History of the F106 Restoration Project

Quick Link to Pictures

In the beginning...........
Russ St. Onge & Lee Nellist got together with the local AFA Chapter and members of the K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum to make a presentation about getting a "six" back to Sawyer. That meeting was on August 26th, 2003 at the Sands Township Office Building.

Below is a picture of the original committee that petitioned the museum board for help to start and support the proposal to get an F106 on static display at KI Sawyer.  Thanks to this group for having the foresight to address this need.  NOTE: we apologize but 2 people pictured are, at this time, un-named.  Please send an email to the curator if you have the names and association of these two people.

Back row (L-R): Russ St Onge, Sam Elder, Lee Nellist, Bob Vick, Dan Benstrom, Dan Kill

Middle row (L-R): ????, Michael Prokopowicz

Front row (L-R): Gary Erbe, Dave Olson, ????, Bill Whitaker

Adopt-A-Six

The first phase of the project was to get the financial support that would provide money for the many bills that would eventually be rolling in.  There were plans that would provide monies for the cost of the aircraft, equipment transportation, disassembly, taxes and filing fees, travel (as needed), spare parts, paint, storage, tools, etc.  The best way to get people behind the project quickly was to make it personal - have them "adopt" the program. 

The committee began to spread out and look for "parents".  Many local businesses and organizations jumped on board and gave both financial and moral support.  Many of the alumni of the 87th FIS that recently attended the reunion were also contacted and they were very generous with their financial support.  Many of the alumni put in countless hours of background work that made it easier for the committee to take care of the "big stuff".  Some committee members were unable to continue working on the project so new members came on board.

This name continues on today for donations and certain fund raiser references but since the goals changed along the way, the project needed to be known by another name, something that would remind you of your "roots".

Sawyer Six Project

About the time a second 87th FIS reunion was being planned, it was felt that the alumni should really get involved with the project.  Since everyone was stationed at KI Sawyer AFB with the 87th worked on the F106, a name that would link KI Sawyer with the F106 could link the alumni with their past ... "Sawyer Six Project" became reality.

Alumni of the 87th were spread out across the globe and it would have been a huge task to put together a mailing list that would be able to get across the importance of the project.  Thanks to the efforts and expertise of Russ St Onge (an original committee member pictured above) the Sawyer Six Project went on-line.  One of our most invaluable (distant) members - Patrick McGee (http://www.f-106deltadart.com) worked with Russ on his website and this became the perfect tool that we needed to get the message out to the masses about the project, give them information about how things were moving along and a place to post pictures for everyone to see.  Adding links to Pat McGee's F106 website forums there were places for visitors to blog to their heart's content.  Russ even went as far as compiling an emailing list and (as he put it) "spammed" us all with information.  As the need for getting money in to the project, Russ help get a PayPal account set up so supporters can easily donate or purchase items from the museum.

One (local) alumni that had experience in getting an aircraft on static display - specifically at KI Sawyer - and that was Nolan Duquette.  Known to everyone as Lani, he was one of the key players in getting the F101B put on display.  As a matter of fact, he's listed as the Crew Chief on the Voodoo.  Lani had the honor to travel to ARMAC in Tucson, AZ and evaluate 2 F106s that were on site.  After reviewing the pros and cons of each aircraft tail number 60461 was chosen for KI Sawyer.

The task of managing all the intricacies of multi-governmental agency activities became the primary responsibility of another (local) alumni.  After many years in public service, working with all local agencies including the base transition team, Lee Nellist (an original committee member pictured above) stepped up and handled all the "behind the scenes" work.  Lee worked closely with various township, county and state offices to make sure everyone was on the same page with the project.  His connections with local businesses enabled substantial contribution ... including several "matching challenge" that realized significant corporate contributions and matching funds.  Lee also is the "money man" for the project where he handles both incoming funds and makes sure the bills are paid.   

Jim Dellies, Forsyth Township Trustee and Congressmen Bart Stupak's Upper Peninsula Representative was the local government supporter.  Jim worked with the township in securing the aircraft from the Government Service's Administration through AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.  Jim was also a very active member of the Sawyer Six Project Committee.  Robert "Bob" Vick joined the Sawyer Six Project Committee to lend his knowledge of trucking and transportation.  Bob was our point of contact for all agencies interested in moving our jet from Tucson to K.I. Sawyer.  Richard "Hooter" Huth, Sr., 87th Alumni and former "Dart" Crew Chief, joined the Sawyer Six Project Committee to help us with fundraising by sell several items on "ebay". Richard also produced and donated several items to the past 87th FIS Reunion to help with fundraising.

Prior to the arrival of 461, one of the first people to step forward and volunteer his help was former 87th FIS Crew Chief Scott Mills. Scott worked along side other committee member's getting the donated hangar space cleaned and up to 87th FIS standards. Scott was also around to help with welcoming and unloading both the fuselage and the wings shipment.

When the call for volunteer's went out, the following dedicated aviation buff's stepped forward to meet that call.  Jerry Henthorne, Tommy Lew, Mike Rinaldi, James Heinz, David S. Olson, Richard "Woody" Wood, Bill Dowling, James "Steve" Farnsworth and Scott Ranta.

A special thanks go out to a former "Phantom Fixer" Tom Bleu.  Tom is a machinist for the LS&I Rail Road. Tom, along with permission from management, cleaned up, machined and chamfered the wing pins for the "dart." By doing this, he made the installation of the wings much easier. Tom is now in the process of producing two additional side braces needed for the two main landing gears.

F106 Restoration Project

After everything is said and done and the aircraft was in a hanger at KI Sawyer ... more work still needs to get done.  The new phase for the project is now the physical part - restoring 461 to display quality.  With that, the new name "F106 Restoration Project" came to be.

Forsythe Township is the official "owner" of the aircraft and the KI Sawyer Heritage Air Museum is the official sponsor of the project (and caretaker of all the static displays) so the name reflects the work phase of the project.

More info will be posted.

Links to Picture Pages

This is pretty much what a lot of people want to see, so we're doing our best to put up as many pictures as possible. 

This is a project history, so we'll limit these pictures to that topic.  Please submit and picture that you would like to see added.

new pictures added 10-24-05

LINKS NOT AVAILABLE

LINKS NOT AVAILABLE