If you’ve visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum, you’re familiar with its collection of historic airplanes and other aviation related exhibits; planes like the Bell X-1 that broke the sound barrier in 1947.
But what you might not know is that the X-1, and other important planes in aviation history displayed here, are not the originals. They are exacting reproductions, built by hand just a few feet away; a few feet down, in the basement.
“This is … the restoration department of the museum,” Tom Nolan said as he welcomed us in.
Nolan, a former Air Force aircraft mechanic, is one of scores of volunteers who work down here. For folks who like to fix old stuff, or make replicas of engines and aircraft, this is a little slice of subterranean heaven.
“We’ve got jet engines; we have … this one here is a — we did a cutaway on this one. You can see how it operates,” said Nolan as he showed us a 1930s-era radial engine, moving slowly enough to show how it works.
Around the corner from the engine is what you might call the centerpiece project in the shop, one of those planes the guys here are building from scratch. When it comes to speed, this one was a star in the '30s.
It’s a replica of the Hughes H-1 Racer, featured in 2004’s “The Aviator” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes.
There are no plans available to help them build this airplane. Instead, they're working from photos, one of them from the Smithsonian. All the pictures include a tape measure. That’s all these craftsmen have to go on. But they have everything they need.
“We have a machine shop, we have welding, we have all the capabilities of fabricating parts,” Nolan said.
With all the unique, intricate work happening down here and all the remarkable things this shop turns out, it’s a shame this part of the museum is off limits to visitors.
But that’s about to change.
“We’re formally creating a very special tour opportunity down here,” said Jim Kidrick, the Air and Space Museum’s longtime President & CEO.
“Most of those tour groups will be smaller, you know, we expect it’s two people, eight people, 10 … It has to be an add-on because it now takes docents who will give that tour off the main floor,” Kidrick said.
Kidrick said he expects the tours to begin within a few weeks. So the first visitors will see something that has absolutely nothing to do with aviation: funky-looking little one-seater cars belonging to Ripley’s. The museum is currently hosting their Odditorium exhibit.
The little cars, manufactured in the late '60s on the British Isle of Man, are being restored to their odd former glory. The restoration job is not easy.
“Just pulling this stuff apart, it’s so rusted that we’re using heat and hydraulics and everything to pull it apart. So once we get it apart, we can get everything restored,” Nolan said with a laugh.
Ripley’s knew this shop was the perfect place to restore these cars because of other restoration work they’ve had done here.
It’s a financially beneficial arrangement for the museum. They get paid for the restoration work, and Kidrick said Ripley’s gave the museum a discount on the price for hosting the Odditorium exhibition.
With all the attention paid here to restoring and building aviation history, Kidrick is also focused on the future.
A bus that’s parked in the shop goes out every week to schools. It’s packed with hands-on opportunities, the kinds of things that get kids interested in the future of aviation and space travel.
“We can’t believe that there was only one 'greatest generation.' We have to believe that our job is to perpetuate what they did and who they were to future greatest generations … because it is so, so important to realize how important they are to the future of, not just the United States, of course, but the world,” Kidrick said.
At the Air & Space Museum, its mission is being accomplished every day.
