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00:00It's been a hundred years since the first powered flight.
00:07We walked on the moon.
00:10That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
00:15Revolutionized travel and warfare.
00:21The story of flight is so fresh.
00:24We had liftoff.
00:25Every object is a witness to history.
00:29At one of the busiest museums in the world, they aim to keep that history alive.
00:35We're contributing to the history and contributing to the future as well.
00:39For those who collect.
00:41Looks like I have an overcoat from the Royal Air Force here.
00:44Go, go, go.
00:45Transport.
00:46It's the widest thing I've ever moved.
00:48And preserve its thousands of treasures.
00:51We have very little time to do a great deal of things.
00:56Keeping cool under pressure is a job requirement.
01:00What was that?
01:02It's getting real easy all of a sudden.
01:04What's that?
01:05We have three different types of creatures.
01:07We have four different types of animals.
01:08We have four different types of animals, and we have three different types of animals.
01:13Our mission is to keep the their own.
01:14Good.
01:15My name is Samantha Snell.
01:17My name is Samantha Snell, I'm a collections project specialist here at the National Air
01:25and Space Museum.
01:27Samantha Snell may not have a fancy title, but she has a big job.
01:32She's a guardian of our nation's treasures, helping to oversee 70,000 objects and counting.
01:38Everything that we have in the Air and Space Museum has some kind of story.
01:42We're here as caretakers on a daily basis for these artifacts, but we need to preserve
01:46them and do our best for their longevity so that the American people can come and enjoy
01:50it.
01:51Today, Sam's at the Paul E. Garber Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
01:58She and a team of specialists are loading up a Vietnam-era F-100 fighter jet.
02:06It's scheduled to be out on display in three months' time.
02:08That's got to come up about four feet.
02:15Crew Chief John Shots and Company have taken the former fighter jet out of storage and
02:20broken it down into three segments for transport.
02:24All right, lock it up there, I think we're good.
02:30First up, the 9,000-pound fuselage.
02:33It's the core of an aircraft that, in its day, packed an unprecedented wallop.
02:40The F-100 Super Sabre was the first supersonic fighter.
02:46Other aircraft had exceeded the speed of sound on a dive, but only the F-100 had the muscle
02:52to do it in level flight.
02:56The height of their service was during the Vietnam War.
03:01In 1969, hundreds of F-100s were operating from South Vietnam bases.
03:08That's where John Shots first worked with them.
03:10I spent 20 years in the Air Force.
03:12Six and a half of that, almost seven, was enlisted aircraft maintenance on the F-100 predominantly.
03:20We're very fortunate in that John Shots, the lead restoration technician on it, was a crew
03:31chief on F-100s.
03:33So there is nobody on this plane that knows more about an F-100 than John.
03:37So that's perfect.
03:40This plane is seen at all.
03:43During the Vietnam War, it spent three years at Benoit, a major U.S. airbase 20 miles outside
03:48Saigon, and the first target of North Vietnam's 1968 Tet Offensive.
03:55These high-performance fighters earned their stripes in battle, but also required a lot
04:04of care between missions.
04:06I don't know.
04:07It was kind of a love affair with the airplane, although it can be doggy with some of the
04:12maintenance that you want.
04:14The F-100's glory days may be over, but it hasn't been forgotten.
04:18It's headed for a new arena, and one with a sizable fan base.
04:27Each year, some seven million people visit the iconic National Air and Space Museum in
04:31downtown Washington, and the newest member of the aviation family, the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy
04:41Center in suburban Virginia.
04:49Today's destination for the oversized artifact is the Udvar-Hazy Center's state-of-the-art
04:54restoration facility 40 miles away.
04:58And the man whose job it is to get it there safely, museum specialist Anthony Wallace.
05:02Anthony Wallace
05:03I was always interested in aviation since I was a child.
05:12When I was in college, I conducted an internship down at the Air and Space Museum downtown in
05:16the curatorial department.
05:18But came out here to Garber one day to work and knew that this is where I wanted to work.
05:23Anthony's been planning the trip for weeks.
05:26Anthony has to.
05:27He's not simply hauling a heavy load.
05:29He's transporting a piece of history.
05:32We are using the drop center, which is this guy right here, which helps us with taller legs
05:37like the one we have on the truck right now.
05:39We need to go left.
05:40Go left.
05:41Standby.
05:42Everything that comes to us, once it crosses through our threshold, it is no longer a working
05:50piece of equipment.
05:51It is an artifact.
05:52And once it comes through our doors, we are not going to be treating it like you can still
05:55take it out for a ride.
05:59Anthony has to contend with the 200,000 cars that clog the Capitol Beltway each day.
06:04One of my main concerns always when we stop around here is other people on the road.
06:18Yeah.
06:19Good job.
06:22I know what I'm going to do and what I want to do.
06:24I don't know what they want to do or what they're going to do.
06:29Flash is on.
06:30Slow down.
06:31Flash direction.
06:33Got it.
06:34We're good.
06:36Yeah.
06:37Yeah.
06:39You're good.
06:40We're good.
06:41Good.
06:42Yeah.
06:43I'm good.
06:48I'm good.
06:48Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
06:53Udvar-Hazy's restoration facility will be the crew's home for the next two months while they
06:59reassemble the F 100.
07:02The glossy shop is a far cry from the early days of the museum.
07:06It stands as a testament to the vision and tenacity
07:10of the museum's first curator, Paul Garber.
07:14Paul Garber, a Korean Air and Space Museum, playing something.
07:19He loved airplanes and aviation, and he also realized that
07:21this brand-new technology was going to be extremely important,
07:26but no one was attempting to preserve it.
07:28Soon after World War II, Garber began collecting at a feverish pace.
07:34He had the vision, and he had the will.
07:37What he didn't have was the money.
07:40He managed to secure 21 acres of land in Silver Hill, Maryland.
07:44He picked up the buildings from military surplus.
07:47He got local concrete trucks to pour the building pads
07:50with their job site leftovers.
07:53He was a scrounger.
07:54He called in favors, and I will guarantee you,
07:57all the really, really important stuff he got.
08:01Among Garber's prizes, the original Wright Brothers' 1903 flyer,
08:07Charles Lindbergh's record-breaking Spirit of St. Louis,
08:10and the B-29 Super Fortress bomber Enola Gay,
08:15the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb.
08:18For these icons of history, the first stop on the road to permanent celebrity
08:24was the mysterious cluster of pastel buildings in Suitland, Maryland.
08:30Al Bachmeier was a local motorhead when Paul Garber hired him in 1971.
08:34I was hired as a welder, but I worked for the collections department here at the time.
08:41This was a Kardec system.
08:43I decided that collections is probably where I wanted to be.
08:48Al worked with Garber for 40 years, documenting and storing artifacts.
08:53He was a hardcore-type collector.
08:56He didn't turn anything down because he knew that he may not get another chance for it,
09:01that if it was offered to him, he'd find a place to put it.
09:04But in those early days, little was known about artifact storage and conservation.
09:09In the meantime, the collection continued to grow.
09:14Now, over 60 years later,
09:1640,000 objects are still at the Paul E. Garber facility,
09:20and the retrofitted surplus buildings are bursting at the seams.
09:24The Garber facility is very challenging to have proper artifact storage.
09:31I mean, when Paul Garber got the land for the Garber facility,
09:34he was already collecting.
09:36So, so many things had to live outside for a long time,
09:39under tarps and whatever else, whatever he could do.
09:42But at least he had the artifacts.
09:43At least they were being collected.
09:46We've known for years that we need to get out of the Garber facility
09:49because the buildings have outlived their lives.
09:52It is time.
09:54We are past our time.
09:55We have got to get out.
09:59Today, the Air and Space Museum's three locations
10:02house over 70,000 objects.
10:05And with the Garber and downtown buildings packed,
10:08it's up to the Hazy Center's three enormous hangers
10:11to help make the growing collection available to the public.
10:14All the artifacts we were never able to display downtown
10:17because of their size, we're able to display here.
10:22And we can store the artifacts properly out here as well.
10:26The Udvar Hazy Center has over 58,000 square feet
10:30dedicated to storage.
10:32The team's master plan must account for a wide range
10:35of special needs objects.
10:40Everything requires proper handling.
10:42Hardware has to be up and ready.
10:44And some tough decisions have to be made about what goes first.
10:48For some objects still at Garber,
10:50the trip to Udvar Hazy can't come soon enough.
10:53I took a look at where the artifacts are currently stored
10:57and which are the artifacts that are most threatened
10:59and in the worst levels of deterioration today.
11:04And I looked at those and determined
11:05that these are the ones that need to come out first.
11:07So they're in the first section of the new storage area.
11:15And then I just went from there
11:17and there's a lot of logistics
11:19that go into preparing these things to come out.
11:25One of Udvar Hazy's hidden gems
11:27is its pristine spacesuit vault.
11:30But getting the suits to their new digs
11:32required some creative problem solving.
11:35When we started the planning
11:38for bringing the small artifacts
11:39out to the Hazy Center for storage,
11:41the biggest collection that we started working with
11:43really was the spacesuit collection.
11:46We have a collection of about 280 spacesuits.
11:51The suits had been stored at Garber initially
11:56under very crowded conditions.
12:00Transporting 280 spacesuits out the door
12:02over and over to Udvar Hazy posed a rather unusual challenge.
12:06Well, we wanted to have them on trays,
12:08but going on trays, how do you transport them?
12:12Do you strap them down?
12:13If you strap them down too tightly,
12:15you're going to damage the suits.
12:17So the MOVE team came up with an unusual solution,
12:21coffin boxes.
12:23A coffin is far bigger than a human,
12:25so you could get a suit with very large shoulders
12:28into a coffin box.
12:29And they were absolutely perfect for moving spacesuits
12:33because some of the spacesuits are fairly heavy.
12:36So this was a way to move them around safely,
12:39support them, keep them on their handling trays,
12:42and then put it directly into storage.
12:49Thousands of objects later,
12:51the MOVE team is still at it.
12:53The Garber MOVE team
12:55are my boots on the ground every day.
12:58I'm in contact with them on a daily basis,
13:01usually multiple times a day.
13:02These are gloves from the Royal Air Force.
13:06So these will go into our rubber spacesuit storage.
13:10But packing is only part of the job.
13:13This team is trained to spot damage and decay
13:16and take steps to protect the priceless artifacts.
13:19I would lean towards at least putting tissue down.
13:24These gloves have a rubber material on the lining,
13:27and that rubber off-gasses various chemicals.
13:31So it's best if those materials
13:32are kept together in storage.
13:34But sometimes,
13:36even under optimal storage conditions,
13:38things can go wrong.
13:39The problem with spacesuits is that they're made of complex materials
13:44that were not created to last for a very long period of time.
13:49When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in 1969,
14:07he wore custom-made gloves
14:09featuring stainless steel fabric
14:11and blue silicone fingertips.
14:13When the gear was put on display
14:16to commemorate Armstrong's life,
14:18one glove developed mysterious spots on the cuff.
14:22There seemed to be spots
14:24where something had been painted on.
14:26The interesting thing is that
14:28in the case of Neil Armstrong's gloves,
14:30it's only on the right glove.
14:31So this is what I think the clean weave looks like.
14:34Okay, so...
14:35What we're working on right now
14:37is trying to determine what was applied,
14:40who applied it, and when it happened.
14:41And this is part of documenting the history of the suit.
14:44Today, Kathy is meeting with conservator Lisa Young
14:47and Bill Arry,
14:48a rep from the suit's manufacturer,
14:50to look for an answer.
14:52So today we're looking at the coatings
14:53on the surface of the glove.
14:55I mean, it is whiter in that area.
14:57Like, you can see, like, even around that abrasion.
15:00It's like it, like, almost flowed away from the tear.
15:03The white material is called beta cloth,
15:05and we're using a new piece of equipment
15:06that we actually got in the lab, a 3-D microscope.
15:09Is that the...
15:10Yeah, this is the tear.
15:10I mean, that's just going to be the Teflon.
15:12Right, this is the edge of the coating right there.
15:14So it's going.
15:15This way?
15:16Yeah.
15:16Now what we're thinking is that these spot repairs
15:19were done to freeze snags
15:22that had occurred in the cuff,
15:24and what we think we see,
15:27we're not sure,
15:28is lunar dust that has been caught underneath.
15:32This is where I'm seeing, like,
15:33the swipes of the moon dust underneath
15:35that got on the fibers.
15:36That would tell me that this coating was added
15:39after post-mission.
15:40Not anticipating it would have come right to the Smithsonian
15:43and figure out which way to freeze.
15:44Lunar dust is very sticky, very sharp, very aggressive.
15:48It will attack materials that we just never even thought about.
15:52You see the woven fibers crisscrossing each other in there,
15:56which is really pretty cool.
15:57As it turns out,
15:58the impacted materials were metal fibers in the spacesuits,
16:02which acted as magnets for the iron-based lunar dust.
16:06So we discovered a new history
16:07that we didn't even know about.
16:09But it looks very angular in glass.
16:11I mean, it doesn't look like normal dust to me.
16:13And these are things that might seem very small,
16:16but are very important to missions,
16:19to the moon, to Mars.
16:20So we're contributing to the history
16:22and contributing to the future as well,
16:24which is really exciting.
16:25Back at Garber,
16:34John and Anthony have been waiting a week
16:36for a break in the weather
16:37to move the next part of the F-100.
16:40It's about 10, 15 at night.
16:43So each stack, the strap itself,
16:46this is just the excess tie-off,
16:49because this is the actual.
16:50So this one goes up over into the other side.
16:53I got two of those.
16:53And then I've got two coming from the other side
16:56to pull the wing back that way.
16:58Okay.
16:58What we're doing is we're getting ready
16:59to move this wing for the RF-100 Super Sabre.
17:03Anthony has the wing strapped down tight,
17:05but the major point of contact to the truck
17:07is a pair of 32-year-old tires.
17:10If there's a blowout,
17:12the strap securing the wing will loosen up.
17:14This goes up and around
17:16and takes it straight back to the other side.
17:19And redundant.
17:20Yeah.
17:20One in.
17:22Overkill is good.
17:24Because of the overall size of the wing,
17:25we're actually going to need to move it at night.
17:29Advantage of a night move is there's a lot less traffic.
17:31But the downside is that you really can't see as well
17:36as you can during the day.
17:39The weight on the wing is only about 7,000 pounds.
17:43But we get into size issues.
17:46So 12-8 high, 19-8 wide.
17:48This is just a shade under 20 feet wide
17:50as we have it rigged on the truck right now.
17:53I've got glow sticks on each one,
17:54so we'll crack them before we leave.
17:56It's the widest thing I've ever moved.
18:04A little nervous, but exciting at the same time.
18:09What I'm looking for is you're on the right.
18:12I need you to watch any emerging traffic from my side.
18:15Roger that.
18:16Ideally, what we would want to do
18:17is minimal personnel and equipment as possible
18:19to keep lines of communication clear
18:21and make sure everyone has their specific duty.
18:23Swings around, he can open up the exit gate.
18:25So what we're going to have set up
18:27is we're going to have our tractor in the middle.
18:28Anthony and I can only see one at a time.
18:31We have to go back and forth with that mirror.
18:33And then we're going to have one of our escort vehicles
18:35out in the front and two in the back.
18:38One on the left and one on the right.
18:40That's what's required by our permits.
18:43We're going to have a Maryland state trooper
18:44escort us to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
18:46The Maryland trooper did a walk around in the vehicle.
18:54He's now calling in all our information,
18:55the permit, and my driver's license
18:57to verify everything's legit and ready to go.
18:59When his overhead lights turn on,
19:01that means that the check came back,
19:02and we're fine, and we're going to go.
19:04This is great.
19:06This is great.
19:07Pretty cool, huh?
19:08Come on.
19:09Three.
19:14Hey, all the way to the food, man.
19:16Come on, Amber.
19:24You're clear of the lake.
19:26We are just east of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
19:29We're still in Maryland.
19:30This is where we switch our escort
19:31from Maryland to Virginia.
19:33Everything's going as advertised.
19:35We'll let nothing happen
19:37to the taxpayer's artifact.
19:40Crossing the Potomac River
19:42means crossing state lines
19:44and a midstream handoff
19:45from the Maryland trooper escort
19:47to his Virginia counterparts.
19:50Virginia's going to use three escorts,
19:51so we'll come with us all the way to the museum.
19:53So far, we've only gone about seven miles.
19:55We've got about 32 to go,
19:57and then we'll get to the museum.
19:58It should be about a 35, 40-minute drive
20:01from this point.
20:03Go, go, go.
20:03Okay, go.
20:04Let them control the traffic, all right?
20:07They're blocking.
20:08The escort vehicle is twofold.
20:10One is to keep people away
20:11from my truck and my load.
20:12We've got merging traffic.
20:14But it's also to assist me
20:16with what I need to do.
20:18We're clear left.
20:20They can spot things for me
20:22that I can't see.
20:23To the right.
20:25If I need to move over,
20:26they can go out ahead
20:27and get me the lane that I need
20:28before I actually physically
20:29start moving over.
20:31Everything looks good.
20:32Everything looks good.
20:33So they're a way
20:33to keep traffic away from me
20:34and also to help me move around
20:36as I need it.
20:37You are good.
20:38Lots of room, Blue.
20:40That's a negative.
20:41Everything looks good, Blue.
20:45Right side's good.
20:47At the entrance to Hossie,
20:48the escort departs
20:50and the team heads for the hangar.
20:52Actually, it was a lot easier
20:54having the state trooper than not.
20:56So that ended up being
20:56a very big help.
20:57I've never had that before.
21:01I kind of wish I had that
21:02from now on.
21:03So, and they were a great group of guys.
21:07It's two in the morning
21:09when Hossie's hangar door
21:10finally closes.
21:13Anthony posted a personal best tonight,
21:15but the job's not over yet.
21:17The National Air and Space Museum's
21:2522 curators keep the Garber team
21:28busy managing the flow
21:29of newly acquired objects.
21:32Everything that comes
21:32into the collection
21:33gets cataloged.
21:35And everything gets
21:36a catalog number,
21:39gets photographed.
21:41Curators are responsible
21:42for choosing what comes
21:44into the collection
21:44and we're responsible
21:45to take care of them after that.
21:47But sometimes,
21:48curators face a familiar dilemma.
21:51They've got too many of one thing
21:52and need to do a bit
21:54of housekeeping.
21:57Museum specialist
21:58Jen LaVosser
21:59has come to Garber
22:00to make some tough decisions
22:02about her collection.
22:03She specializes
22:04in the everyday personal items
22:06used by astronauts.
22:08One of the things
22:08that's interesting about my job
22:10is that the items
22:11in my collection
22:12are the things
22:12that astronauts use
22:14that are very much like
22:15the things we use here on Earth.
22:17We've got our hot dogs.
22:20They seem to still be vacuum seal,
22:22but I wouldn't want to try.
22:26Essentially, astronaut diets
22:28consisted of about 2,500 calories,
22:30sometimes more,
22:31based on the level of activity
22:33the astronaut would need
22:34to do that day.
22:35Just because the food
22:36was available
22:37did not always mean
22:38they ate it.
22:39All of our drinks.
22:40These items don't have
22:42nearly as many
22:43in our collection
22:43and that's when
22:44we need to determine
22:45just the right number of things
22:47that make sense
22:48for us to maintain.
22:49You can actually tell
22:50with some of the coffee
22:51that this one does not
22:52have any cream in it,
22:53but that one does have cream.
22:54Some of the things
22:55we consider how likely it is
22:57something might go on display.
22:59Because what an astronaut
22:59could actually do with this
23:01is they could squirt
23:02hot water into this,
23:03in this case, spaghetti,
23:05if we want to have some
23:06available for loan
23:07to other museums,
23:09but also if there were
23:11any reason that someone
23:12might want to come
23:13and study the item.
23:14I think this ongoing
23:22fascination with astronauts
23:23in particular
23:24is that they're
23:24these representatives
23:25who have had this experience.
23:27They represent all of humanity
23:28in these exploration projects.
23:31Everything that's on the table
23:32should have a condition survey
23:34that they've already done.
23:35Great.
23:36Thank you so much.
23:38Earth-bound humans
23:39take a lot for granted.
23:41In space,
23:43daily duties can turn
23:44into the stuff of nightmares.
23:46What we have here
23:47on the table now
23:48are what,
23:49at least according
23:50to the label on the package here,
23:52says,
23:52defecation collection device.
23:56This was NASA's solution
23:57to how an astronaut
23:59would collect
24:01their bowel movements.
24:04Essentially,
24:05its construction is
24:07a fairly simple plastic bag.
24:09At the top of the bag
24:11is the circular portion.
24:14And there's an adhesive
24:15that goes around
24:16the circular portion here.
24:18This paper would be peeled off
24:20and the astronaut
24:21could literally stick it
24:22to their backside.
24:24The major problem
24:26is the fact
24:26that there's no gravity.
24:27No gravity
24:28or any kind of assistance
24:30to keep the fecal matter
24:33at the bottom of the bag.
24:35It wasn't uncommon
24:36for some to escape
24:37the bag as well.
24:38If you poop in that,
24:40the poop doesn't just
24:41go to the bottom,
24:42it floats in there.
24:43And so it did sometimes
24:44get loose
24:46and float around the cabin.
24:48Ew!
24:50Astronauts were not keen
24:52on a lot of these things.
24:53It's highly personal,
24:54so some of the difficulties
24:55that they had
24:56during the missions
24:57weren't often talked about
24:58until years later
24:59when astronauts started
25:00writing their memoirs
25:00and talking about
25:01really the nitty-gritty
25:03of being in space.
25:04Curators acquire
25:06to help interpret the past,
25:08but they also want
25:09to help keep future astronauts
25:11alive and healthy
25:12a hundred years from now.
25:14We may never really get
25:15to know that sense
25:16of weightlessness
25:16and awe and wonder
25:18at seeing Earth from afar
25:19what that's really about,
25:20but they're the ones
25:22that are willing
25:22to take that incredible risk
25:24that I think
25:24is always going to exist
25:26in this process
25:27of space exploration.
25:28Back at the restoration shop,
25:55John Schatz and his team
25:56have three days
25:57to reassemble the F-100.
25:59The goal today
26:00is to try to install
26:01the engine,
26:02and before we can do that,
26:03I have to make sure
26:04that these railing systems
26:05are cleared through here
26:06and smooth.
26:10And I'm going to try
26:11to make it so that
26:12it's straight enough
26:13that we can actually slide it in,
26:14because this is going
26:15to be an obstruction
26:15the way it's set up right now.
26:20It's getting all
26:21of this stuff out of the way
26:22so when the engine goes in,
26:23we don't have electrical cables
26:25and hydraulic lines snarling.
26:28John's prepared
26:29for a few glitches.
26:31The F-100's been idle
26:32for the past 32 years.
26:38The installation itself
26:40is pretty straightforward.
26:43That's the little stuff
26:44that gets you.
26:51Basically,
26:52the next step
26:53is to get the engine
26:53over there
26:54lined up
26:54with the engine bay.
26:58And the dowry
26:59that's on here right now
27:01is adjustable.
27:02So it contains
27:03a certain amount of roll
27:04and a certain amount
27:05of left and right.
27:06So if you're
27:08well within the ballpark,
27:09then there's no problems
27:10with getting it lined up
27:12and moving in.
27:12I pick these off.
27:15Yeah?
27:16Yeah.
27:17It's slightly heavy.
27:18All right.
27:18On 19.
27:19Five, six, seven, eight.
27:21Yeah.
27:23All right.
27:26Remming speed.
27:28This is remming speed.
27:29The engine is lined up
27:40and ready to go.
27:41Will's job
27:41is to adjust the dolly
27:43so it can slide
27:44into the fuselage.
27:49How are you looking?
27:50How about another inch?
27:51Another inch?
27:52Yeah.
27:53Am I going the right way?
27:54I'm going the right way, Al.
27:56The other way.
27:59Is it working?
28:02Yeah.
28:03All right.
28:04That is.
28:04She has a nice.
28:06Well, as you can see,
28:07moving up on it,
28:08aligning,
28:09trying to keep
28:10everything out of the way.
28:12Unfortunately,
28:13in a couple of cases,
28:14we had to snag.
28:16Give me a quarter-inch
28:17drive ratchet.
28:19Well, you've got
28:20a lot of hoses in there
28:21that become stiff
28:22as certain things
28:23have gotten into position
28:24from sitting around
28:25all those gears.
28:26Got lined up over there,
28:28Rob.
28:29Bring the aft
28:29coming up?
28:30Yeah.
28:30Coming up.
28:34Okay.
28:38I feel it just
28:39going around in circles.
28:41Every time I start
28:42putting pressure on it,
28:43I try to push
28:44the engine in there.
28:45It skips
28:46like a tooth.
28:48It's going as hard
28:50as it can.
28:50I'm putting a lot
28:51of pressure
28:51spinning this thing up.
28:53And I'm stripping
28:54the gear,
28:55so to speak.
28:56What was that?
29:03It just got real easy
29:04all of a sudden.
29:05This morning at the
29:18Udvar-Hazy Center,
29:20Sam's team jumps
29:21into go mode
29:22when their truckload
29:23of artifacts
29:23reaches the loading dock.
29:25Well, it's 8.55
29:25in the morning.
29:26We are offloading
29:28our Penske straight truck
29:29with textiles
29:30from our collection
29:32back at the Garber facility.
29:34In total,
29:35it's probably
29:36about 100 items
29:37that are going
29:37to be coming out.
29:39100 textile items
29:41might fit easily
29:42on the discount rack
29:43at the mall.
29:44But here,
29:45that number
29:45fills up a freight drive.
29:48That's because
29:49this batch of clothing
29:50was designed
29:51for a different runway.
29:53Jackets,
29:54trousers,
29:55overcoats,
29:56flight suits,
29:58dresses,
29:59hats,
30:00long underwear.
30:01It's all here,
30:02and it's all been
30:03individually packaged
30:04and prepped for storage.
30:07Exposure to dirt
30:08and humidity
30:09can harm artifacts,
30:10so Sam and the team
30:12move quickly.
30:13And in the spirit
30:14of Paul Garber,
30:15they're still improvising.
30:17They've resurrected
30:18the original coffin boxes
30:20they use to move
30:21the spacesuits.
30:24Many of the items
30:25in this shipment
30:26fall under the watch
30:27of curator Alex Spencer.
30:29He's here to check out
30:30a few of the uniforms
30:31in his collection
30:32of 15,000 artifacts.
30:34The material here
30:35that you see
30:35is a little barrier
30:36that they put
30:37so that there's not
30:38a reaction between
30:39the wool and the brass
30:40of the insignias
30:41to help preserve them
30:42and prevent corrosion.
30:44Maintaining a 60-year-old
30:46overcoat isn't easy
30:47under the best circumstances.
30:48The storage facility
30:50at Ud Varhazy
30:51must protect it
30:52for future generations
30:53to research and enjoy.
30:55For Alex,
30:56the mission is critical.
30:58It's hard for an individual,
31:00a visitor,
31:01to relate to an aircraft
31:03sometimes.
31:03It's something
31:04they don't encounter
31:05in their everyday life,
31:06of course.
31:07So if you can bring in
31:10the personal objects,
31:11it humanizes the story
31:14of this is how
31:15they go to war.
31:16The F-100's fuselage
31:36is in position
31:37and secured.
31:39Next step
31:39is to place
31:40the aft section,
31:41but John Schatz
31:42doesn't like what he sees.
31:44The afterburner
31:45that's on the airplane
31:46right now,
31:46it's in the full
31:47afterburner position
31:48or the maximum
31:49thrust position.
31:50The afterburner
31:51gives the F-100
31:52the thrust needed
31:53for quick takeoffs
31:55and supersonic flight.
31:57To look authentic
31:59on display,
32:00it should be
32:00completely closed down.
32:02We're trying to close
32:03this constrictor off
32:04so it's actually,
32:06it closes up
32:06like a clamp.
32:07All this closes up
32:08into a smaller hole
32:11with these cylinders
32:13here.
32:14We're trying
32:14to activate
32:15these cylinders
32:15to push against
32:16these leaves here
32:17to actually close
32:18off the constrictor.
32:20But the cylinders
32:21haven't moved
32:22for over 32 years.
32:24Basically,
32:25the piston seals
32:26have dried out.
32:27You can see
32:27where they started
32:28to move out.
32:30See like down here
32:31hasn't moved
32:32all that much
32:32so what we've got
32:33is a situation
32:34where they've
32:35started to bind.
32:36The dried out seals
32:37have locked up
32:38the cylinders.
32:39John decides
32:40to pump nitrogen gas
32:41directly into
32:42the afterburner
32:43to try and free them.
32:45It's a long shot
32:46at best
32:46and he'll need
32:47a special fitting
32:48to hook up the gas.
32:49Well, we've got
32:50to make pneumatic fitting
32:51that'll fit on this
32:52end here
32:53so that we can use
32:54that nitrogen tank
32:56to charge up
32:58these cylinders here.
33:01So we want
33:02to close it off
33:02and we don't have
33:03a fitting for it
33:04so we're going
33:04to have the machinist
33:05make a fitting.
33:06The shop's machinist
33:10Gary Gordon
33:10is equal parts
33:12mechanic,
33:13inventor,
33:13and artist.
33:15Well, we're just
33:16trying to
33:17get a smaller piece
33:19to make this fitting
33:20for John.
33:24During restoration,
33:26John keeps
33:27the artifacts curator
33:28in the loop
33:29on the team's progress.
33:30During a restoration,
33:32it's a give and take.
33:33a lot of discussion
33:36goes back and forth
33:37between the restorer
33:38and the curator
33:38as to what we can
33:39and cannot do.
33:41And sometimes
33:42we make a decision
33:42where it's just
33:43too expensive
33:43or we can't find
33:45the parts
33:45or we can't
33:45manufacture the parts.
33:47That's why we have
33:48flexible hooks.
33:49That's exactly
33:49what I thought.
33:50We curators
33:51know a good deal
33:52about the aircraft,
33:53but when it comes
33:54from the technical
33:55side,
33:56I understand John
33:57knows far more
33:58about it than I.
33:58So is that a two
33:59or a four burrito job
34:01we just did?
34:01I'll settle for one
34:02today, John.
34:03Okay, you're on.
34:04You're easy.
34:04Good.
34:05I try to be.
34:06Yeah, we'll go from there.
34:13About a hundred.
34:15Gary Gordon did
34:16the initial fitting
34:17and we applied pressure
34:19and of course
34:19we had a bypass
34:21which gave us
34:22back pressure
34:23and nothing was happening.
34:24More.
34:25Count.
34:25There goes my burrito.
34:31I can't feel
34:31anything on top.
34:34That's the
34:35afterburner control belt.
34:37I'll see.
34:38There's no air
34:39coming out of this.
34:42Oh, man.
34:44I was counting
34:45on this thing
34:45being closed.
34:47It's right around
34:47the rim here.
34:48How about if we
34:49block this one off
34:50of here?
34:50Well, we're back
34:51against the same thing,
34:52Gary.
34:52It's called
34:53another fitting.
34:54Well, I don't
34:55bother.
34:56So, he made
34:57another piece
34:57that allowed
34:59a needed flow.
35:01Give it a try again.
35:03Yeah.
35:03We applied
35:04about 800 PSI.
35:06but it was leaking
35:28so badly
35:29that we had
35:30to discontinue it.
35:31We might have
35:33to try
35:33and manually
35:33close it
35:34and that's
35:34not going
35:35to be easy.
35:41While John
35:42and his crew
35:42wrestle with the F-100,
35:44Sam and the Garver
35:45Move Team
35:46check the uniforms
35:47into their new quarters.
35:48We've already
35:49received the barcodes
35:51for all the drawers
35:52in this one.
35:52Sam brings
35:53Alex Spencer
35:54up to speed
35:55on the new system.
35:55Go through
35:56and start labeling
35:57and get ready
35:57to accept
35:58the next collection.
35:58Right.
35:59Okay, good.
36:001989-0065.
36:06So, for the next set
36:08I did just order
36:08shelves
36:09because since we have
36:10all these nice
36:10handling trays now
36:11we can move them
36:12in and out easier.
36:13It does happen
36:14where you get
36:14a phone call
36:15out of the blue
36:16from somebody
36:16that says
36:17they have something
36:18and it's something
36:19from World War I
36:20or World War II
36:23that you don't have
36:25and you go after
36:26those
36:26but you can't
36:27plan for those
36:27kind of things.
36:31As I'm doing
36:32my job
36:33I have to kind
36:33of keep up
36:34with current events
36:35and where things
36:36are happening
36:36and what's going
36:37on in the world
36:38and it's particularly
36:39relating to aviation.
36:40A donation offer
36:41from a former
36:42Marine Corps officer
36:43has caught Alex's eye.
36:46This is actually
36:47the first email
36:48that I got
36:49from Captain Dwyer
36:50concerning the potential
36:52of his donation.
36:53he included
36:55a couple of photographs
36:56as well as
36:58a short bio
36:59of his flying career
37:00with the Marine Corps.
37:02With this collection
37:03of Matt Dwyer's things
37:04he was an Osprey pilot
37:06so an Osprey
37:07is a fairly new aircraft
37:08it hasn't been used
37:09for that long.
37:10We have a prototype
37:11example of it
37:12in the collection
37:13but we don't have
37:14an Osprey itself.
37:18The V-22 Osprey
37:19landed on the scene
37:20in 2007
37:21designed to get troops
37:23and their equipment
37:24in and out
37:25of combat zones.
37:28It has unique rotors
37:30that allow it
37:31to take off
37:31hover
37:33and land
37:34like a helicopter
37:35then tilt forward
37:38like propellers
37:39to fly as fast
37:40as an airplane.
37:43Its innovative technology
37:45and involvement
37:45in the post-9-11 wars
37:47make objects
37:48related to it
37:49of particular interest
37:50to Alex Spencer.
37:56He included
37:57his standard pair
37:58of desert flying boots.
38:01Here he also included
38:03his leather shoulder holster.
38:06So what we have here
38:07is Captain Dwyer's
38:08flying helmet.
38:08Everything Matt Dwyer
38:10has donated
38:10will help Alex
38:11tell the Osprey's story.
38:13This provides some oxygen.
38:15It also has
38:15a microphone
38:16on the inside
38:17so he can do
38:18his communications
38:18and talk to people.
38:20First off,
38:20it personalizes
38:21the events
38:22and they can tell you
38:23what they did
38:24and where they were at,
38:25what kind of actions
38:27were taking place,
38:28what it was like
38:28to be in combat,
38:29what was the sound
38:30of combat.
38:31Those are always
38:32a bonus to have
38:33that bring the story
38:34of what they're living
38:36and doing
38:36to life for me personally
38:38but then hopefully
38:40it can be translated
38:41as well
38:42onto our exhibits
38:43down on the floor.
38:43These are the manuals
38:44and checklists.
38:45We want to be able
38:46to convey that
38:47to our visitor.
38:48In this pocket
38:49it looks like
38:50he included
38:50a small memoranda book
38:52with notes
38:53for flying organization,
38:55places that he was
38:55flying in and out of.
38:57With what I'm doing now
38:57I can actually plan
38:58with my collecting.
38:59I know what's out there,
39:00I know what's going on,
39:01I know these are
39:02important events
39:03that we're living in
39:04in this day and age
39:04so why don't we get it now
39:06and then we're not
39:06having to scramble.
39:08at a later date and time.
39:10They'll have to wait
39:11for the Osprey
39:12but in the meantime
39:13Captain Dwyer's gear
39:15will head to Garber
39:16for processing.
39:29I can't hear it.
39:31We're going to come in
39:32two feet.
39:34Alright.
39:34Coming in.
39:38Coming in.
39:41The F-100
39:42stubborn afterburner
39:44won't close
39:45but they've got
39:45just enough room
39:46to slip the aft section
39:48over it.
39:48John wants up
39:50front and back.
39:52Coming up.
39:53Front and back.
39:55Stop it.
39:56Bring her in again.
39:57Front and up.
39:59Front and coming up.
40:00Hold.
40:05Holding.
40:05Well, we're kind of
40:07hoping that the afterburner
40:09actuators would work
40:11so that we can close
40:12the afterburner down
40:13to a normal position.
40:15Coming forward.
40:16Coming forward.
40:17Okay.
40:18We're hanging up on something.
40:19We're hanging up on something else.
40:21The problem is now,
40:23of course,
40:23the aircraft will appear
40:25with the afterburner
40:26in full power position,
40:28in full open position.
40:31Something's holding up.
40:32That's on the phone, something.
40:35Which,
40:36for anybody
40:37that's worked on the airplane
40:38or has flown the airplane
40:39will recognize that right away.
40:41Okay.
40:42I hate to tell you guys this,
40:43but I'm about to get close
40:45to bottoming out.
40:46At this point in time,
40:47there's not really much
40:48we can do about it.
40:49After the F-100
40:50is fully reassembled,
40:52the team will add
40:53the final touches
40:54to its appearance,
40:55traces of an era gone,
40:57but not forgotten.
40:59The decision on how
40:59an airplane appears
41:00is the responsibility
41:02of the curator.
41:03Now, the curator will work
41:04with the restoration staff
41:06to make sure that it works,
41:07but basically we want
41:08the airplane to look
41:09as it did truthfully
41:11at a certain point
41:12in its career.
41:17In our case with the F-100,
41:18we're very fortunate
41:19in that the paint
41:20that's on it
41:21when we got it
41:22from the Michigan Air Guard
41:23in the mid-70s
41:24is the same camouflage
41:26from the head-on
41:26when it was serving
41:27in Vietnam.
41:29All we had to do
41:30was change a few
41:31of the markings
41:32to bring it back
41:33to where it was
41:33when it was flying
41:36during the Tet Offensive
41:36in 1968.
41:38So what we've done
41:39with the airplane
41:40is changed it
41:40to appear as it did
41:42at Benoit,
41:44specifically in the garb
41:46of the 19th Squadron.
41:47It's designated by,
41:49you know,
41:49the tail paint,
41:50the tail numbers,
41:50and the paradise
41:52on the nose for your door.
42:02Calibrated bar.
42:03Calibrated bar.
42:10Come on,
42:11there you are.
42:15It's fantastic,
42:16but they're like
42:17a well-oiled machine,
42:18you know,
42:19all these guys
42:19working together
42:20and they've been
42:21doing this for a long
42:21time.
42:22They know each other's
42:22moves.
42:24You can do a lot
42:24without using a lot
42:25of words.
42:27Everybody's paying
42:28attention and being
42:29as careful as you can.
42:31We need it.
42:33The carriage is out,
42:34John.
42:35They made it.
42:36The F-100 is on the final
42:54leg of its journey
42:54to Udvar-Hazy.
42:57It's a half-mile tow
42:58from the restoration lab
42:59to the museum hangar.
43:01For John and his crew,
43:05the job isn't over
43:06until it's on the floor
43:07and secured.
43:10Well, hopefully,
43:11this thing on its
43:1240-year-old tires
43:13will make it from here
43:14to the north entrance
43:15where we can park it.
43:18That's the plan
43:19for the day.
43:25There's a feeling
43:25of relief wrapped up
43:27for the nostalgia.
43:28Most of it's just relief.
43:31You know,
43:32it doesn't look like much
43:33sitting out here
43:34as well on an airplane
43:34with all the fits
43:35and pieces.
43:37You've seen some
43:37of the struggle
43:38that we went through
43:39getting some of the
43:40stuff for your son.
43:46I'm relieved.
43:48I'm going to go
43:49celebrate with a donut
43:50and a cup of coffee.
43:53It's been a long ride
43:55for the Hun,
43:55as it was called.
43:56It's logged thousands
43:57of miles in service,
43:59endured a war
44:00on the other side
44:01of the world,
44:02and all the while,
44:03setting a new standard
44:04for aviation innovation.
44:07For now,
44:08John Schatz and his team
44:10will take a moment
44:10to celebrate.
44:12Then,
44:12they'll get to work
44:13on the next assignment.
44:16The crew that's here
44:17right now,
44:18I think it's all one mind.
44:22We've got something
44:23to present.
44:25We care about
44:25what we do.
44:27Some of it can be
44:28extremely sensitive
44:29where you're like,
44:30do I touch this?
44:34And that's really
44:35what makes it interesting.
44:40You take a look
44:41at this stuff
44:42and you wonder,
44:42jeez, how in the world
44:43can something that big
44:44just get up in the air?
44:46What holds it up?
44:48How does it work?
44:48I got to understand them,
44:51I got to work on them,
44:52and I had the best life
44:54I could ever think of
44:54because of it.
44:56It's a collective effort.
44:59It's a team effort.
45:03It's downtown,
45:05it's Garber,
45:06it's Hasey,
45:08it's every department,
45:10you know,
45:10working together
45:11to make a final product,
45:13to share
45:14with the people
45:15of this country
45:15and people
45:16from all over the world.
45:21Paul Garber lived
45:22to see the National Air
45:23and Space Museum
45:24become one of the most
45:25popular in the world.
45:29His prophecy,
45:30that this new
45:31and evolving technology
45:32would touch
45:33each of our lives,
45:34inspires the millions
45:35who visit each year.
45:37And for those
45:42behind the scenes,
45:44dedicated to preserving
45:45and caring
45:45for these national treasures,
45:47Garber's vision
45:48still burns bright.
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