April Feature Story:
Behind the Scenes at the Pima Air and Space Museum
Story and photos by C.F. Yankovich

Three bronze jets leap toward a dazzling blue sky, a Chinook helicopter arches across the concrete walkway leading into a wonderland filled with over 250 aircraft, including B-52s, a SuperGuppy, a B-17 Flying Fortress, an SR-71 Blackbird, and a Wright Flier replica. This is the Pima Air and Space Museum, home to one of the largest aviation collections in the United States.

Located in Tucson, Arizona, near Davis Monthan Air Force Base, the museum is visited by a quarter million people every year. Most come to see the Challenger Center, to ogle the big military planes, or to tour the VC-118A that served as Air Force One for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Because the impressive displays capture attention, most visitors remain unaware of the transformations that occur in a large hangar at the west end of the property.

The restoration zone
A dusty, rutted road angles out from the parking lot, wandering between a tangle of prickly pear cactus and desert scrub. The desert air, freshly washed by recent rain, smells of creosote and puddles of water, reflecting the clear sky, dot the pale desert soil. Through an open gate, we pass a ragged row of assorted battered planes, awaiting restoration. Opposite the planes is the museum's Bob Johnson Restoration Facility, larger than the Smithsonian's Silver Hill site; the pale building dwarfs cars parked along one side.

When our group of four arrived on a Saturday, the hangar was almost empty. The previous project, a Cobra Gunship from the Vietnam era, was completed and on display in the helicopter area of the museum grounds. In a few months, the facility would be stuffed with projects -- a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV, a Bell P-39 Aircobra, a MIG-19 "Farmer," and a PBY5-A "Canso." But that wintery day, our footsteps echoed as we walked past the circa-1950s' military ambulance slathered in paint stripper sitting in a corner near the main doors. Between the ambulance and a paint storage area, "Lumpy" Lumpkin stood swathed in coveralls and respirator, priming an ancient aircraft tug. At the far end, the single aircraft project, a Lockheed Harpoon patrol bomber, was dwarfed by the broad expanse of concrete.

During winter weekdays, the hangar bustles with activity. Scott Marchand, the Director of Collections and Aircraft Restoration, oversees a crew of six specialists and a bevy of volunteers. But weekends are quieter. Only Lumpkin and a few volunteers were there -- and they ignored our intrusion as they went about the business of rebuilding airplanes. Chris Welborn, one of the museum's aviation restoration specialists volunteered to be our guide. He explained that the area where the Harpoon sat was permanently reserved for volunteer projects. Having begun as a volunteer himself, Welborn has special affection for the concept. One who enjoys sharing his knowledge with others, he told us, "If I come up with a technique and someone wants to know it, I show them."

History of the Harpoon
Aviation buffs know that the similarities between the Harpoon and the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, a 12-passenger transport from the late 1930s, are not coincidence. With World War II looming in the future, Lockheed continually modified the Model 14, creating multiple variants. One, an experimental bomber, attracted the attention of the British Purchasing Committee (BPC). Working with the BPC, Lockheed redesigned the plane as a patrol bomber, the Model 214 Hudson, eventually manufacturing approximately 2000 planes which were either sold directly to British or transferred via "Lend Lease" agreements. Another offshoot of the Super Electra, the Model 18 Lodestar civilian transport, became known as the C-60 and was the direct ancestor of the PV series of aircraft.

Slight fuselage modifications and the substitution of Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial engines resulted in the PV-1 Ventura, a fast plane that suffered from lateral stability problems. Originally intended for bombing and reconnaissance duties, PV-1s purchased by the British as a replacement for the Hudson. But the plane's limitations became apparent when it was used for daylight bombing runs. The order was cancelled and existing planes were quickly assigned to the RAF Coastal Command for domestic defense duties.

The US Navy approached Lockheed about an extensive redesign of the PV-1 -- resulting in the PV-2 Harpoon. Initial problems with wing wrinkling and leaking of the integral (wing) fuel tanks plagued the first planes. Once these were resolved, planes were delivered to combat units in March 1945, proving themselves in the Aleutians. Slower than the PV-1 "hotrods," the Harpoons were more reliable and able to carry an additional ton of weaponry. Less than 1000 PV-2s were manufactured before V-J day ended the war, only five months later.

After World War II, naval planes were assigned to reserves or transferred to foreign air arms, including Aeronautica Militare Italiana, the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, the French Aeronauticque Navale, and the Netherlands' Marine Luchtvaardienst. Other Harpoons were surpluses, ending up on the commercial market as freight haulers, executive transport, and crop dusters.

Restoration challenges
As Welborn guided our tour around the Harpoon, Bob Strand one of the museum volunteers, knelt next to it setting rivets, oblivious to the tour wandering past. A neat row of rivet heads protruded from the belly of the plane, silver against the green zinc primer. Pausing at one of the wheels, Welborn pointed out a repair to a belly door. He told us that old plane parts, such as panels are often nonexistent and must be fabricated. According to Welborn, one of the lesser-known problems facing the museum is a lack of tires -- demand is extremely limited for the odd sizes used on many of the planes. One of the remedies he expected to use was casting replicas out of fiberglass. Fiberglass and wood are already being used to create dummy bombs and rockets for display. Because many of the aircraft at Pima Air and Space Museum were donated by the USAF with the requirement that they will not be restored to flyable status, cosmetic restoration is acceptable.

Another frequent problem well known by many involved in restoration of antique aircraft is a shortage of information. Even the museum is not immune to this. When staff begins planning a restoration project, one of the first steps is contacting the manufacturer for construction drawings. Unfortunately, in the case of the Harpoon, many drawings were nonexistent or lost. Luckily the technical orders were in the museum's reference library, but they did not provide enough detail when staff needed to build a filet connecting the horizontal stabilizer to the empennage. Ultimately the repair was designed based on staff's knowledge of construction techniques.

Around the hangar
Welborn pointed out various metal shears, an English wheel, a power hacksaw, power sander, and other tools -- all neatly arranged around the edges of the hangar. He explained that most of the expensive equipment was donated. After we gathered around, he showed a profile jig made out of wood. Similar to a child's toy, it uses a board filled with parallel dowels to capture the outline of a complex sheet metal shape.

While we watched, Lou Prawitz, another volunteer, demonstrated one of the breaks. Welborn told us that different breaks are used to get specific results. We learned that the width of the shelf affects the bend, the wider the shelf, the deeper the bend.

After quick demos of the English wheel and a shear, Welborn turned to a contraption of wheels and rods sitting on the floor. This earned Welborn a trip to the Oshkosh fly-in where he held a seminar on complex metal bends. Designed by staff at Pima Air and Space, the device is capable of bending aluminum around two radii simultaneously.

Next we walked across the floor to another machine where Welborn bashed a piece of aluminum with a hammer. "This is the manual technique," he told us, sliding a piece of metal into machine and flipping a switch. "And this is the autohammer." A din of banging sent the hangar pigeons flying as the piece of aluminum was quickly transformed into a warty bowl shape.

The techniques used for restoring aircraft have other, unexpected uses. Prawitz showed us a mockup nose panel he built to be used for special events. A rivet-for-rivet duplicate of a B-17, it celebrated the Squawking Chicken, from the painting "Last Man Standing."

Into the future
The refurbished Harpoon that rolled out of the Bob Johnson Facility in mid-2004 was another example of the magic that skilled restoration professionals can perform. A flood of new projects followed -- the Blenheim, a B-26 Marauder, an A-20 Havoc and an Ercoupe. The latest project was restoration of the NASA KC-135 "Vomit Comet." Still the huge hangar is filled to overflowing. The row of twisted planes on flat tires that sits out front will have to wait.

But the museum has ambitions beyond simply restoring old aircraft. Like most non-profits, Pima Air and Space relies on donations and bequests to meet expenses. Developing a product and reducing dependence on fund-raising has been a goal for some time. While remaining uncharacteristically quiet about the specifics, Welborn told us that things are looking promising. He bounced with enthusiasm as he said, "All we need is a power break."


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Pima Air and Space Museum
6000 East Valencia Road, Tucson, Arizona
www.pimaair.org

Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon Website
www.pv2harpoon.com


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