Hawker Service Center Restores B-17

One of the world’s few remaining airworthy B-17 World War II aircraft recently got a facelift at Raytheon Aircraft’s Hawker Service Center in Little Rock. Thunderbird, a B-17G owned and operated by the Lone Star Flight Museum of Galveston (TX) was stripped of all paint and most interior appointments and repainted by Raytheon Aircraft employees. While it was the work was a far cry from the Hawker business jets they normally paint, it was true a labor of love.

“This is aviation history, at a time when the world’s freedom was at stake,” said Brad Hatt, Vice President – Hawker Division of Raytheon Aircraft.  “The B-17 helped liberate Europe.  We consider it an honor to have this aircraft in our shop.”

Hatt and his colleagues in the Hawker Division became familiar with the Lone Star Flight Museum through a Hawker customer.  That introduction led to the museum bringing three vintage warbirds to display at the Little Rock Hawker Jet Operators Conference in June 2003. And that led to talks about Thunderbird.

“We knew the Little Rock facility does such a great job on the Hawker jets,” said Larry Gregory, Vice President of Lone Star Flight Museum.  “Once we started talking with them we were convinced they had the expertise to handle the work.  It’s a massive undertaking, but we were comfortable turning a living history piece over to them.”

Raytheon Aircraft Services–Tampa and The Sherwin-Williams Company also became involved.  Sherwin-Williams maintains a paint distributorship at the RAS-Tampa facility, and upon learning of the project, donated the topcoat while RAS-Tampa donated the primer. The Little Rock Hawker Service Center donated the facility and labor.

“It was our way of keeping alive an important part of aviation history,” said Hatt.

Gregory said the Thunderbird’s existing paint was 15 years old and fading. The museum decided to repaint the aircraft, as well as renovate most of the interior, including doors, tables, walkways, machine guns and much of the aircraft’s glass.

“We try to keep all of our airplanes looking like museum pieces that are a worthy exhibit of aviation’s historic past – and as a tribute to all the people who contributed so much to our effort in World War II,” Gregory said.

Thunderbird was built by Lockheed/Vega in Burbank, Calif., on May 8, 1945 (the day the war in Europe ended) and accepted by the USAAF on May 10, 1945. She was flown to a modification center in Louisville (KY) on May 13, 1945 and then to Syracuse (NY) on July 6, 1945. She was declared "Excess" on Oct. 12, 1945, and was flown to Altus AFB (OK) for disposal.

Bought by the Institute Geographique Nationale (The National Geographic Institute of France) on Dec. 10, 1947, this aircraft was flown for 35 years as a high altitude topographical survey ship in Europe and South Africa. The aircraft was then sold to Warbirds of Great Britain on June 12, 1984 and finally to the Lone Star Flight Museum on June 9, 1987. Thunderbird was an in-house restoration project by LSFM and it took four and one half years to restore her to her wartime configuration (25,000 man hours).

Named for the famous "Thunderbird" which flew 112 combat missions over Europe, the aircraft carries the exact markings of its famous namesake. The original Thunderbird was in the 359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, of the 8th Air Force, based at Molesworth, England, and was scrapped after the war. The museum's Thunderbird is a Top Award winner at the Experimental Aircraft Association air show at Oshkosh (WI). The aircraft is airworthy and flies a regular air show tour each year.

FMI: www.lsfm.org