Return to McConnell Air Force Base - "Frontiers in Flight Air Show"

[Hardly Davidson]

First time truck has returned 'home' in 46 years. McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas was home from 1950 - 1962 (see attached thread).

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=735398

[Hardly Davidson]

More photos from "Frontiers in Flight Air Show". The old Chevy was a big hit there.

[Hardly Davidson]

More photos from the Old Air Force Truck's return to McConnell Air Force Base.

[Hardly Davidson]

Nothing like having a B-1 Bomber in the background.

[Purcell69]

Very nice! Thank you for sharing this.

-Joe

[joedoh]

I didnt make it to the air show but I got texted lots of pictures of your truck from buddies who did and knew I would like it!

[Hardly Davidson]

Thanks Joe! Overall it was a great show!

[Hardly Davidson]

Biggest question from people at the air show regarded lettering. In some cases the lettering was partially scraped off; thankfully not all of it. Someone took primer and sprayed the whole truck. Eventually rust set in covering primer and paint. It took hours and hours to sand using high-intensity lights to make things out. Once I did it was easy to line up a stencil and fog a letter back in. This is especially true on the rear tailgate area. There'd been multiple words printed there during its military years. Wichita Air Force Base could barely be read with McConnell sprayed over the top. I posted a photo of a 1951 Ford (also from McConnell) showing this. Quite sloppy. This was evidently how some guys did things back then. We still have those folks working today :-) The Coast Guard van is a good example on what I found on the doors of my Chevy. What made it easy for me was having both metal nomenclature tags. Most of these tags are removed and tossed.That's what makes this truck rare. The second most asked question regarded my not stripping the vehicle down and repainting, as well as not using the stock drivetrain. To begin with that would have meant completely destroying all original lettering. As I stated in the beginning, I kept most everything taken off the rig (engine, trans, differential). I put aside the circlets of metal where exhaust pipes now exit fenders. These can be welded back in. If a person wanted to restore it to original condition they could do so without problem. The frame is easily converted back to leaf springs. The 216 engine is a crippled turtle. I built this truck the way an airman would've liked it back then. It's fast and burns high-octane aviation gas :-)

The attached link is from another forum. This is the 1951 Ford referenced earlier. It shows in detail how 'helter skelter' military signage can be.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ord-truck.html