Restoring World War II aircraft for display is a feat but making them flyable as part of living history is another thing entirely. Bill Klaers, the co-owner/president of West Pac Restorations and the founder of the National Museum of World War II Aviation in Colorado Springs, understands the power of watching these machines fly but also offers the stories behind them to a new generation.
Klaers tells people that every artifact, every airplane, and everything that’s in the museum has a story. “Why is this museum so successful? It’s because we have storytellers. We have people that are educated that understand their significance.”
He uses the example of a bottle of water sitting in front of him in his conference room. “It’s just a bottle of water. But you know what? Steve Hinton was drinking that bottle of water [just an hour ago]. He is one of the top aviation World War II guys in the world today. But nobody knows that if you don’t tell the story. Through the aircraft, the World War II veterans, we are able to pass that knowledge down and tell those stories.”
Stories Drive the WWII Aviation Museum’s History
Klaers recounts that the inception of the museum and the West Pac Restoration initiative itself was when they relocated to Colorado Springs in 2008. About six months after they arrived, a gentleman walked into their restoration shop. His son was with him, and he introduced himself as a World War II pilot who flew P-38s. His name was Francis “Frank” Royal. “Well, at that time, we had five P-38 projects. We brought him into the shop and walked him around.”
West Pac had just been featured on a national media outlet and the parts for certain projects were kind of strewn around the hangar floor. Klaers was naming each of the planes to Royal. “This is the Scatterbrain Kid. This is Jandina III. This is White 33. This is this.”
The second time Klaers name-checked “White 33,” puts his hand on his shoulder, and says, “Young man, why do you call it ‘White 33?” Klaers said, “Well, Frank, we don’t know much about it. It came out of New Guinea, and it had ‘White 33’ on the nose and the tail.” And Royal said, “I flew that airplane.”
Royal continued, “I can’t tell you that I flew it in the theater of the war, but I can tell you that I flew that airplane from Brisbane, Australia, with three other aircraft.” Royal told him most of the pilots were guys that were not even aces at the time, like Ken Sparks or the Maguires and the Bonds. But they were all guys that were going to be major aces during the war. Klaers says that when they brought some of these aircraft out of New Guinea, they had no clue about their real history. “We knew we had Jandina II [also at the museum], which was World War II ace JT Robbins’s airplane.”
Frank Royal became one of their friends and came out two weeks later and substantiated everything about the airplane. Klaers says that the White 33, which is now fully restored and flying, is one of the most historic P-38s in the world. “And it’s the only combat veteran plane flying in the world today. So, to have that in the museum is huge but also to have it documented and backed.”
Frank Royal, as matter of course (and he has since died), was the commanding officer of the 39th Fighter Squadron. They went from Hawaii, were diverted into New Guinea flying P-39s, and then became one of the first groups to get the P-38s in the Pacific in World War II. That plane is part of the museum and now so is its story.
Bringing Planes to Colorado Springs for Restoration
Klaers brings these historic planes to Colorado Springs through a vast network of contacts he has built over the years. One of his favorite legacy planes that he bought and restored, which people can see, is the B-25, a Mitchell bomber.
Before moving to Colorado Springs and building the museum, Klaers’ West Pac Restoration business was based out of Chino, California. Klaers, an engineer by trade, was invited to an air show by his brother who was in the military and became hooked by the power of the aircraft. From there, he began to form a network that grew and grew as did his flying hours.
“The B-25 was probably one of the first airplane projects that I bought, and I probably have more hours flying that [than anything else].” He says there is an appeal to the bigger plane. “I mean, I can go fly a Tiger Cat as well as a single-engine single-seat airplane. [Those are] very awesome but it’s hard to share with people. I’ve taken so many people for rides in the B-25. That touches you probably more than anything, being able to share that.”
Another connection that is close to Klaers’ heart is the Doolittle Raiders, who were the first crew that bombed Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. “I think in 92, we had convinced the Navy that they should let some civilians fly off of an aircraft carrier. After a period of time, the Navy said, ‘You know what? We’re going to give you the USS Ranger, and you can fly off out of North Island. ’There were two airplanes that got to fly off, and I was one of them.”
Life-Changing Experiences
For Klaers, that experience was life-changing because “I got to go do something that hardly anybody has ever got to do. But sitting in that aircraft carrier the night before [the flight] with the actual Doolittle Raiders [was magical].”
Klaers said they got up and talked about what they did at that moment in time. Now with the National Museum of WWII Aviation, he says, “We are trying to honor them through our stories and their aircraft.” Klaers was later able to fly his B-25 off a carrier again in 1995 and then was able to do two carrier take-offs that are in the movie “Pearl Harbor.” Some of the Raiders were there for the filming of that in 2000. “They’re all gone now today, but it’s about preserving that history that means more than anything to me.”
The National Museum of World War II Aviation has 28 aircraft and they’re all working, flying aircraft. “We’re trying to show all of the different evolutions [possible].” He explains that there are two Tiger Cats in the museum of only seven flying in the world. “You’ve got the F3F, which is one of only three flying in the world which is pretty rare.”
With all these planes flying and many more, Klaers says the museum gives people a good perspective, especially those people who continually return the ability to witness the beauty of these aircraft in flight. “We’re constantly flying these airplanes. I mean, we don’t do ride programs or anything, but we’re flying them to keep them going and to keep the pilots going. So, if you are here on a weekend, and if the weather is good, we might be flying a Tiger Cat or something like that. Who knows?”
The West Pac Restorations shop is also always doing maintenance on the museum’s aircraft. “When you have 28 flying aircraft, there’s always something in the West Pac Shop. We’ve always got one or two airplanes that are being worked on or something’s going on with them.” Klaers explains that when people come out to the museum, they will find that no airplanes are roped off. “And that’s very significant because the board and everybody that has these airplanes, they want people to go up and be able to see them and look at them up close. So, between that and then being able to see them run and operate and hopefully fly, it is a very unique experience.”
[…] Read more about aircraft history in “Preserving History with Actual Flying Aircraft at the WWII Aviation Museum“. […]