Warbird Information Exchange

As a total newb, would it be possible for me to actually volunteer to help restore old planes? I have decent carpenter and automotive skills, but am certainly no mechanic...

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Yeah there are a ton of opportunities in your area or at least within driving distance. CAF, some stuff over at Van Nuys, down in Chino, Rialto, etc. Lots of stuff to wrench on. Don't worry there is no shortage of work to be done on aircraft.

They’ll probably put a broom in your hands at first, but that’s how you start.

The willingness to learn and attention to detail are what you will have to bring to the table. Flying aircraft are not like ground-based vehicles so when they break, it can be a bad day, but I’m sure you realize that.

I don’t think a day goes by here where I don’t learn something new, or have a question about something I see. Don’t be afraid to ask questions here, there are no “dumb” ones.

Welcome aboard!

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Commemorative Air Force
Experimental Aircraft Association
Warbirds of America

What are you waiting for? Join us!

Best way to contact me- email my last name @gmail.com

Eric makes a good point. Whoever is in charge of whatever airplane you decide to help on may indeed just stick a broom in your hand to start with. But you've got to understand that anybody just coming off the street (so to speak) could tell them anything in the world about their qualifications, good or bad. So until they get to know you a bit better, they're likely not going to put you on the "cool" or glamorous projects.

I run into that scenario often. Someone will tell me that they have no trouble just sweeping floors or doing the dirty work, but in reality, that is rarely the case, and they will typically just be upset with me and not come back. However, the ones that preservere, stick to it, and do a job as instructed, will typically get to participate in the more fun and more important work. It's not an initiation or anything like that, it's just that we're trying hard to make sure good, quality work gets done and that those helping us are able to take the bad jobs along with the good.

What's funny is that as nervous as a new volunteer may be about coming into a hangar and working on or around these airplanes for the first time, I find myself equally as nervous trying to make sure I don't run off good help by sticking them with work they don't want to do. However, it's very important (at least to me) that the newbies are able to follow directions and ASK QUESTIONS if they don't know what to do.

I suspect that with the wide variety of places you have to choose from in the Southern California area, you'll be able to find someone there that you'll be able to get along with and be a helpful part of their team.

Just my $.02 worth.

Gary

I think the others covered this well, but I'll add just a few comments.
Be patient and understand that you must 'earn your stripes'. Earning the respect of others as a volunteer is critical. As Eric stated, the first tasks may be very simple or menial. My first day as a volunteer was spent cleaning and waxing a Stearman in a hanger during July in Texas (might have been a sweat test!).

Volunteer because you really enjoy warbirds and have a genuine interest to promote warbirds.

Good luck and let us know how is works out!

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Curt

I have never been in charge of a shop, but many can use a "good" vounteer. For my plane one must be there for oil and fuel as it takes a tool; you can't just leave an order for the line truck. Sometimes anything, going to find the truck, calling the FBO or going for sandwiches is a help. Stopping cross country overnight sometimes I have had someone loan me a car as John Mason did at Corsicana, even a plce to stay once or twice. I thought about trying to help with the B-24, but it reallyit is not any help if Gary has to take his time to instruct me. I could perhaps clean something or change plugs, but nothing for sheet metal. So if you are volunteering, remember it may be a help if they need a extra hand to move a plane, or if you can do a job that frees up a trained guy. If someone offfers to help or I ask someone to help, one thing I am counting on is that they are going to do as told so I can rely on them and I CAN DO SOMETIHNG ELSE. I once gave a line guy $25 to wipe down the belly. He could have done it in 20 minutes, but 3 times he came inside to interupt me while I was trying to flight plan and check weather so it wasn't much help. He was not a pilot, didn't realize I was busy, just try ing to do it right, but it was a nuisance. Of course, if you ever run into anything you don't know how to do or safety related, stop and think or ask someone. Some mechs are loners, don't really like people, other are very social, unless they are busy. The best reason to volunteer is that you really like the planes or the work; any perks like a paid position or flight time may come later. but you should want to do it with or without the bribe.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

I ran the maintenance program for texas Based Cargo airline and frequently had to do station Aduits and Mechanic Hiring. If your not a mechanic nor wish to be, you'll just be doing low tech work that will wear you down quickly.. If you want to be a mechanic PAY Attention. Most mechanics will only show you how to do things once or twice and you are expected to get the books and try to learn on your own.. Also buy the required tools if needed. If you want to Volunter, do it for Organizations Like the CAF or EAA...They know your not getting paid and will take the time to help you along. Otherwise, There are plenty of ways in aviation to be abused without being someone's go fer.

Everything mentioned so far is all very relevant. In fact, when I was in your same spot (about 20 years ago ) I volunteered to take on "the job nobody else wanted". That approach worked very well in my situation.

There is, of course, another option: Acquiring your own project. And you don't have to start with a B-17 either. Restore an instrument panel, a cockpit, or some other major bit of your favorite beast. This is the route I finally went for the sake of time and convenience (and commuting isn't getting any cheaper).

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Everybody wants to work on a war bird but not all can. We have two hangars to maintain. We have several tugs a forklift, a hydraulic lift, hydraulic jacks of all kinds several APUs a couple of jeeps four restrooms gardening projects out front electrical maintenance carpentry work, plumbing, museum docents parts bins to maintain and on and on. Airplanes are filthy things. We always need people who just want to clean and organize. Keeping a museum and a dozen planes in the air takes people of all talents. If you come into our organization with an open mind and really want to help we will find something for you to do. We all pay to do this. If you aren’t willing to clean out the crappers from time to time like the rest of us then you probably should look elsewhere. All of our members have the opportunity to FLY and help out at shows. These birds belong to ALL of us. You get to be part of something bigger than yourself. Check us out. Check out Chino and the EAA. If I can help let me know.

Dan

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Check out our new website.
CAF SoCal Wing http://www.cafsocal.com/

At our museum we have volunteers that have many different vocations and backgrounds. Some are tool & die makers, machinists, carpenters, etc. We had one volunteer who was an auto mechanic help us restore the external fuel tanks for our museum's RF-86F recon fighter and he helped to install them onto the wings. The nice thing about volunteering is you will gain much experience on how we restore these historic warbirds. All you need is an open mind and a willingness to learn new things, then eventually you will get to a point where you will be a veteran volunteer helping others learn new things. I learned most of my sheet metal skills from old timers who have been volunteering for years. I have learned far more from them than I ever did when I was attending A&P school and reading books on the subject. When I started working in Restoration at our museum they immediately put me on the sheet metal work for the RF-86F because they knew I had the skills to do the job right. The biggest thing is do not get discouraged if you find someone who has more skills than you do. This is actually a good thing because you can learn something new from them and their tricks of the trade. I'm sure a museum would be happy to have you onboard. I wish you good luck in your quest.

Jim

You can start at my hangar in Chino right away! I don't do sweeping, so I don't expect you to either. Of course my hangar is kind of a mess...

Lots of disassembly, degreasing, bead blasting, etching, masking, priming and painting to be done!

P.S. It helps if you don't mind flies and like the smell of manure.

This weekend as I was working and it reminded me of this tread. Just another glory filled day in aviation.

Some carpentry and painting of the hangar doors.


Doing a little sweeping up


Looking tired and dirty and ready to go home.

Wow! someone actually offered to take me on! Not sure I can afford the drive (I'm living on a shoestring budget these days until I finish a degree) But I am going do some figuring and see what I can do and I will be back in touch regardless)

I must be the rarest of birds: I'd be willing to clean toilets and sweep floors as a permanent postion of need be. To me the idea is to do what is needed, not what looks exciting. If I can keep a hangar clean, and that means you can work clean (we all know what THAT means) then I am making a contribution. So thanks everyone who replied-I wasn't sure that the skills I'd be bringing into the hangar would be wanted- we'll see what I can do with them now!

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

If you are a good carpenter and handy with cars you are likely half way to being a mechanic. There are some planes, Stearman, etc. that have wooden wings and the skills to do them are different than for example an engine overhaul. Even the Spitfire has some wood inside the wingtips and rudder; it is halfway between model building and cabinet making! Anyone can legally work on any part of a plane, they just need to be directed and supervised by the licensed A and P, and the work signed off by an I A ( inspector). If for example, my plane was in Ray's shop for and annual, I as owner, could change a tire, or we could show you how to do it or perhaps remove Spark Plugs. Unless you are as good as Ray, removing the cowlings is a two man job, so an extra hand is always wanted. If I wash it alone it may take 3 hours to do the entire job, if I have an extra person just to spray the hose while I scrub, it can cut the time in half. With 2 to scrub and 1 to spray it can be done in less than hour. Funny thing is, while I can almost always have enough volunteer riders for free. volunteer washers are seen about as often as Jimmy Hoffa.Good Luck.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Muddyboots,

You sound a lot like me! I'm an aviation buff (but not a pilot or A&P). I restore classic cars as a hobby. I'm an electronic technician by trade. I'm handy with tools. When I first joined VFM, they stuck a broom in my hand and told me to start sweeping the hangar. The first few times I was there, I was engaged in challenging tasks like sweeping the floors, taking out trash, picking up the place, and spraying insecticide on the ever-present fire ants that keep popping up in the joints in the hangar floor. However, as the air crews and mechanics got to know me and what I could do, I was able to work my way into working on and crewing the B-17. Since then, I've worked with the team on engine and prop changes, tracking down avionics problems, annual inspections, and I've been put in charge of procuring vintage radio gear that will be used in the restoration of our radio operator's compartment. I've crewed the '17 to air shows, worked as a tour guide in the museum, done some repair work to our diesel tug, helped build a wooden cradle for the fuselage that will be used in some future restoration work, and so on. If I can do it, so can you. But don't expect to be welcomed in right away and immediately put to work on an engine overhaul. You'll start out small, but if you keep coming back, do as you're told, work safely at all times (this is VERY important!), and show real commitment, you will eventually become part of the team. No museum will ever turn away volunteers who exhibit those qualities and behaviours. Now, go forth and be productive!

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida