History of aircraft driving restorations Published Sept. 3, 2008 By Monte Miller 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill -- An already joint effort is now getting extra fuel as those involved have found a new sense of pride as they take part in preserving an historic icon. Personnel from the 126th Air Refueling Wing are taking that drive and going the extra mile by donating their time to work on the plane in returning it to glory. "I know they are going to be modest," said Staff Sgt. Michael Herbert, 375th Operation Support Squadron quality assurance technician/historical property custodian. "The 126th is doing tremendous work. They come in, work their regular nine to five and then stay late. We appreciate everything they are doing for us." Built in 1965, the C-141 B model played a vital role during the Vietnam War as part of the Hanoi Taxi airlifts when it was responsible for transporting more than 300 prisoners of war home from Vietnam. Chief Master Sgt. Jim Nagel, 126th Air Refueling Wing aircraft maintenance superintendent, explained 50 percent of the 126th ARW personnel have served 20 or more years and have a deep respect for the POWs this plane carried home. After a thorough wash down a few weeks ago, the C-141 was towed to the 126th ARW side of base and is in a constant state of restorations with personnel from several different specialties practicing their skills and learning new ones. Although the 126th ARW maintenance personnel have some expertise with painting planes, most of their experiences have been with small touch-up areas and never a project of this magnitude. "Not this massive," Chief Nagel said. "We've never done anything of this magnitude. There are three teams working on this project and some of those guys are getting ready to deploy. This gives them a chance to use equipment and learn techniques they can use on deployment and will look good on their resumes in the future." One of the major tasks for the 126th ARW is to not only paint the aircraft, but corrosion control and bird proofing to ready it for long term display. Having so many tasks has been a bit of a blessing and a curse for the teams. Chief Nagel explained there is always something going on and when there is a work stoppage on one task, everyone just turns their attention to another, keep busy and move the project forward. The washing of the plane gave them a nice starting point to prep it for paint. After some research, acrylic house paint was found to work in preserving the plane and keeping it from fading. "It's been a lot of weekends and days off for our people," said Chief Nagel. "We have about 12 to 15 people volunteering their time to work on it daily. It's definitely something to be proud of." When the plane was delivered to the 126th ARW, its paint scheme was a camouflage pattern, but it will now return to the paint scheme it had when it was used for the Hanoi airlifts. 126th ARW Fabrication Superintendent Senior Master Sgt. Ramon Wrzek has played a key role in the plane restorations and is a driving force in the project completion. "The plane sat for 15 years, so just washing it took a couple of days," Sergeant Wrzek said. "That was a job and a half. This is a monumental project." The plane was first primered and will receive a three-color paint scheme. "It will be a pretty colorful airplane," Sergeant Wrzek said. "The top of the plane will be white, the wings and underside will be a gloss gray. There will also be a blue stripe that will run the circumference of the aircraft. I think it will turn out really nice." Although the majority of the painting and preservation work will be done at the 126th ARW, some of the work will have to be completed after the plane is in place at the airpark. The C-141 is scheduled to be towed into place Tuesday