Restoring a relic - Retired sailors re-fabricate retired Navy aircraft Published Feb. 16, 2011 By Kate Blais 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Like a giant dinosaur skeleton on display at a museum, a dinosaur of a plane sits among operational aircraft, patiently waiting to be restored to its original luster. A Navy A3D-1 Skywarrior bomber from 1955 is currently parked in Hangar 1210 while a group of retired Navy servicemen work to re-fabricate the plane, already clocking over 3,000 man-hours on the project. "Fifty years from now, our great-grandchildren will never know what their great-grandparents did unless there's something around to show them," said Mike Glenn, retired Navy Master Chief and group organizer. Since January 2010, Mr. Glenn and group of nine other volunteers have spent one week each month rebuilding the aircraft's cockpit, working in the bomb bay and other hatches to take out corrosion, in addition to sanding the entire exterior of the aircraft to be prepped for painting. Mr. Glenn has been successful in collecting some funds from the A-3 Association and the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum's Flight Test Historical Foundation. "I cannot believe that it has come together like this," said Pete Nowicki, retired Navy reservist. "When we first started, we didn't think there was any way we could put this plane back together. But then we decided to see what we could do. We're just shy a couple of pieces [of the control panel] and I know we'll get the rest. Every time we come in here, we get a little bit more done." All of the men working on this project have retired from the Navy, and most of them have had some experience with A-3s. But no one in the group has had more experience with this A3D-1 than retired Navy reserve chief, Clark Warren. In March 1957, during his active-duty service, Mr. Warren first flew the same A3D-1 that he's now working on to restore. "I was invited to come down [to work on the plane]," Mr. Warren said. "I've always wanted to be a volunteer to help restore planes, so I thought I'd come down and help out a little bit. When I was told the bureau number, I wondered about it. I looked in my flight log and sure enough, I flew in it." Mr. Warren flew in the A3D-1 as the bombardier/navigator out of Sanford, Florida in the late 1950s, flying it off of the USS Ranger and USS Saratoga, and then again while in the reserves in 1978 and 1979 when the model was designated as just an A-3. Not only do these men have a connection to the aircraft, but the base does as well. "People forget that a lot of other [services'] testing has taken place out here," said Fred Johnsen, AFFTC museum director. "Navy testing of the A-3 was a big aspect of flight testing here in the 1950s." While the XA3D's first flight was completed at Edwards on Oct. 28, 1952, the Navy used the base to conduct A-3 flight testing in the late 1960s when the plane that is currently being restored arrived for barrier tests. "Around 1970 the testing was complete and this airplane was retired, so it has been in storage, effectively, since about 1970 or 1971," Mr. Johnsen said. "And now that we have an interested and qualified crew, we are going to have it restored to represent early A3Ds that were tested at Edwards around 1955 and 1956." Mr. Johnsen was contacted by Mr. Glenn who inquired about restoring the A3D-1 and promised to provide the manpower to complete the project. "This team is all friends of mine that I was in the Navy with and flew with," Mr. Glenn said. "I've known most of these guys for 30 to 40 years. "I worked on and flew in these airplanes for about 20 years, so finding one [A3D] and restoring it was a real opportunity to get a bunch of old friends together." According to Mr. Johnsen, the ultimate intention for the restored A3D-1 is to place it inside the proposed museum buildings at the West Gate. Private donations are currently being raised to construct those buildings, he said. "They oughta preserve all these old planes," Mr. Warren said. "It feels pretty good to be back looking at it. "It's been quite a few years," he said. "I never thought I'd see one of these again."