Hangar Digest THE AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM FOUNDATION Page 1 Hangar digest VOLUME 20, NO. 4 OCT.— DEC. 2020 THE AMCM HANGAR DIGEST IS A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMC MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC. Page 2 Volume 20, Issue 4 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 Army Airfield. The AMC Museum Hangar AMC Museum Staff AMC Museum Foundation Digest is published quar- Director Board of Directors terly and is dedicated to John Taylor President the preservation of our Deputy Director Col. Don Sloan, USAFR (Ret.) airlift and tanker herit- Eric Czerwinski Vice President age. All articles, unless Operations Manager Lt. Col. Paul Gillis, USAFR (Ret.) otherwise noted, are Mike Hurlburt Secretary written by the editor. Senior Archivist MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) Lt. Col. Harry E. Heist, USAF (Ret.) Viewpoints in this publica- Treasurer Photo Archivist Col. Jim Schultz, USAF (Ret.) tion are those of the contrib- Bill Whited uting authors and do not Members Collections Manager Mr. Robert Berglund necessarily reflect the opin- Hal Sellars ions of The AMC Museum Lt. Gen. Bob Dierker, USAF (Ret.) Volunteer Coordinator/Scheduler CMSgt. George Roof, USAF (Ret.) Foundation or of the Muse- Paul George CMSgt. Paul Roy, USAF (Ret.) um’s staff. Librarian Mr. Kevin Taha Subscriptions are free and Frieda Herman Mrs. Beverly Williams are mailed via nonprofit AMCM Foundation Staff CMSgt. Michael Wysong, USAFR (Ret.) standard mail to paid-up Membership Manager members of The AMC Muse- Chaplain MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) um Foundation Inc. Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, USAFR (Ret.) Contributions. Reader com- Museum Store Manager ments, articles and ideas are Denise Miller solicited for future issues. Mail Restoration Chief to The Hangar Digest, AMCM Les Polley Foundation, PO Box 2024, Website (www.amcmuseum.org) Dover AFB DE 19902-9998 or Hal Sellars Executive Asst/Asst Store Manager send an email to hdedi- Bettie Campbell [email protected]. Contact Editor Master Sgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) via email at What is the Air Mobility Command Museum? [email protected]. Located in Hangar 1301 on Dover Air Force Base, Kent County, Delaware, the AMC Photos are by Jeff Brown, Museum is part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s field museum system. unless otherwise noted. One of the reasons your AMC Museum continues to provide a great educational expe- rience is that we stick very closely to our reason for being. Cover: Staff Sgt. Bret Gratien So exactly what is our mission? Broken down by numbers our mission is 70 percent removes cleaning compound airlift and air-refueling, 20 percent Dover AFB history and 10 percent Air Force general from the leading edge of the history. Our aircraft and artifact collection sticks very closely to that breakdown. But we right wing of the AMC Muse- work hard to be much more than numbers. We tell the stories of the people who have um’s VC-9C. Gratien, along served in our nation’s Air Force, and we offer the only opportunity for many visitors to with other members of the see the actual aircraft and meet the people who have served our country. 436th Maintenance Squad- Hangar 1301 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Although located on Dover AFB proper, entrance to the Museum is made from Dela- ron’s hydraulic section, vol- ware Route 9, south of the base. Admission to and parking at the Museum is free and unteered to strip, clean and military identification is not required. The Air Mobility Command Museum is open from polish the shiny aluminum 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and all federal holi- skin of the aircraft formerly days except Veterans Day. For more information, call 302-677-5938 or 302-677-5991. designated as Air Force Two. We like to say we are a window to your Air Force. Let us know how we can continue to (Photo by Roland Balik) improve our outreach and family-friendly experience. The Hangar Digest is printed and mailed by Delmarva Printing, Salisbury, Md.. Hangar Digest Page 3 Maintenance volunteers shine up AMCM’s VC-9 Story and photos by Roland Balik 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Volunteers from the 436th Mainte- nance Squadron aircraft hydraulic sec- tion gave a McDonnell Douglas VC-9C a much-needed exterior cleaning Aug. 25-26 at the Air Mobility Command Museum. During its time in service, the VC-9C was known as “Air Force Two” when it served to transport vice presidents Wal- ter Mondale, George H.W. Bush, Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Dick Cheney. The last time the aircraft received a similar exterior cleaning was in mid- 2016, which was done by one museum volunteer working twice a week for four months. The 11 volunteers stripped and cleaned the old polish and wax from the shiny aluminum exterior sections of the leading edges of the aircraft’s wings, Airman 1st Class Weston Rose and Senior Airman Kevin Aguilar, of the 436th Mainte- lower fuselage and both engine na- nance Squadron aircraft hydraulic section, remove cleaning compound from the fuselage celles. of the Air Mobility Command Museum’s McDonnel Douglas VC-9C. “My shop showed an interest in want- ing to volunteer, and I figured the AMC right side of the aircraft, and on the to the public due to Phase II restrictions Museum would be a perfect opportunity following day, a different team of five in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. for the camaraderie and esprit de worked on the left side. “By not contracting a commercial corps,” Tech. Sgt. Don Caber, 436th “Everybody was onboard right from company to do the same work, the vol- MXS aircraft hydraulic section chief the start, and I wasn’t expecting 100 unteers saved the government approxi- and volunteer project lead said. “Also, percent of my shop to volunteer but mately $5,000,” John Taylor, AMC to show them some of the history of they all came as soon as I mentioned it Museum director said. “About $500 in AMC, and it’s right here on base.” and stepped up,” Caber said. cleaning materials was used.” On the first day, a team of five volun- Work on the VC-9C was accom- Taylor also mentioned the same con- teers spent six hours working on the plished on days the museum was closed tractor that washes C-5M Super Galax- ies and C-17A Globemaster IIIs on the base has now been hired to wash the VC-9C and the 21 other aircraft of the AMC Museum fleet. The VC-9C was the first aircraft to be washed by the contractors in preparation for the polish- ing by the volunteers. According to Caber, “A little team ri- valry started between the two teams boasting on which side of the aircraft looked better.” The volunteers returned later in Septem- ber to finish up their work. “They did a fantastic job, and we hope they will continue to offer their services,” Museum Operations Manager Mike Hurl- burt said. Other than Caber, other volunteers were Master Sgt. Jason Brede, Tech. Sgt. Ryan Bailey, Staff Sgts. Kolland Brown- ing, Bret Gratien and Peter Schmitt, Sen- ior Airmen Kevin Aguilar, Thunderiel Staff Sgt. Peter Schmitt removes cleaning compound from the leading edge of the right Cardoza and Elizabeth Sanchez, Airman wing of the VC-9C. Schmitt, along with other members of the hydraulic section, volun- 1st Class Weston Rose, and Airman teered to strip, clean and polish the shiny aluminum skin of the aircraft once known as Air Force Two. Ian Wargo, and Brian Hence. Page 4 Volume 20, Issue 4 Historic preservation Mannequin replacement project gets started Chemistry is at the heart of our everyday hands, but those plas- lives, and when chemical reactions go well, tics break down we all benefit. chemically with age, But when they don’t, it can be destruc- a process known as tive and expensive. ‘sweating,’ Taylor Case in point: the many mannequins wrote. found at the Air Mobility Command Muse- “Once this begins, um. Over time the chemicals they’re made there is no reversal, from have been deteriorating and threaten- and the oils can soak ing to contaminate irreplaceable artifacts. the garments, ruining Museum Deputy Director Eric Czerwin- them in the process,” ski said some of the mannequins are be- he added. tween 20 to 30 years old. Their age means Other mannequins, they’re becoming chemically unstable, he made of a gray foam, said. emit gases over time “That’s why the Museum is going that react with fabrics through the process of replacing them,” he and metals, he said. said. The Museum uses both, Taylor said. A legacy at risk The answer was to In July 2020, Museum Director John replace many of the Taylor told the AMCM Foundation board Museum’s manne- Hal Sellars photo of directors the mannequins in use did not quins with ones made To preserve Col. Gail “The Berlin Candy Bomber” Halvorsen’s meet recognized institutional specifications of Ethafoam, the cur- original K2-B flying coveralls, worn during the Berlin Airlift, the for artifact preservation. rent industry standard, AMC Museum replaced a lifelike mannequin with an Ethafoam The Museum started a replacement pro- he said. figure. Because it does not leach oils, the new mannequin gram but had exhausted available govern- These are the only helps guarantee Halvorsen’s flight suit will be preserved for ment funding, leading Taylor to look to the kind that can be used years to come.