircraft use from the military branches.

Says Judge Harrison, “We’ve gotten approvals and qualified quickly from the Air Force and Navy, but the Army has been a little slower for approvals.” He also explains that everything in the museum, from the planes to the individual displays inside the building, tells a unique and compelling story of patriotism and valor from a historical perspective.

Jim Gregory, a former Marine whose specialty was aviation electrical systems or avionics, is another Chennault restoration volunteer you’ll find at the hangar on any given Tuesday or Friday. Of the F-86, “I saw this one twenty years ago in Hazlehurst, MS, and we brought it to Monroe in 2017. The canopy had been busted out. We found a new canopy in California that cost us $1,500 plus shipping from a parts surplus company.” Gregory, who is also retired from the Monroe Police and Sheriff’s Departments, inquired with Nell about volunteering at the museum, and she asked if he liked to work on airplanes? It was obviously a match made in heaven. “I’ve had a lifelong interest in airplanes and being able to touch these and bring them back is a great part of volunteering here,” he adds.

As the volunteers gather at the hangar and greet each other as they come in, Whitney Alger lets them know the status of their longtime buddy and fellow plane restorer, Jerry Smith, who helped the Chennault Museum get started and gain its wings. Alger encourages the others to check in on Smith after his upcoming surgery. Alger explains that everything the group does stems from Jerry’s leadership. The hangar where all the restorations projects are tackled was erected in 2011. Before that, all the work was done under the sun and was subject to the elements.

Boisterous and supportive, Alger rallies his troops and inspires others to join in the restoration. “It’s gonna cost around $5,000 plus labor to paint the F-86. I found the guy who can do it,” explains Alger. Money for restorations comes from the museum’s budget. Alger encourages those who’d like to help with airplane restoration or the aviation park, to donate to the CAMM and designate their funds, if they wish. “The Air Force calls me at least three times a year to offer me airplanes. There are three planes right now north of Little Rock that we could get for the museum, an F-4 Phantom, an F-84 (which flew in Korea), and an F-4 Phantom II, which has a distinguished combat record. We’ve also located an F-4 in Baton Rouge that we’d love to have to repair. The cost to take apart and transport the F-4 to Monroe could be around $50,000.”

Alger describes his team of airplane restoration volunteers as “MacGyvers” when it comes to working on planes and finding inexpensive and safe ways to transport them back to Monroe. I got a quote of $29,000 to move the F-86 from Hazlehurst to Monroe. With this group of men, it only cost us $2,000 to get it done. Lloyd Brown, our woodworking volunteer, handcrafted custom cradles that we covered in carpet for carrying planes back on the low-boy trailer that keeps the bodies from getting damaged further. Barnhart Cranes, Donnie Plunk and the Mississippi governor were integral in getting that plane lifted over a fence with highways blocked and back on the road to Monroe.”

Alger adds that a man from Jackson, who contacted the Mississippi governor about permission to shut down traffic to move the plane, ended up donating money to the CAMM to help offset expenses. “Each one of these planes has such a wonderful story behind them. People think we’re pretty,” laughs Alger. “Every year lots of aircraft are lost to scrap.”

“And thousands more are sitting in some Arizona desert.,” adds Lloyd Brown, who would drive by Litchfield Airpark as a teenager to see the B-29s. The runway was full of retired airplanes with covered windows and engines that could be ready to go with some air in the tires and some fuel in the tank.

The MIG came to the CAMM by way of Phoenix, says Alger. “The man we got it from kept the engine, but we got the body of the plane. The really interesting thing about this plane is that it was a Russian design, built by the Chinese with a Polish MIG engine, and there are three languages in the cockpit.”

Glenn Scioneaux, who describes himself as the rookie of the Chennault plane restoration volunteers, is a retired Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. He describes the new aviation park as shelters for the restored planes with four bays on each side of the park. He points out that the MIG and the F-86 were pitted against each other in the Korean War. “To have these two planes in the aviation park next to one another will bring history to life for our visitors,” he says. Scioneaux got started with the Chennault group after reading articles about the airplane restoration and knew he was nearing retirement and looking for something to do.

On the docket to be refurbished after the team finishes the F-86 will be a little blue plane, a Beech 18, which will be restored to look like the AT-7 planes used at Selman Field for navigator training during World War II. Says Scioneaux, “Airmen from all over the country came here to learn navigation. A lot of them met local girls and ended up staying in the area. Monroe has so many connections all over the country because of this.”

The green SNB-5 Model Beech 18 at the CAMM was converted to a M-18-R with a gun turret on top and a bomb bay by the volunteers at the CAMM hangar to look like the six planes General Chennault ordered for China. General Chiang Kai Shek gave the Beech 18 to General Chennault to use as his personal aircraft.

A big DC-3 slated for restoration was originally owned by United Airlines in the 1950s and ended up as a mosquito control plane in South Louisiana. In the military this plane was designated as a C-47 and carried cargo and paratroopers. This was a plane that flew over the treacherous Himalayas or “The Hump” as part of Chennault’s AVG supply route.

Of course, no trip to the CAMM would be complete without seeing the replica of the illustrious P-40, flown by Chennault’s AVG over the skies of China. The museum’s version is a three-quarter scale model, which was built from the ground up by an aviation enthusiast in Waco. The distinctive shark nose and teeth make the P-40 easily recognizable around the world.

For those interested in volunteering with the group, Tom Shutt adds, “It’s a low bar to join us, and there are no dues. You don’t have to know anything about planes, and there is always something to do.”

“We work like we’re not getting paid,” laughs Jim Gregory, who encourages anyone with an interest in aircraft, restoration and volunteering to come join them at the Chennault hangar. “Every aircraft is different, and it all makes me proud to be a part of. Everyone has a sweetheart, and the F-86 is my personal favorite.”

Adds Alger pointing to the wing of the F-86, “There is plenty of work to do. There are 58 bolts on each wing, and it takes 164 turns with a wrench to get a bolt in or out.”

On Alger’s wishlist? “Well, if we had money, we’d be dangerous, but it would be great to add a B-25 to the museum,” adds Alger.

If you’d like to donate to the Chennault Aviation and Military Museum, please go online at chennaultmuseum.org or visit the museum at 701 Kansas Lane. For more information about volunteering to restore planes at the hangar, visit the hangar on Tuesdays and Fridays and join this group of volunteers dedicated to preserving our history, one plane at a time.