The aircraft visitors see in the Museum’s galleries are the visible result of thousands of decisions made far from the finished display. Before a damaged wing can be rebuilt, a missing component fabricated, or historic markings reapplied, staff and volunteers must determine what survives, what has changed, which evidence can be trusted, and which chapter of an aircraft’s history the finished object should represent.

The restoration of the Museum's Grumman F4F Wildcat.

For more than six decades, the Museum’s restoration program has combined archival research with metalwork, woodworking, fabric covering, engine work, painting, and other specialized skills. Projects have ranged from stabilizing rare original aircraft to rebuilding damaged airframes and constructing full-scale reproductions when no original example was available. The work has taken place in the Ford Building and at Gillespie Field, where generations of staff and volunteers have passed technical knowledge from one project to the next.

The restored Ford Trimotor closely recreates its 1928 Pan American passenger interior, including details most visitors cannot see.

Restoration also shapes interpretation. A paint scheme, replacement part, exposed structure, or decision to preserve evidence of age changes what visitors understand about an aircraft and the people connected to it. Drawings, photographs, work logs, research files, and the knowledge of the restoration team explain how and why the finished aircraft took its present form.

The Gillespie Field Annex has supported Museum restoration work for decades; this photograph dates from the 1990s.

This exhibit follows the Museum’s restoration program from recovery after the 1978 fire through major aircraft projects, national partnerships, the growth of Gillespie Field, and work now underway. It also examines the choices behind the aircraft on display and the records needed to preserve the history of the work itself.

Next page in this exhibit.