Encinitas Detailer Hits Seattle’s Museum of Flight for 15th Annual Detailing of Air Force One Aircraft, Including Newly Acquired B52 Bomber

ENCINITAS, CA July 11, 2018 - Encinitas-based detailer Jose Junco of High Performance Auto Detail has been handpicked for the second year by Master detailer Renny Doyle to the 15th Annual Air Force One Detailing Team. Junco and 64 other professional detailers from around the nation hit Seattle’s Museum of Flight July 15–22. In addition to the first presidential jet Air Force One, there is a new airplane on the agenda this year!

They will continue their annual cleaning and preservation of the presidential plane on display at the museum, but they will also take their first shot preserving the museum’s newest acquisition, a Boeing B-52G Stratofortress Bomber known as Midnight Express. Built in 1960, she was a nuclear-armed Cold War platform used extensively during the Vietnam War, and active during Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, which led to the release of 591 prisoners of war in 1973.

Junco is trained and certified by the International Detailing Association (IDA) and by Doyle’s Detailing Success. He is a successful mobile detailing business owner servicing an area that includes Encinitas, Solana Beach, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, Carlsbad, and Oceanside; and Junco makes the weeklong commitment on a voluntary, pro bono basis.

Doyle has spent 15 years restoring the historic presidential jet to its original glory. The plane was a flying Oval Office for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It was in distressed condition when he was first approached by the Bush administration in 2003 to put his skills to work to save it. It took over a decade to fully restore the brilliance of the paint and clarity of the bright work (aluminum). Until 2016, the plane lived outdoors on the tarmac, exposed to the elements, requiring a robust annual cleaning, polishing, and protection for its paint and aluminum.

These past two years the plane has found a home under the museum’s new open-air Airpark Pavilion. Although it is mostly protected from the elements, it is still exposed to the area’s damp climate and extreme temperatures, requiring a rigorous cleaning, polishing, and application of a paint sealant to protect it from year to year. Also, on the agenda this year is polishing the B-29 Super Fortress, a WWII bomber the team began restoring in 2011; cleaning and polishing the first-ever Boeing “Jumbo Jet” 747; polishing the supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf, which they have been working on since 2014; and numerous other priceless aircraft on exhibit at the Museum of Flight.

“Cleaning something as big as a jet airplane has its challenges, but when you are cleaning aircraft valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and that have such historical significance, it requires unique skills and knowledge of paint and bright work,” says Doyle. “The first time I laid eyes on Air Force One 15 years ago, I doubted whether it could be saved – that is how challenging the project was; however, I see what Jose has done and I know what he can do. He is one of the best.”

“To see Air Force One shining in the sunlight from year to year is a testament to our commitment, hard work, and skill,” says Junco. “I am proud to be a part of this project the past two years and I am excited about tackling that B52 this year! I look forward many years ahead as a caretaker of aviation history.”

For more information about Jose Junco’s selection to the 2018 Air Force One Detailing Team at the Seattle Museum of Flight, contact him at (760) 994-3462, or Kimberly Ballard at (256) 653-4003.

High resolution pictures available!