Warbird Information Exchange

Vintage airplane open to viewing at Sky Harbour
John Edward, faces a balancing act every day

By Katherine Wellman
For the Signal-Star
Wednesday January 02, 2008

John Edward, faces a balancing act every day, one that becomes more difficult because he operates a farm.
The Edward’s hobby farm, located near Goderich, has decreased in size over the years. This can be partially attributed to age, but also to Edward’s commitments at Sky Harbour Aircraft.
“I have always had an understanding with the company. They know that I have commitments outside of work and as long as I put my 40 hours in, it’s OK,” Edwards said.
Edward’s farm, while a small operation, has six cows, which demand a great deal of attention. He is also married, a father, a grandfather and the paint shop supervisor at Sky Harbour.
“I sometimes have to work until five at the shop (Sky Harbour), then go home to get my chores done in the barn and then I am back to work until midnight or later.”
The paint shop at Sky Harbour Aircraft would be lost without Edward’s years of experience. Sky Harbour has been in business for around 60 years. Edward has been a constant for 45 of them. Sandy Wellman is president and owner of Sky Harbour Aircraft in Goderich.
“I knew nothing about airplanes when I first came to Sky Harbour. John pretty much educated me on the business,” Wellman said.
When Edward came to Sky Harbour as a mechanic’s apprentice, it was a fairly small operation. Sky Harbour now employs around 90 employees.

According to Wellman, Sky Harbour has a worldwide reputation because of the work the business does, especially with vintage aircraft. A great deal of work must go into these paint jobs to ensure that every detail is accounted for.
Lee Lauderback, once operated Stallion 51, a company that rebuilds vintage aircraft and runs a flying school for warbirds in Kissimmee, Florida. He knows first-hand the work that goes into painting a P-51 Mustang. Edward has painted several of the planes that Lauderback manages.
“Normally, there is a great deal of research that needs to be done and everyone at Sky Harbour helps to contribute to feeding John the information that he needs,” Lauderback said. “We tell him what picture we need painted and Picasso goes to work.”
According to Edward, first the owner does the research. Edward then must review the information with those at Sky Harbour to create the design. Depending on how many photographs they have at their disposal, they must often make comparisons with other planes from the same squadron.
“We try to be as exact as possible,” Edward said. “We will count the number of rivets from the tail to figure out where words should start on the plane.”
According to Wellman, it is this dedication and hard work that has allowed Sky Harbour to gain such an exceptional reputation throughout the world.
“The company sets such a high standard and John is the one who takes that standard and those designs and actually puts them on the plane,” Lauderback said. “To take someone’s dream and make it a work of art… This is why I can respect John so much.”
As a result of his dedication to Sky Harbour and his farm, Edward says that his family has all too often fallen by the wayside.
“My wife became very independent very early on… It was her who brought our kids to school and their other activities,” Edward said. “I probably wasn’t around as much as I should have been.”
He said he learned to paint airplanes by trial and error. He had no one to tell him how it was done. But his wife encouraged Edward to make the switch from airplane mechanics to the paint department.
“I got married and my wife was from here and wanted to raise our children here. Had I of stayed in mechanics, I probably would have left Goderich a long time ago.” Edward said.
Edward also likens his education at Sky Harbour to his education about farming.
“My wife’s father was also a farmer and he helped out at first, but I had no idea what I was doing,” Edward said. “I also had to learn this through trial and error. It wasn’t always easy.”
Edward’s current project, Mad Max is currently at Sky Harbour Aircraft for refinishing. The P-51 Mustang is managed by Lauderback of Stallion 51. The public is invited to Sky Harbour to view the vintage airplane, which is nearing completion.