Aviation Museum Board Fires President in B-25 Eviction Fight : Burbank: The facility’s founder says he was ousted because of his efforts to keep a World War II bomber at the airfield.

A nonprofit group dedicated to preserving aviation history in the San Fernando Valley has fired its president in a dispute over his efforts to keep a World War II-era bomber from being evicted from Burbank Airport.

R.C. (Chappy) Czapiewski, a free-lance photographer and founder of the Burbank Aviation Museum, said he was fired Wednesday by the group’s board of directors because his efforts to keep a B-25 bomber at Burbank raised negative publicity for the airport.

“They are putting the blame on me,” he said. “I’m the fall guy.”

The owner of the B-25, known as the “Heavenly Body,” was forced to move it to the Van Nuys Airport last month from a space that Media Aviation, a private operator at Burbank Airport, had donated for five years. Media Aviation needed the space for a development project.

Hoping to keep the historic plane at the airport, Czapiewski addressed the Burbank Airport Authority twice, urging it to help save the plane. He also notified newspaper reporters about the bomber’s plight.

His efforts and the newspaper reports prompted several phone calls to the airport from people admonishing airport officials for failing to help save the bomber.

In a letter sent this week, the Burbank Aviation Museum’s board of directors asked Czapiewski to resign “in light of the reaction to recent events, and due to repeated and continuing action taken by you without the consent or approval of the board of directors.”

Czapiewski’s position as president provided no salary. The group includes about 100 paying members and is headed by a 10-member board of directors.

Ron Dickson, a vice president and board member of the Burbank Aviation Museum, said he voted to oust Czapiewski because the campaign to save the bomber angered airport officials, thus hurting the group efforts to build an aviation museum at the airport.

He added that Czapiewski failed to get prior approval from the board before he spoke out for the bomber.

Dickson said he admires Czapiewski for founding the group and leading it for the past two years. But he said Czapiewski hurt the group’s efforts to establish a museum. “I took what action I thought was necessary,” he said.

Scott Whitmire, another board member who voted against Czapiewski, declined to comment, referring all questions to Dickson.

Airport Director Thomas E. Greer said he and other airport officials were upset about Czapiewski’s effort to save the bomber because it pressured the airport management to intervene in a business transaction between Media Aviation and its tenant.

“The problem you can see coming is that they will want us to intervene in other business deals,” he said. “We didn’t want to set a precedent.”

Greer said he sympathizes with Czapiewski’s efforts, but believes he pressed for too much.

Nonetheless, Mike Pupich, owner of the Heavenly Body, said Czapiewski’s effort’s brought him dozens of phone calls and letters of support from as far away as Paso Robles, Santa Maria and Hemet. He said none of the supporters could provide space for the plane but offered any other help Pupich may needed.

“The response was unbelievable,” he said. “I was overwhelmed.”

Pupich, who has since found a spot for his plane at Van Nuys Airport at a discounted rate, said he feels sorry that Czapiewski’s efforts lost him his position.