THE AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM Hangar digest VOLUME 12, ISSUE 1 J ANUARY-MARCH 2012 GLIDER REBORN History for the asking Volunteers bring CG-4A back to life Information galore in AMCM’s library FOUNDATION NOTES Meet the AMCM’s new directors PAGE 8 THE AMC HANGAR DIGEST IS A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMC MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC. PAGE 2 VOLUME 12, ISSUE 1 Air Mobility Command Museum Mission Statement The mission of the Air Mobility Command Museum is twofold: ● To present the history and development of military airlift and tanker operations. ● In a goal closely aligned with the first, to portray the rich history of Dover Air Force Base and its predecessor, Dover The Hangar Digest is pub- Army Airfield. lished quarterly and is dedicated to the preser- vation of our airlift and AMC Museum Staff AMC Museum Foundation tanker heritage. All arti- Director Board of Directors cles, unless otherwise Mike Leister President noted, are written by the Curator Col. Don Sloan, USAFR (Ret.) editor. Jim Leech Vice President Viewpoints in this publica- Operations Manager Lt. Col. Paul Gillis, USAFR (Ret.) tion are those of the contrib- John Taylor Secretary Archivist Lt. Col. Phil White, USAF (Ret.) uting authors and do not Lt. Col. Harry E. Heist, USAF (Ret.) necessarily reflect the opin- Treasurer Collections Manager Col. Leonard Heavner, USAF (Ret.) ions of the AMC Museum Deborah Sellars Members Foundation or of the Muse- Educator Bill Ayrey um’s staff. Dick Caldwell Robert Berglund Subscriptions are free and Museum Store Manager David Bever are mailed via nonprofit Jim Stewart Bettie Campbell standard mail to paid-up Volunteer Coordinator Jim Douglass members of the AMC Mu- Janice Caldwell Mike Frebert seum Foundation Inc. Librarian Chaplain, Lt. Col. John Groth, USAFR MSgt. Bob Wikso, USAF (Ret.) (Ret.) Contributions. Reader com- Membership Manager ments, articles and ideas are Melody Heavner Deborah Sellars Bob Mench solicited for future issues. Website (www.amcmuseum.org) CMSgt. Ed Perkowski, USAF (Ret) Mail to The Hangar Digest, Hal Sellars Larry Tasker P.O. Box 02050, Dover AFB DE 19902-2050; fax 302-677 What is the Air Mobility Command Museum? -5940; or email amcmuseum Located in Building 1301 on Dover Air Force Base, Kent County, Delaware, the AMC Museum @us.af.mil. is part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s field museum system. Contact Editor Master Sgt. Building 1301 was built in 1944 and used in World War II by the 4146 Base Unit as a secret rocket Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) via development site at what was known as the Dover Army Airfield. During the 1950s through 1970s, the area was home to various fighter squadrons serving the base. Following several years of inactivity, the email at [email protected]. facility was renovated to house the AMC Museum. The Museum consists of the former hangar, adminis- Photos are by Jeff Brown, trative offices, shop and heating plant, and now counts more than 30 planes as part of its inventory. except as noted. Building 1301 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Although located on Dover AFB proper, entrance to the Museum may be made from Delaware Route 9, south of the base. Admission to and parking at the Museum is free and military identifica- tion is not required. The Air Mobility Command Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday Page 2 photo: Two members of the through Sunday, every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. 436th Security Police Squadron man a For more information, call 302-677-5939. gate at Dover Air Force Base in the late 1970s. AMCM archives photo. The Hangar Digest is printed and mailed by the Farley Printing Company, Dover, Del. HANGAR DIGEST PAGE 3 From the Director Budget cutbacks mean major loss for AMC Museum I wish you all a great 2012. Remember it donation in a year. In 1986, the wing commander here was was just 100 And what are these artifacts that have us so the illustrious Walt Kross, later commander years ago that excited? During the early days of the war, the of the U.S. Transportation Command and Army Signal Army realized a need for combat engineering Air Mobility Command. Col. Kross wanted Corps airplanes equipment that could be hauled on the to start a historical center to preserve our were allowed to transport aircraft and gliders in use at the time. base and airlift heritage. Along with two participate in A whole series of items were developed that fliers I was asked to make something hap- Army maneu- could build runways and roads but were small pen. The deputy commander for mainte- vers for the first enough and light enough they could fit inside a nance allowed me to steal one of his best time. CG-4A glider. If you walk by the tail of our C- master sergeants from the flight line “for a On a bright 47 you will see a Clark Airborne Bulldozer year;” thus Master Sgt. Jim Leech became note, the garden and it is a virtually perfect restoration, so good our first full time employee. At that time AMCM Director train display put Mike Leister that I got to drive it into place. It runs like a the Museum consisted of one wrecked air- on by the Shore- champ. As soon as we have the new Quonset plane and about 1,200 square feet of floor line Garden Railroad Club has been a big hut completed we will put on display a Case space. Jim hit the ground running and never success for the second year. We had more Airborne Tractor and a Converto Dump trailer looked back. At that time the museum was than 7,000 visitors in December. I’m not as well. These help tell the story of when airlift just an “additional duty” for me; I did the sure who has more fun, the visiting children became a major factor in strategic planning paperwork and coordination, and Jim did or our volunteers who have learned to run and humanitarian operations. all the real work. One year turned into sev- the trains. Last issue I had to pass on the bad news eral and Jim had to make a decision. If he There is some other very good news on a that we were required to terminate our tem- stayed at the Museum he would not get completely different note. Darrell Smoker porary exhibit technician due to Air Force- promoted to senior master sergeant. Jim of Strasbourg, Pa., has agreed to loan the wide budget cuts. If you read the newspa- elected to stay, he loved this place. Museum three rare and wonderful items per or watch the news you know the mili- When it was time for him to retire from from the World War II era. Now, some of tary is downsizing and we have to be part the Air Force he had to wait six months you may immediately note we don’t nor- of that process. Losing an employee we before he was eligible to apply for the civil mally take loans; that is true but in this case only had here for three months hurt since service position we were working on to we obtained permission from the AMC we were making great progress on updating raise the Historical Center to the next level. Command Curator to accept these three some exhibits and on our aircraft mainte- He worked at the museum as a volunteer things because Darrell’s intention is, at this nance. Now we are going to lose one of our during that period. We had become the point, to consider making them a permanent three core positions, a much bigger loss. Dover AFB Museum and we needed a pro- fessional curator. There were several appli- cants for the curator’s job. Some had good résumés but nobody came close to match- ing Jim’s expertise. He was hired in 1991 and has been our “go to” guy ever since. Whether it was towing an aircraft into a tight hangar or figuring out how to fix something with nothing, Jim has always been there. We are not sure when Jim is actually going to put down his toolbox, so to speak, but I’m going to be the first per- son to say he carried this place on his back in the beginning and his continued efforts have made it what it is today. People who know us know that Jim and I fight like brothers sometimes but he has AMCM photo always put the interest of this Museum first The AMC Museum recently obtained the loan of a Clark Airborne Bulldozer, courtesy of and he has always been the right guy for the Darrell Smoker of Strasburg, Pa. The small dozers were designed to be flown either in job. I will miss him. the C-47, an example of which can be seen in the background, or in the CG-4A Waco glider. Approximately 1,500 of the two-ton dozers were manufactured by the Clark — Mike Equipment Company of Buchanan, Mich. PAGE 4 VOLUME 12, ISSUE 1 Cruisin’ with the Curator C-7, C-119, Waco glider refurbishments cap a busy 2011 Here we are folks, yet another year upon us. The CG-4 glider work is on-going with be a hit. Just as a heads up for those who Where is time the good folks at the Massey Air Museum want to experience the view, it’s quite a going? Since providing excellent on-site fabric recover- climb to the top especially the last dozen our last episode ing of flight controls and sections of the steps, so if you’re not physically fit or you (or newsletter), fuselage.