When a one-of-a-kind aircraft from World War II needs work done, not just any body shop will do.
At the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, staff members repair and preserve historic aircraft in an in-house restoration hangar that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into maintaining the museum’s collection.
The Smithsonian museum’s second location, situated about 30 miles from the National Air and Space Museum’s flagship site in downtown Washington, DC, offers an expansive setting with 340,000 square feet of exhibit space.
The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, which is connected to the exhibits, can accommodate several aircraft at a time and houses everything workers might need, including a sheet-metal shop, a welding room, a paint room, and a fabric shop.
It also features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the hangar, allowing visitors to watch the work happening in real time.
Holly Williamson, public affairs specialist at the National Air and Space Museum, told Business Insider that visitors shouldn’t expect to see planes being built with the speed of a factory assembly line. Progress can be slow, with some restoration projects spanning months or years.
“This kind of will look like paint drying if you just sit here for the whole day,” Williamson said. “It’s a lot of research. It’s very detail-oriented.”
Despite the slow pace, there’s still plenty to see. One of the museum’s longer-term projects is “Flak-Bait,” a Martin B-26 Marauder that flew 202 combat missions during World War II, including D-Day.
When the museum first opened in 1976, visitors were allowed to touch the aircraft’s nose, which wore down the paint. Workers have focused on restoring its appearance while preserving its authentic combat damage.
“It flew more missions than any other aircraft in World War II for the US, so we want it to look like it’s been through hundreds of missions,” Williamson said.
Another striking display is a Sikorsky JRS-1 seaplane, the only aircraft in the museum’s collection that was present at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked on December 7, 1941. After Pearl Harbor, the Sikorsky JRS-1 patrolled for Japanese submarines. It arrived at the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar in 2011.
Staff members are also working to restore a McDonnell F-4S Phantom II, a fighter and bomber that shot down an MiG-21 during the Vietnam War. After the Vietnam War, it underwent modernization and was redeployed in 1983, remaining in service until its last squadron duty in 1987.
The rest of the hangar floor is a maze of tools, machinery, aircraft parts, and storage bins, indicators of just how intricate the museum’s restoration efforts are.
Certainly more interesting than watching paint dry.
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