Aerospace Museum of California

Rob Stewart: Northern California is home to rich and deep history that really celebrates transportation so let us hit the road, have a little fun and learn a lot about this area’s moving museums. We begin by taking flight. Well, we are taking you inside the Aerospace Museum of California. This place is filled with more than forty aircrafts as well as hundreds of pieces of memorabilia. Here is the curator Barry Bauer, good to see you Barry. Barry Bauer: Nice to meet you! Rob Stewart: You are checking out an amazing piece of aircraft here, tell me about this. Barry Bauer: Well, this is the oldest aircraft that we have in the museum. It is a 1932 Curtis Wright B-14B, only two of them were built. One of them crashed in 1934 so you are looking at the one and only. Rob Stewart: Well, it is amazing that this is a one of a kind aircraft as well as a piece of artwork. In my opinion, this place is full of them so let us go check it out. Barry Bauer: Alright. Rob Stewart: Okay. Barry look at this plane, tell me about this one. It is absolutely beautiful. Barry Bauer: Well this is a Fairchild PT-19B, a training aircraft often called The Cradle of Eagles. Rob Stewart: Why? Barry Bauer: Because during Second World War almost every army Air Force pilot at one point or another flew in this in its training process, so hundreds of thousands of pilots learned to fly in this type of aircraft. Rob Stewart: That is amazing! And when would this plane have been used, from what years? Barry Bauer: This aircraft was used for training in the military from about 1940 through the end of the Second World War. Just as the war ended, jets were coming in to service and they needed jet trainers instead of the old fashion propeller types. Rob Stewart: I bet you have some volunteers here that actually flew this? Barry Bauer: We have a number of guys that look at this fondly and remember their days, as they were a cadet learning to fly. Rob Stewart: But there is so much to see I am excited so let us go. Barry Bauer: Alright. Rob Stewart: And this really is how this place comes alive, this is volunteer Lee Wilner here refinishing what? What is this Barry? Barry Bauer: This is a Cessna UC-78 training aircraft from the Second World War era. Every piece of this will be eventually refurbished, restored to look like new. The skilled craftsman working here will be on this for years. Rob Stewart: Well, in this I mean the craftsmanship is just unbelievable looking at this, it is really shocking! Barry Bauer: It is amazing to look at this and see those tiny little pieces of wood just glued and tacked together with tiny brads. When it is all formed together and covered with fabric and the skin is on there, binds it all together and it does become a thing that can lift people into the air and fly around in the sky. It is amazing when you see how this thing was built. Rob Stewart: Is this a dying art? Barry Bauer: Absolutely so. The new generation is not using wood and fabric anymore. There are composite plastics, new metals, foams, stuff like that is now what aircrafts are made of. So skilled craftsman like Lee are a dying breed and we value them immensely. Rob Stewart: This is so cool, look at this cockpit, what year is this from? Barry Bauer: This is from the early 1940s, it maybe 1942, 43 at the latest. Rob Stewart: And being brought back to life. Barry Bauer: Piece by piece by skilled craftsmen that have a real intense desire to see their history preserved and restored. Rob Stewart: Absolutely. Barry Bauer: Now back it up, watch that one foot there. Rob Stewart: We have got plenty on the garage. Barry Bauer: Barry this is a US Navy plane from when? Rob Stewart: This is from the 60’s and 70’s. This is actually an A-4 Attack plane, this is the exact type of aircraft that Senator John McCain was shot down over in North Vietnam. Barry Bauer: Really? Rob Stewart: Yes, he was flying one of these at the time. But this one is painted obviously in a special color scheme, the markings of the US Navy’s flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels. Barry Bauer: Blue Angels, yes. Rob Stewart: They flew this aircraft, this type of aircraft for a very short period during the 70’s and we acquired an example from the navy flying their colors so to speak, it has a special exhibit here at the museum. Barry Bauer: My grandmother was in the navy. Rob Stewart: See we have a connection with almost everybody in the area, somehow. Barry Bauer: I bet you do, I bet you do. We have to talk about this jacket and the significance of it Barry, it really is important. Rob Stewart: Well, I hope your viewers are aware of the Tuskegee Airman, the first African-Americans to fly and fight for the United States during the Second World War. They fought as they say against two enemies, the Nazis and the racial prejudice here in the United States. Barry Bauer: Can we talk about Civil Rights leaders? Rob Stewart: Absolutely, these folks were at the forefront during the Second World War. This jacket was donated by Mrs. Edith Roberts, a resident here at Sacramento, her husband George and his nickname was Spanky, George “Spanky” Roberts was one of the first five graduates of the Tuskegee Airmen program. Barry Bauer: My goodness. Rob Stewart: Back in 1942. Barry Bauer: Because there were thousands. Rob Stewart: There were many thousands during the course of the war. By the end of the war, they had equipped four squadrons of combat aircraft for service overseas. Barry Bauer: And here we have an exhibit about the moon and tell me about this little Charlie Brown doll. Rob Stewart: This Charlie Brown doll was a very special artifact for us. It was presented by the astronauts from Apollo 10. They were the ones just before the first moon landing, they actually circled the moon, had this Charlie Brown doll with them in their capsule, brought it back to earth after getting within nine miles of the moon and presented it to General Samuel Philips, the director of the Apollo program. Barry Bauer: My goodness. And I see you have some really cool things hanging from the ceiling. Rob Stewart: Well, let us go upstairs and take a look. Barry Bauer: Alright, let us go. What a cool view when you come upstairs. Rob Stewart: Isn’t it though? Barry Bauer: It is really I mean those are planes outside, it is just breath taking. Rob Stewart: What is this blue thing right here? Barry Bauer: This small blue aircraft is unman, a pilot least drawn, built by a company here in Sacramento. Composite Engineering Incorporated. It is used as a target drawn by the navy, by the Air Force to train people in shooting things down with missiles. Rob Stewart: Wow! Built right here in Sacramento? Barry Bauer: Yes sir. Rob Stewart: And Arrow Jet also in the Sacramento area, Arrow Jet has been building rocket, motors and engines in Rancho Cordova for over 50 years. Barry Bauer: Wow so there is a huge impact in this area when it comes to aerospace. Rob Stewart: Still, yes — still alive and well. Barry Bauer: We got to get outside. I’ll tell you, I look at that view and it’s just so pretty over there and so let’s take a journey. This is massive and impressive out here more than 30 planes of the Aerospace Museum of California outside. Rob Stewart: We are very proud of our collection and it’s growing all the time. We acquire a new aircraft from time to time a couple of year. Well, that’s great. There’s a one in the back that holds a place in history? Barry Bauer: Oh, yeah. Rob Stewart: I like to go see it? Barry Bauer: Sure. Rob Stewart: This plane is historic, tell me why Barry. Barry Bauer: This is a Grumman F-14 tomcat. Most of you have probably known it from the movie Top Gun. Rob Stewart: Top Gun, yeah. Barry Bauer: Yeah, amazing movie and really stoked the interest and this type of aircraft enable aviation. This particular aircraft, this F-14 was the very last one to make it take off from an aircraft here where it flew off of the Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf back in 2005, flew back to the States, flew right here to McClellan in Sacramento and was handed over to the museum. Rob Stewart: The very last one — Barry Bauer: The very last one to take flight from an aircraft carrier was this bird itself. Rob Stewart: So how’d you get it? Barry Bauer: Through contacts, we had one of our board members with a naval aviator and he knew people. He talked to people regarding contact with the museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida and said, we would like a tomcat. And here she is. Rob Stewart: And you got it. Look at this US Air Force plane, it is absolutely huge. Tell me about that. Barry Bauer: This is a Lockheed C-121, it’s an electronic warfare or observation aircraft. It has the huge antennas on the top and the bottom. For many, many years, almost two decades it flew patterns off the coast, west coast in United States and the East coast as well watching for Soviet air crafts or missiles coming in. Those are radar sets that were manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 20 years. Rob Stewart: And it’s so neat how you can get right up and close to these planes. I mean, where else can you do this? Barry Bauer: That’s one thing about this museum that sets it aside from others and we want people up close. We want them in and under the plane. We want them looking around, touching to a degree but we want people to experience them and you can’t do that behind the barricade. Rob Stewart: This one is from the Air Force and you can actually get right inside. Barry Bauer: Yes, we keep three aircrafts open. Any day that we’re open, you’ll be able to come inside this one a couple of others to see what it’s like in one of these war birds from 40, 50, 60 years ago. Rob Stewart: Can we get in the car? Barry Bauer: Sure, go ahead. Let’s go. Rob Stewart: We’re here in the cockpit, how cool is that? Barry Bauer: Isn’t it amazing to think that people flew these things, carried cargo all around the world for 30 or 40 years in this type of aircraft. Rob Stewart: And this one is getting ready to get a major overhaul? Barry Bauer: Yes, we received a grant from the Federal government to restore a number of our aircrafts and this one is going to get overhauled, completely restored inside and out to pristine condition. Rob Stewart: Because you said, they’re national treasures. Barry Bauer: Absolutely true, they are irreplaceable. They tell a story, a part of our nation’s history that cannot be lost and they sit outside. So we’re going to do everything we can to bring this back to showroom condition here in the next year or so. Rob Stewart: You know I want to ask you because you’re really living behind a big legacy here. You as the curator get the design, how things relate out here, why — why do you do those? What is your story? Barry Bauer: Well, I was born into an Air Force family. My father was a career enlisted man in the Air Force. I grew up around the aircraft. I love the history of aircraft and this is a place where I cannot only delve deeply into it, but I can live behind as you say. I live behind a legacy, through exhibits, telling the stories of these aircrafts but more importantly, the people of the Sacramento area that were involved with this aircrafts and it’s a huge, huge story to tell. Rob Stewart: And you’re helping to keep that heritage and history alive. Barry Bauer: That’s my calling. Rob Stewart: Alright Barry, well it’s good to see you. Thank you so much. Barry Bauer: It was great visiting with you. Rob Stewart: Barry Bauer, we’re here at the Aerospace Museum of California.