“The ultimate goal is to bring interested people into Urbana to see this piece of living World War Two history.”

By Dave Hamill

The Champaign Aviation Museum, located in the small town of Urbana, Ohio, is gaining notoriety for a restoration project it’s been undertaking.

Earlier this year, I decided to visit the museum in Champaign County – 47 miles west of Columbus and 30 miles northeast of Dayton – to see what the restoration project was all about.

Upon entering the main gallery of the museum, I immediately find myself  standing under the nose of a vintage C-47 that will become a future restoration project. Glass cases line the floor around the Dakota. Most have pictures of B-17 Flying Fortresses and various other World War Two militaria, unit patches, and numerous airplane components.

Also on display is a scale model P-51 Mustang, complete with a red tail. The autographs of three of the original Tuskegee Airmen appear alongside it. It was donated to the museum anonymously.

Sitting next to the C-47 is a fully restored, fire engine red, single engine Fairchild that once belonged to silent screen star Mary Pickford.

As I continue my tour, I come face-to-face with “Champaign Gal,” a perfectly restored B-25J bomber, originally produced by Fairfax Mfg. of Kansas City, Kansas and accepted for operation in July, 1944. Used as a stateside pilot trainer until the end of the war, she was mothballed in 1948 at Davis Monthan AFB and sold off a decade later. From 1958 through 2006, the plane had several owners and eventually ended up owned by the Champaign Aviation Museum, currently flying as the “Champaign Gal.” She sits quietly, sporting mostly black paint, with drip pans underneath both engines to catch any leaking oil.

Squeezed tightly into the hangar, I see a Grumman C-1 Cod. This tilt-wing aircraft was designed for carrier landings and was probably from the USS Lexington (CVT-16), decommissioned in November 1991.

I come to a full stop before the nose of a B-17. Tucked in the back of the hangar, her aluminum skin shines brightly, glimmering in the sunlight shining through the hangar windows. Several tables, lined in sequence, contain wing parts and horizontal stabilizers without the final skin covering. Rivet bins are everywhere.

Most of the museum activity is centred in this area. The noise, the seemingly endless hammering of rivet guns echoes through the hangar. Volunteer workers who average about 10 to15 people daily are busy doing their individual project work.

Randy Kemp, the B-17 restoration project manager and airframe inspector tells me that nearly 70 per cent of the parts are custom made for its re-assembly. Once complete, “Champaign Lady” will continue to be based in Urbana. She will fly again but probably not do nationwide tours.

In July, 1935, the first prototype of the Boeing B-17 took off from Seattle’s Boeing Field on its maiden flight. That same summer, the aircraft flew 2,100 miles nonstop from Seattle to Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio. Although the prototype crashed on takeoff from Wright Field, Boeing was eventually awarded a contract for 13 B-17 aircraft by the Air Corps.

By World War Two and during peak production, more than 200 Fortresses were being turned out each month. In all, Boeing produced 6,981 B-17s, while Lockheed and Douglass produced another 5,745.

Today, fewer than 40 B-17s are still airworthy in the United States; some are also still flying in other countries.

Jerry Shiffer founded the Champaign Aviation Museum. His dream of restoring a B-17 began in 2005.

Owner of an Urbana, Ohio plastics manufacturing company, Jerry and his sons, Eric and Dave, took a ride in the “Liberty Belle,” an airworthy B-17, owned by Tom Reilly of Kissimmee, Florida.

Reilly met with the Shiffers and told them he had a B-17 that he wanted to sell.

After some consideration, the Shiffers decided to buy the plane and restore it, not knowing what challenges it would involve.

Next, Jerry established a not-for-profit organization to provide the administration for the restoration project. This organization, dubbed the Champaign Aviation Museum, was located in Champaign County. The Shiffers decided to rename their new aircraft “Champaign Lady.”

That same year, Jerry enlisted the aid of students from the nearby Hi-Point Career Center to help with the project. Through Jerry’s diligence, and the dedication of teacher Frank Drain, students who participated could earn college credits in aviation maintenance. Drain, now retired, still comes to the museum to work.

Sadly, on Nov. 29, 2005, Jerry Shiffer died in a flying accident. The tragedy occurred just days before his first shipment of B-17 parts arrived in Urbana. But his dream continues through the dedicated work of his wife, three children, and nearly 100 volunteers working on the restoration.

The “Champaign Lady” B-17, with serial number 44-85813, has a storied history.

It was first produced by Lockheed Vega in Burbank, California, and accepted by the U.S. Army Air Force in June, 1945. Soon, the nose of the aircraft was modified to accept a fifth engine – the XT-35 turboprop – then under development.

After several years and numerous modifications, #44-85813 was refitted with several experimental engines and modifications to reflect its particular testing programs, including the JB-17, TC-18, and R-3350 engines.

The aircraft was tested at Edwards AFB, California, as well as Curtiss-Wright in Caldwell, N.J. through 1965.

By late 1966 Curtiss–Wright refitted the nose and sold the plane to Ewing Aviation of Ramon, California and delivered it to Black Hills Aviation in Spearfish, South Dakota. Then, in August, 1969, ownership was passed to Kolb-Ewing Aircraft of Spearfish. In 1970, the plane was sold to Arnold Kolb, owner of Black Hills Aviation. Kolb moved his operation from Spearfish to Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1974.

Here, two 1,200-gallon retardant tanks, drop doors, and necessary plumbing were added to the airframe in December, 1976, converting the former warbird into a forest fire water bomber. It continued in the role through April 1980.

But, shortly after takeoff from Bear Pen, North Carolina, #44-85813 crashed. The forward fuselage was burned beyond use and the remains were bulldozed from the crash site.

This is where Tom Reilly entered the story. In 1980, he obtained the wreckage of #44-85813 and transported the remains to his Florida facility.

Over the years, parts from other salvaged aircraft were incorporated into rebuilding the Flying Fortress he’d christen “Liberty Belle.” Reilly eventually bought out a large stock of B-17 parts from two other planes, which made the reconstruction of the “Champaign Lady” possible.

At one point, 14 volunteers from the museum traveled to a remote area near Talkeetna, Alaska, to salvage any parts they could from the 1951 crash of a B-17. A complete tail section and other miscellaneous parts were recovered and brought back to Ohio.

One of the first things the Champaign Aviation Museum did was to purchase plans and drawings for the B-17 on microfilm from the Smithsonian Institute. They converted the 100 rolls to CDs, which they used to compose to full-sized drawings. These drawings include specifications for making new parts.

Jack Bailey, Eric Shiffer’s father-in-law and friend of the late Jerry Shiffer, is a personable guy who knows the history behind the B-17 restoration project.

“The nose section, cockpit, bomb bay, radio room, ball turret, rear tail with gunner and wing mounts are completely new construction,” he explains.

Randy Kemp, restoration project manager and airframe inspector said, “Nearly 70 per cent of parts are complete for the assembly. Once complete, ‘Champaign Lady’ will continue to be based in Urbana at Grimes airport.”

Dave Shiffer said the ultimate goal is to bring interested people into Urbana to see this piece of living World War Two history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dave Hamill is an Ohio-based travel writer who enjoys skydiving and scuba diving.