CAMARILLO : 5 Airplanes From WWII Put on Display

They are on a mission to save rare birds from extinction.

Equipped with power drills, screwdrivers and cans of WD-40, about two dozen members of the Southern California Wing of the Confederate Air Force crawled all over the World War II aircraft parked on the Tarmac at the Camarillo Airport on Saturday, rebuilding wings, inspecting tachometers and oiling parts.

During the wing’s open house, which runs through Monday, members will show off their five prized old birds, including the cobalt-blue F-8F2 Bearcat Fighter that can top speeds of 425 m.p.h.

Standing beneath the cockpit of the China Doll, a huge 1942 C-46-F transport plane, Dave Long said aircraft from the World War II era are truly endangered species.

“The object is to find these things before they are all gone,” said the 59-year-old Long, a retired commercial airline pilot from Thousand Oaks. “They’re like dinosaurs. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

Like the other wings, the Southern California wing acquires planes built between 1939 and 1945 and restores them so they can fly again. The more than 200 members, mainly retired pilots and veterans, travel the air-show circuit and solicit donations to raise money for the planes.

Jerri Fleischman, a wing administrator, said that after World War II many planes were chopped up and turned into aluminum cans. Although the various wings of the Confederate Air Force together now own nearly every type of plane flown in WWII, Fleischman said finding parts for the relics is a challenge.

“When you consider that our airplanes are over 50 years old, we don’t just run down to the corner store and pick up a part,” said Fleischman, 48, of Woodland Hills.

The pay is terrible. The men and women who tinker with the planes at the wing’s Camarillo Airport hangar three days a week volunteer their time.

But Robert Gjestrom, who was poking a drill inside one of the China Doll’s oversized propellers, said he enjoys getting the aging planes airborne again.

“It’s fun when we can fly these things with the original cast, as it were,” said Gjestrom, a 72-year-old retired Air Force engineer from Oxnard. “What it amounts to is fellows in their 70s flying aircraft in their 50s.”

A few aviation buffs looped around the different planes as the sun heated up the Tarmac. Camarillo resident Eric Trout, 11, stopped in front of the Bearcat, which packs four 20-millimeter cannons.

“I like the guns and the engine and how it’s built,” said Eric, who was dwarfed by the plane’s 13-foot propeller.

Ceci Stratford, a 52-year-old pilot from Burbank, was busy replacing metal panels on an SNJ-5 trainer plane with pilot-in-training Cecelia Heppes, 72. Stratford, who pilots a 1974 Cherokee 180, said working on old planes isn’t just an idle hobby.

“I’m learning a lot about maintenance, tools and it’s coming in handy with my plane too,” she said.

The show will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Monday. Admission is free.