Champaign Aviation Museum of Ohio volunteers are piecing together various plane parts to bring back to life a vintage aircraft from the World War II era. A piece was found under the porch of an elderly woman in the next town. Another part was bought from a bar owner who had it hanging in Colorado. Another piece was used as a prop in a TV show way back 1960. The tail section was from a wreck site in Alaska.
The dozens of volunteers are piecing together the parts like a jigsaw puzzle at a small Ohio museum. Once the project is complete, a new and airworthy model of one of the world’s most famous military planes, the World War II bomber B-17.
The volunteers are working on a vintage plane based on a collection of 28,000 original Boeing Co. blueprints which the Smithsonian Institution provided generously. And they are making history.
a teacher at a local vocational school on aviation asks his students to help in the building of the Flying Fortress. The incomplete plane can be viewed by visitors when the museum is open.
The first five pieces were from five different sources. The other parts needed and cannot be found or restored had to be made from scratch. Randy Kemp, 56 years old, serves as the project manager who oversees the fabrication of new pieces. He also takes charge of around 100 volunteers who come and go. Some even come from as far as England to volunteer for the ambitious project.
Shiffer further said that the project will cost millions. Donations and fundraisers have contributed to the completion of the plane. The museum also plans to hold a benefit dinner in April at the museum. Amanda Wright Lane, a great grandniece of Orville and Wilbur Wright will be expected to appear in the dinner to give a talk.
http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/ohio-museum-volunteers-building-vintage-wwii-plane.html
