Commemorative Air Force - DFW Wing

Our sister museum on the airport is the DFW wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF).

The CAF has historically focused on aircraft of the WWII era. With a hangar full of aircraft on display, the DFW wing is a local attraction and our museums compliment each other in many ways.

Monthly meetings help keep the membership up to date and involved. The DFW unit has been successful at attracting new members and maintaining multiple flying aircraft, even in the present difficult economic times. A number of "CWAM" officers and directors are also active in the CAF and attended their meeting today.

The fun the group has together and the respect they have for each other was evident in the recognition, certificates and awards given out for the 2009 operating year. This handcrafted award is unique. Shirley, the recipient, is one of the many hard working examples of why this group is a success. By the way, we also like to attend their functions because they have food!

Among their many fund raising demands was this new propeller for their recently acquired Stearman. As announced at the meeting, "come see it", most aviation enthusiasts have never seen a NEW propeller for such a vintage aircraft.

The CAF R4D, a military version of the venerable DC3, is very popular at airshows. But keeping these aircraft flying is a constant job and requires constant fund raising. If you are a member of the DFW wing, bear in mind that these fine aircraft and this fine unit deserves your support.

If you are not a member, please consider visiting the CAF and the Cold War Air Museum at the Lancaster Airport. HAVE A FUN DAY with the kids (young or old) and help us continue to display and fly our aircraft, so our children (our future) can see, touch and experience a part of history.

Return of the R4D

Our sister museum on the field, the Commerative Air Force (CAF), DFW wing, recently sent their transport aircraft off for some repairs. Always an attraction, we're glad to see her back.

The Civilian DC-3 type saw extensive service during WWII under several military designations, R4D being the U.S. Navy variant. This aircraft, equipped at the time with depth charges, saw service off the coast of the U.S. as a submarine spotter. The Cold War Air Museum, salutes this aircraft and the men and women of the CAF for their dedication in keeping this increasingly rare piece of history flying.

As the Officers and Directors of the Cold War Air Museum well know, repairs on aircraft always seem to take longer and cost more than expected. The DFW wing is fortunate to have on board one of the most succesful and dedicated fund raising teams in the State.

Charlie Wood, Wing Commander of the DFW squadron shared with us some of his stories from the unit and his fund raising experience. Not only are the dedicated members of this unit on track to pay for the R4D repairs, but another unit in the area is working with Charlie and his team as well, raising major funding for the B29 and B24 groups. All museums are facing critical times in the present economy and many, such as ours are busy learning how to do a better job of reaching out to the public for support.

Charlie is one of the many members of this group who have significant stories to tell about their experience, either in the Military or in Civilian attire. The Cold War Air Museum Blog will be featuring a historical series from those associates who are willing to share their stories in future posts. As stories are added to the blog, they can be aggregated (brought together for viewing) by clicking on the labels below each post.

CAF Pulls through

Our sister museum on the field, the Commemorative Air Force - DFW Wing, is doing an annual inspection on their R4D (the WWII, U.S. Navy version of a DC3).

We ran the cart up to the North end of the field Saturday to get a few pictures of this activity.

A number of associates and interests are shared between the museums. Our "Gate Guardian" series has pictures and stories about one of our joint projects. Bord 122, the "Gate Guardian", is peeking out from under the wing of the R4D in the video below. More stories are available by clicking on the labels at the bottom of this post.



"Round engines" need to be "pulled through" before starting. This is necessary to evacuate any oil that has settled into the bottom cylinders. Starting the engine with oil in the cylinders would cause engine damage. The museums CJ's must be pulled through before every engine start.

The DFW Wing is fortunate (as are we), that they have talented hands that can work on their aircraft.

"Ready-4-Duty" is very popular at Air Shows. One of the last of the tens of thousands built more than 60 years ago during World War 2, she is becoming one of the last good flying examples in existence.

As important as she is to the Wing, she is even more important as a living lesson in history. Even with the World-Wide-Web, no history lesson has quite the same impact as seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling and most special of all, having the chance to ride in, a real, live, piece of history.