CAF, DFW Wing

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

Although it is moving into other eras, the Commemorative Air Force has maintained a strong focus on the aircraft and history of WWII.

Like CWAM, this CAF group maintains and operates as many aircraft as possible.

CWAM and the DFW wing of the CAF have a strong history of cooperating in local events. The next "Open Cockpit Day" at Lancaster Airport is scheduled for September of this year and the Mi-24 static display at the CAF Museum is expected to be ready for the event.

On event days a shuttle tram operates between the two museums, restaurant and parking areas. Click HERE for an area map or to get driving directions.

A Clean Machine

Volunteers at the museum finished cleaning and polishing several more aircraft this weekend.

One of them was the CJ-6A, museum "Bord LN"

Our student volunteer Rene enjoyed a flight after a hard days work. The aircraft rely shine after these guys work them over and we appreciate their careful work.

Mi-24 Transmission Transition

In January, we reported that we had removed the transmission from Mi-24 Bord 120 in anticipation of receiving a replacement transmission.

Well, the replacement transmission arrived, but when we set about installing it, we found that even though it had the same part number, there were some differences.

The guys evaluated moving the "front end" from the old transmission to the new, making a hybrid of sorts, but then decided to see if they could restore the old unit to working order.


One of the good things about working with this equipment is, "there is no miniaturization involved". When we opened this baby up, we didn't have to worry about a bunch of little parts falling out. This is real "manly" stuff. Of course it must be strong to act as a transfer case for more than 4,000 horsepower. This picture shows the upper section being lifted from the lower section. At the front of the lower section is where the drive shafts from the two 2,250 horsepower turbo-shaft engines connect.

Unfortunately, when we got inside, we pretty much found what we had expected. Either the transmission was not properly conserved, or the conservation had failed and water had gotten in. In following posts we will detail the cleanup process.

Mini Mi -24

The trucking accident that changed Mi-24 Bord 122 from a flyable helicopter into a static display, laid the transmission and rotor head down onto the clam-shell access doors surrounding the rotor mast.

These unarmored skins were among the worst damaged non-moving parts on the aircraft. The left engine exhaust cover, also damaged, is shown behind the damaged clam-shell top doors.

The CAF - CWAM Joint Metal Repair Team recently spent a day working on these buckled and torn skins. Even though Bord 122 will never again be a flying helicopter and repairs did not have to be made to airworthiness standards. the group wanted to restore the exhibit to its proper appearance.

In the final stages, the doors were brought together and adjusted to mate as they did in the original assembly. In order to make a fit, Bruce climbed inside to brace the pieces while final adjustments were made.

These pics, snapped with a cell phone show Bruce, a rotary-wing pilot, ready to go. He only needs a few more parts, like a rotor, collective and cyclic to take flight. The volunteers assisted with appropriate helicopter noises and "helpful" advice.