For more than a decade, Renny Doyle of Detailing Success and a growing team of elite detailers from around the country have been restoring, maintaining, and preserving the first presidential jet Air Force One. Known as SAM (Special Air Missions) 970, the plane was a flying Oval Office for four U.S. Presidents including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. The Boeing 707-120 also entertained many international VIPs such as Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger. It began with a phone call in 2002 from a Bush administration official asking Renny to bring a team to Seattle's Museum of Flight to clean and attempt to restore the deteriorating paint on the iconic jet. The restoration project started in 2003 with Renny and a small staff. In 2007, Renny opened up the project to a team of experienced detailers who had been through his certification training. By 2010, the team had grown into a highly specialized and selective team of about 30-35 detailers. This year, the Team numbered 55 due to the scope of other historical restorations and preservations needed at the Museum. Over the years, the project has grown to include dozens of other iconic aircraft including the Concorde and WWII bombers! Enjoy our story!
Air Force One Detailing Project at Seattle's Museum of Flight
In 2017, High Performance's Jose Junco was offered a coveted spot on the Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle's Museum of Flight.
Last year the historic plane moved into a covered open-aired facility in the Museum’s new Airpark Pavilion. As a result, the iconic plane is now in a preservation rather than restoration stage. Jose and the Team must perform an annual detail to remove water streaks from the bright work; to repair blemishes in the paint; and to apply an exterior paint protectant to seal the shine for another year.
Much of the week, Jose worked on numerous other historic airplanes. The Team began cleaning the all-aluminum fuselage of a WWII B29 Superfortress Bomber, but this year the Museum reattached the wings and the Team cleaned and polished them for the first time since the 1940s.
There are still several airplanes in the museum’s collection that need the Team's attention and expertise. They polished the engine rings on the first Jumbo Jet 747; began polishing a 1934 Boeing 247D that had never been detailed; and they continued the slow process of rejuvenating the worn paint on the supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf, which began three years ago.