Around the Hangar

Good day all!
Some photos for you of work taking place around the hangar.  There have been some major changes and we expect to roll out some new additions to step up our game as a museum.  Help is always appreciated as we start in on these projects!  Expect more photos of the work taking place, and the (slow) transition into spring time and the flying season!

The L-5 is up on jacks getting close to finished with the annual inspection

The Bomb Release System is functional, and ready to drop

Speaking of bomb bays, here is the new bomb bay travel box for the bomber.  It coverts into a table for PX as well!

The BT-13 is nearly ready to get back to flying, just some wing walk to add!

The B-25 right rudder fabric was getting pretty rough.  We took it down to the metal and recovered... next up is the left, and we will be teaching any member who wants to learn!

An upside down canopy for a Navion.  We are trading for an L-17 style canopy.  This one is getting cleaned up and new glass in preparation for the trade.

There is a lot of new metal going on the Navion.  The vertical stabilizer gets all new covering.

The Navion's fuselage, all stripped out.

The Wings sit next to it, in the project zone.

An example of the excellent work being performed on the Navion.  Skins on both sides of the fuselage are being replaced.  This will be a new aircraft when done!

Speaking of new... a new-old stock firewall is ready for install!

The Museum has new cases, new displays and an all new look!

The displays are just getting formed, but are coming along really well (as in the near complete mural in the background!)

These fairly odd looking contraptions were donated recently.  They are video kiosks, and are being reprogrammed to show videos of the aircraft, the wing, and what we do!  They will be a huge part of our future as a museum!

Around the Hangar

This segment covers so much ground, and with limited space, in less pictures than I'd like. The summer has been crazy, and the craziness has rarely slowed. Although it jumps around a lot, this will hopefully cover many of the tales from this summer!
(Photos Thanks to Tom Langer and Brian Strom)

(MN Wing crew line up with NHL player Brent Burns. Brent went for a flight as part of a promotional deal set up with Defending the Blue Line.)


(Bill Atchison attends a car show with cadets Tyler Befort, Matt Stone and Andrew Sahli.)


(Engine failure on the right engine forced a replacement...)


(It also required cleanup of the prop, due to metal contamination. Dave Schouveller and Larry Utter load it up for the trek to Maxwell Prop)


(Oil coolers also must be flushed. Andy Piazza takes on this awful job)


(Matt Stone and Andrew Sahli remove rusted fasteners from the WC-21's seat)


(Tom Goodwill jacks the P-51 wheel to perform a brake inspection.)


(Bill, Matt and Andrew attend a parade and car show)


(Tom Bulger and Larry Utter inspect engine parts)


(Bill and George Colaizy straighten the front grill of the WC-21)


(Rob Hardkopf installs accessories on the B-25)


(George grinds parts in preparation for welding)


(Roger Van Ranst removes accessories for the right engine blower section failure)


(All the accessories came off, leaving the rear case bare)


(Until we removed that too!)


(The culprit of the problems was the planetary gear, seen here as the shiny silver gear in the middle)


(Nate Timm works on assembling all the correct parts for the nose gun)


(It's like a puzzle, just get all the pieces in the right way or it won't work!)


(Bill paints the WC-21 engine the correct silver color)


(Bob Wright, Tom Bulger, Ray Miller, Arnie Fick and Jim Nelson catalog parts.)


(Andrew Sahli touches up paint on the 1941 Willy's Jeep)


(Bill welds and grinds the body of the WC-21)


(One of many tours to visit the MN Wing this summer!)



(New nose art for the L-5!!!)


(At a celebration for the 40th anniversary of the Wing, many of the early members attended)


(Happy Anniversary to the MN Wing!)

Around the Hangar

So much work takes place at the hangar every week, it's hard to keep up! If you've been around, you know that there are constantly new faces. There is a large level of participation by younger folks (early 30s and younger) and an increase in the 40 over crowd as well. I believe it'd be safe to say that the Minnesota Wing is one of the most diverse CAF units age wise. It's been great to see everyone work together so well, and work so hard to accomplish the goals of the CAF. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!
(Photos Thanks to Brian Strom)

(Attendees to the B-25 ground school learn from Alan Miller and Larry Utter)


(Meanwhile the Wing takes delivery of its newest vehicle, a 1942 Dodge WC-21!)


(Alex Otto cleans Miss Mitchell's nacelle in preparation for the first flight)


(Bob Wright and Bob Koelbl install panels on the BT-13)


(Tyler Befort, Matt Stone, Andrew Salih and Roger Ruhland dismantle the WC-21)


(A rather large crowd stands by while Miss Mitchell is rolled out for the first time this year)


(Randy Hendrickson and George Colaizy remove the engine and transmission from the WC-21 frame)


(Parts are washed and prepped for sand blasting)


(Nate Timm adding a circuit breaker to run the bomb release mechanism)


(Alex and Dave Schouveller install some final panels)


(George troubleshoots the M-37. It is now ready to hit the road!)


(Dave stands tall to assist Larry Utter)


(Mikael Menendez removes WC-21 engine accessories)


(Iron Chef Ron Legg is released on the CAF once again! He's testing out the Wing's new grill for the first time... seems to have worked great!)


(Bill Atchison primes WC-21 parts as they are cleaned and stripped)


(A group, donning Purple gloves, sorts through microfilm with every one of the B-25's parts on it in search of specific information... the amazing thing is that they found what they were looking for in a very short period of time!)


(Craig Steinick attaches the touched up L-5 Panel... look for the new L-5 noseart on the next Blog post!)


(Tom Peltier shows his mastery of paint, as usual, by touching up the B-25's tail stripes, and repainting the Olive Drab glare shields... great work Tom!)