“The body of the aircraft is still original,” Baker said. “We’ve had to construct missing parts,” he said, including wings, a landing gear and tail.
RELATED: New $3 million transportation museum open in Logan County
Baker and Dwight Hansen, the project leader, have rebuilt the plane over the past four years with the help of volunteers.
“The support from our community is what keeps us going here,” he said.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Hansen has an aviation background. He retired from United Airlines in 2005 and agreed to work on the project when he was asked by the historical society.
“I’ve flown an airplane like this in the past so I kind of knew what I was getting into,” Hansen said. “But I didn’t know how little was available.”
It took months for the organization to locate drawings of the original plane, he said, and when they did, it was of a prototype — not the original plane.
“We had to scale everything to drawing,” he said. “As you worked with it you got better at certain parts.”
The restored plane could bring visitors from across the Miami Valley to Logan County, Baker said.
READ MORE: Students build airplane parts at Urbana Grimes Airport
“We’re going to get a large draw to the museum,” he said.
Locals have also been anxious to see the plane for years.
“A lot of our local community has been waiting for this,” he said.
The Transportation Museum at the historical center was a $3 million project, he said, that was completed in 2014. Its opening has already brought visitors to the area, he said.
“We have program for the surrounding school children,” he said, “… and that trickles down to their parents and relatives.”
The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission for visitors is free.
Logan County Historical Society members will be able to see the plane up close from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the museum, 521 E. Columbus Ave. in Bellefontaine. A free open house will be held for the public to see the plane from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The plane is scheduled to be hung from the ceiling of the transportation museum on Jan. 17 and the society hopes to have it open to the public by the Jan. 20, Baker said.
How to go:
What: Open house for the public to see the Logan County Historical Society’s restored 1920s plane.
When: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15
Where: Logan County Historical Center, 521 E. Columbus Ave., Bellefontaine.
Cost: free
About the Author