Warbird Information Exchange

Muddyboots......or can I call you Mudd for short?:

Other posts have been very valuable indeed. However, I'd like to add that the 'sweepers' are very important in maintaining a clean shop and 'resurrecting' missing parts, fittings, etc. (SO, that's where that went!!) All contributions are appreciated and profoundly help the effort. My 2 cents again,
Thx, VL

Muddyboots,

One thing no one's mentioned that you won't want to hear; learn to deal with the jack-asses. If you get into a bigger organization (or any organization for that matter) you're going to find that some guys think that the term "volunteer" is synonymous with "museum founder", "CEO", "Curator", "crew chief", "chief pilot", "boss", and of course "God." These are the same guys that think that volunteering means "stand around drinking free coffee all day while P&M'ing about 'the way things ought to be around here.'" They usually top that all off with a healthy dose of "I've been volunteering here for the last 112 years, so I've got seniority..."

I know those guys are everywhere, but you'll need to keep in mind that they can (and will) suck the fun out of something you enjoy if you let them. Smile and nod at what they say, and go on about what you're doing. If you're apt and a good guy to work with, work will find you. And if you're not happy, just move on. Volunteering is supposed to be fun as well as rewarding.

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Phil K.
Yankee Air Museum
Systems Admin / Ramp Crew / Professional Photo Ruiner

Dang Dean...you got to work inside the first day!?

When I started with the VFM we were out side at TX Jet...

Anyway my first day Doc Hospers asked me to make some rocker arm cover gaskets. He handed me an old gasket and a razor knife and a piece of wood.

At the end of the day I had 18 handmade gaskets for number 2 and an Invite to come back the next week....that's when I started killing bugs around the parts trailers. The next week I was stripping paint off of a new tail cone for the airplane.

The point of theses stories is that most times all you have to do is ask and do what is asked of you. Show up regularly and the fun begins!

Good luck with your search.

Z

_________________
Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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29 years later and I'm still sweeping the floor .

Hi Mud,
From my experience with the Classic Flight here in the UK, www.classicflight.com, I can truly say you won't regret it. Now in my third year as a volunteer, I have met lots of interesting people,some famous, worked on some really cool and unique aircraft, had quite a few flights, seen the BBMF's Lancaster all the way through its major overhaul from arrival to first flight, sat in a Spitfire ,Painted parts, made some parts and generally had a blast.
Oh and swept the floor, put up fences and been a guide on open days.

The only piece of advice I would give is listen to what folks tell you to do, keep your wits about you at all times, aeroplanes can bite ! And try to volunteer somewhere reasonably close to where you live so that you will have more time to spend there rather than travelling.

Good luck, Alan

_________________
Those that can do,those that can't be bothered,TALK about it.
Volunteer with Classic Flight and a member of Beech Restorations team.
http://beechrestorations.wordpress.com/about-us/
http://www.classicflight.com.

Muddyboots,

Sorry I haven't replied sooner--this is the first weekend we have taken off in some time. Volunteering is very satisfying for the most part, but try to find someplace relatively close to home to do it at! The work is not the problem, but the eight hour commute cuts down on home projects!! There is a downside to the whole weekend working thing:

The first shot is of our dogs' yard that took some time to find (the critters didn't want to go down there for some reason), and the second is of my computer desk after one purging. Ellen seems to think this is as clean as the desk ever gets, but since I can't find my shovel it will have to do.

Scott

hey, Scot, that image didn't come through but I ceratinly understand the drive time thing. I'm slowly nosing around to see if there is anyone at Burbank or Van Nuys (both would be fast trips)

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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."

Personally, I would get a new volunteer into the warbird on day one, with close supervision. They have a specific interest, and if you feed it with hands-on-the-aircraft, chances of them returning for more work are much greater.

I’d quickly train them in simple but valuable skills like using a bucking bar, beadblaster, paint gun, etc. This would give them the satisfaction of really contributing to a restoration, and the actual aircraft benefits, as opposed to cleaning floors.

Nobody really wants to sweep floors all the time, and if all you offer is crap work for the first few visits, I doubt they will stick around for any length of time.

I hope one day to do a few major sheet metal repairs using a 12-yr old kid, and someone 65+ yrs old as partners, just to show non-mechanic folks that any one, any age, from any background, can make a serious contribution to preserving America’s aviation heritage. Maybe that will inspire a few more volunteers.