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F-106A Restoration Project
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BEFORE AFTER
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New Pictures will be posted by 9/22 Shortcuts to 2005 WORK DAYS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Shortcuts to 2006 WORK DAYS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
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461 gets a new home. (mid-June 2005, just before the 87th FIS reunion) (we're working to get these pictures posted)
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Wings have arrived!! (July 18, 2005 the wings were reintroduced to 461)
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(July 28 2005 work began)
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(August 4 2005 restoration on hold but work needs to be done)
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(August 11 2005 we got back to work and had a special visitor)
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(August 15 2005 things are starting to take shape)
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(August 18 2005 the right wing is bolted on)
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Two New Main Landing Gear Side Braces! (While restoration is on hold - work still goes on) Our main landing gears were missing two side braces and we had to find some. Once again, our "Phantom Fixer", now a "Red Bull" by association, Tom Bleu, has come through. Tom is a machinist with the local railroad located in Negaunee, Michigan about 25 miles from Sawyer. He reproduced two side braces using one off one of the gears as an example. They came out great! Tom is now ready for his next project. As soon as we get back on the jet, we are going to start on the installation of the right main landing gear while the left wing is being prepared to be hung. The restoration team hopes to have both wings on and the two main landing gears on complete with brakes, wheels and tires. Thanks Tom for a job well done! Again!
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Paint for the Restoration is donated (Still making progress during restoration delay) Through the efforts of Mike Fremling, the Director of Maintenance for the American Eagle Airlines Maintenance Facility located at the Sawyer International Airport, and the generosity of John Griffin, Director of Sales, AKZO NOBEL Aerospace, Waukegan, Illinois and Will Estes, Area Manager, also of AKZO NOBEL Aerospace, the F-106A currently being restored through the K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum, will have a fresh coat of paint when the restoration is complete. Mike Fremling spoke with AKZO NOBEL Aerospace, who provides a lot of paint product to American Eagle, and told them about or restoration project and asked if they could assist with some paint needed for the Delta Dart. It didn't take long for Will Estes and John Griffin to step forward and make this great donation happen. All the epoxy primer's and polyurethane paint's have arrived and are being stored under proper environmental conditions until needed next spring and summer. The K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum and the F-106A Restoration Team, thanks AKZO NOBEL Aerospace for making this wonderful donation to our project. With the assistance of our good friends from the American Eagle Airlines Maintenance Facility, our jet is going to look like the day it rolled off the assembly line in 1956. This donation has saved the restoration project many thousands of dollars and will help us continue on to a smooth completion of the project as projected for the fall of 2006. "Thanks AKZO NOBEL AEROSPACE!"
Pictured below is Elmer Klein presenting a plaque to Dave Betti, VP of Global Finance of Akzo Nobel for John Griffin, Director of Sales, AKZO NOBEL Aerospace, Waukegan, Illinois and Will Estes, Area Manager for providing paint for the F106 Restoration.
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(September 29 2005 - first day back to work after a "vacation")
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(October 6 2005 - "Rock-n-Roll" on the left wing & gear)
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(October 10 2005 - slow but steady progress)
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(October 13 2005 - getting ready to stand on her own)
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Nose and main tire assemblies in Green Bay (Update from Fri Oct 14) On Friday, October 14 Lee Nellist has brought the 2 main wheel-tire assemblies and the nose wheel-tire assembly down to Green Bay, WI so they can be filled with a material that will not allow the tires to go flat. This is a very important process since we need to tow the aircraft out to the (Alert) hanger in a few weeks, and again when it goes on display next year. The process will take about a week and we should still be on scheduled for 461's move. It will be an interesting sight to see an F106 rolling on the taxiway at KI Sawyer after 20 years.
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(October 17 2005 - buttonin' up the panels) Most of Day 10 was spent removing stripped and rusted screws from all the panels on the back bone and upper fuselage of our aircraft. All the panels are now removed and are ready to be sealed and reinstalled.
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(October 19 2005 - clean up begins) Lani & Scott just had to get a little extra work done. Before the MLG could be hung, all three mounting areas needed to be cleaned. As you can see they had a little water fun and cleaned up the areas where the gear was getting installed.
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(October 20 2005 - How to hang a MLG101) After some grunting and a few choice words, the first MLG slid into place. The trunnion pins produced by our F-4 friend , Tom Bleau, fit perfectly! After securing the gear, the main landing gear fairing door was also installed. The right main landing gear and support assembly only needs one bearing housing and a tire and wheel to be complete.
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(October 24 2005 - bolting on the gear) The goal of this work day was to get the main gear installed and ready to accept the wheel/tire assemblies later in the week. Additionally there was work being done to seal up panels on the "backbone" and top side of the fuselage.
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(October 27 2005 - sealing all the panels) Day 13 was very productive. The tire and wheels were picked up in Green Bay - they're a lot heavier now. Steve Farnsworth, Jim Heinz, Lee and Lani Duquette spent the day sealing and reinstalling panels. Not many more to go now.
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(October 31 2005 - time to tie up some loose ends) Day 14 was the finale for this years' scheduled work on 461. All the hard work, time and emotions culminated in today's efforts. There was a lot of work done to get her ready for a winter hibernation. Next spring the team will jump back on the project and we'll finish what was started more than 2 years ago. Keep watching the website for news and developments - even though it's winter we've got a lot to do and we're really excited about what's coming.
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(November 2-3, 2005 - what a blast! ) Steve Farnsworth does a great job sand blasting 461's wheels. Steve's history with K.I. Sawyer started back when he was a Flight Chief at Duluth then transferred Sawyer and moved into Maintenance Control. Steve had one of his friends (Marty Torreano) scrounge thru Marquette looking for more sand so all 4 wheels would be finished. They looking really good and are ready for a fresh coat of paint. A big "Thank You" goes out to Steve for getting the wheels ready in record time.
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(November 4 2005 - a little bit of this and a little bit of that) Each day, she looks more and more like a proud interceptor. All the MLG is in place, the wheel and tires are at the local paint shop and when they're mounted 461 can (for the first time in over 20 years) be fully towable.
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Early 1980's Nov 12, 2005 Amber Klein still feels right at home in the cockpit of an F-106A “Delta Dart” Interceptor. It’s been over twenty years since she last sat in one during an Open House that she attended with her family. Her father - Elmer Klein - was stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB from 1973~1979 with the 87th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Amber was born at KI Sawyer AFB and later came back to attend NMU for several years before transferring to Illinois State University and earning her teaching degree. This week she recently traveled back to the Upper Peninsula to get a first hand look on how the restoration progress was coming on a jet recovered from the Air Force’s “bone yard” at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. Alumni of the 87th FIS and local volunteers have been working to prepare the jet to be put on static display along with other “Cold War” aircraft located in the Upper Michigan Memorial Retreat Center. Amber and her family now reside in Illinois. Her father is on the Museum Board and the webmaster of the K.I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum web site. Keep watching the website to learn more about the museum and restoration of this magnificent aircraft.
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Today, November 18 Lani Duquette went to the LaFayette Collision Center (www.wemeetbyaccident.com) in Marquette, MI and picked up the completed wheels and presented a plaque to Todd C. LaFayette. LaFayette Collision Center donated primer, commercial paint and labor to the project.
In the next two pictures Lani put the newly
painted wheels near the gear so we can get an idea what it will look like.
They really look good and will look great on the jet. There's no
immediate plans to get them attached, but if we do get them bolted on, you can
bet we'll let everyone know and pictures will follow.
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(November 22, 2005 - just had to do some more) 461 is ready to Rock-N-Roll Outside it was 20 degrees and snowing - inside everyone that was working had a warm feeling in there heart - the wheel and tires were mounted on 461 this morning. There were a few tense moments (missing parts) but Boreal Aviation came thru in a pinch.
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THANK YOU - Boreal Aviation What do you do when you're missing a key part for the installation of the wheel and tires? Aircraft mechanic Bill Landry, former 410th OMS troop employed by Boreal Aviation, steps up and makes the parts you need. It seems that in the translation, we were missing the two slotted axle flat washers used under the axle nut to hold the wheel and tire on. "No problem." said Bill. In about an hour, we had the two slotted washers we needed. Another thanks to Bill and Boreal Aviation for helping us complete today's task.
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(May 4, 2006 ... getting our hands dirty again) The heat is on!! Much of the time today was spent getting everything in place so we can keep the restoration on schedule. We cleaned up the area, installed a few parts, slammed in a bunch of rivets and so on. All in all it was great to get back to work after spending much of our time "inside" at the museum.
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(May 11, 2006 ... getting ready for paint) The team kicks in to high gear!! A lot got accomplished today - surface cleanup, sheet metal patching, bucking rivets (that seems like it goes on forever), installing strut collars and much more. We've got our OK from the county to paint so now we have to get her ready.
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| (May 18, 2006 ... she's standing on her own) The restoration crew is making her look like new It seems like the list of things that need to be done keeps getting longer ... but the team is up for the challenge. There was (of course) more rivets that need to be replaced, more surfaces that need to be clean, more patching that needs to be done and the list goes on.
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