NMUSAF: a toolmaker’s touch
By London Bishop - lbishop@aimmediamidwest.com
The restoration hangar includes everything necessary to restore historic airplanes, including a machine shop, a woodworking shop, and welding station.
John Rumpf, 93, stands in his workshop at the restoration hangar of the National Museum of the US Air Force.
John Rumpf shows off a die he created to replicate an airplane part from the 1940s.
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE Once a week, John Rumpf comes to work in the machine shop at the restoration hangar of the National Museum of the US Air Force. His job: crafting teeny tiny parts, which will be used to restore the historical aircraft in the museum’s care.
Saving the USAF’s national treasures
By London Bishop - lbishop@aimmediamidwest.com
Lead Restoration Specialist Casey Simmons shows the original and replaced turtle deck section of the Thomas Morse S4C Scout, the body of the plane that rests behind the pilot seat.
The restoration team had to fabricate the seat of the plane from scratch. The bucket-shaped seat that was previously installed was from the 1950s, and could be used with a seat parachute. As seat parachutes didn’t exist in 1918, the team restored the seat to what it would have looked like during World War I.
Pictured is the body of the Thomas Morse S4C Scout, stripped of its fabric outer coating.
Saving the USAF’s national treasures
By London Bishop - lbishop@aimmediamidwest.com
Lead Restoration Specialist Casey Simmons shows the original and replaced turtle deck section of the Thomas Morse S4C Scout, the body of the plane that rests behind the pilot seat.
The restoration team had to fabricate the seat of the plane from scratch. The bucket-shaped seat that was previously installed was from the 1950s, and could be used with a seat parachute. As seat parachutes didn’t exist in 1918, the team restored the seat to what it would have looked like during World War I.
Pictured is the body of the Thomas Morse S4C Scout, stripped of its fabric outer coating.
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Every year, tens of thousands of people descend on a rough stretch of desert north of Joshua Tree for a weeklong off-roading festival and series of extreme races.
Billed as one of the toughest desert off-roading races in the nation, the King of the Hammers event is often described as part Burning Man and part “Mad Max.”
During the event, Hammertown a temporary city complete with named “streets,” generators, team garages and food and vendor booths rises over a dry lakebed. Hulking, souped-up vehicles traverse the rough terrain of Johnson Valley, an off–highway vehicle riding area run by the federal Bureau of Land Management.