Restorations

Restored aircraft receive meticulous attention to detail. The same materials and often the same methods are used to restore an accurate example of the aircraft as they originally existed. It is our commitment that for any restored aircraft all details are completely researched and each detail is correct with no compromise to authenticity.

1918 DeHavilland DH-4

National Museum of the US Marine Corps
Quantico, Virginia

This airframe has been partially restored and will be completed as accurately as possible using factory drawings, photo research and written documentation. The airframe will be configured and painted to represent the Marine Corps DH-4s as they appeared while operating in Nicaragua during 1921-22.

1917 Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny"

JN-4D "Jenny" S/N 5368 belongs to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. It was built by the Springfield Aircraft Company in 1918 and has a wonderful history. It started as a military trainer and was sold to a private individual after the war. He used it to barnstorm around Illinois and Indiana. It was given to the Museum in 1933 and its last flight was at the 1933 Century of Progress, Chicago Worlds Fair. It went into MSI in 1934 and has been placed and hung in various places in the Museum since then. In early 2006 we were contracted to do an inspection on all of the aircraft that are in MSI. Most of the aircraft just needed a cleaning and some "TLC" but the Jenny needed some minor repairs and new fabric as the old fabric was literally ready to fall off.

In September 2006 she was lowered from the ceiling and staged to await conservation work. Century Aviation disassembled the "Jenny" and it was shipped to our shop in East Wenatchee, WA. We inspected it and found it to be in amazingly good condition. We gave the Jenny a thorough cleaning and made some repairs to the wood in her wings and center section. We put on new fabric and paint and reassembled the plane in our shop to insure fit and finish. It was then disassembled and shipped back to the Museum of Science and Industry. The last portion of this project was to reassemble the Jenny upside down so that we could raise it up into its new display location.

1918 DeHavilland DH-4 Mail Plane

In October we delivered a1918 DeHavilland DH-4B U. S. Air Mail version to Kermit Weeks and the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL. Kermit Weeks purchased a number of DH-4 projects several years ago. These projects were part of the Tallman/Mantz collection, the Hollywood stunt pilots. There were built by a gentleman named Specth who was building them for Frank Tallman. The projects had been in storage since that purchase. Two of the airframes are being restored for Kermit Weeks/ Fantasy of Flight.

The first airframe is a DH-4BM Airmail airframe, into which we incorporated an original airmail airframe including a set of Loening Hi-lift aluminum wings. This original aircraft was #358. Only 10 sets of Loening Hi-lift, Hi-Altitude wings were built. From photos and archive information, we found that seven of the sets went to the Army Air Corps for evaluation. The other three sets went to Air Mail airplanes. Of these three, only one had the large landing light on the right outboard wing struts that you see in the photograph. This set of wings and the landing light that goes with them are the only full set left in existence.

The wings used solid spruce spars with all of the ribs made of aluminum. We were able to save most of the original ribs with only minor repairs. To the fuselage provided we added empennage, tail feathers, landing gear, plywood and metal cowlings. We also built the fuel and oil tanks, restored the radiator louver system, finished all of the control systems and completed the cockpit including a wicker pilot's seat.

Kermit's shop at Fantasy of Flight will complete the Liberty engine overhaul, have the instruments certified, fabric and paint the wings and tail surface. They are also supplying the propeller, wheels and tires. When it's complete, this DH-4 will be flyable and Kermit plans to fly it.

1943 Mitsubishi "Zero"

National Museum of the United States Air Force
Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio

We restored this aircraft for the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. They provided a partially restored airframe and a second airframe that was recovered from the South Pacific Islands several years ago. The aircraft was be restored as accurately as possible using factory drawings, photo research and written documentation. The airframe represents the Type 21 as they appeared while operating off of the South Pacific Islands.

DeHavilland DH-4B

National Museum of the United States Air Force
Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio

The restoration of this aircraft was for the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. This airfame was restored to original and is comeplete to the point where, if oil, fuel and coolant were added, the aircraft would fly. The aircraft was restored to original factory specifications using the remains of two aircraft wrecks supplied by the NMUSAF.

Boeing F4B-4

National Museum of Naval Aviation
Pensacola, Florida

Century Aviation restored a 1932 Boeing F4B-4 Navy Bi-plane fighter. This was a 2½ year project starting with building the wooden wings from scratch.

1918 Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny"

In July of 2007 we delivered the restored JN-4D to Kermit Weeks at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL. This JN-4D was damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The broken airplane had been shipped from Fantasy of Flight to our shop in East Wenatchee. We disassembled the aircraft and replaced any wood or metal parts that were damaged. This included all of the wing spars and the fuselage longerons. The Jenny was reassembled here at our shop before it was, once again, disassembled and shipped back to the Fantasy of Flight where Kermit’s shop will re-fabric it, reinstall the engine and systems and return it to the air.