| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 7:59 am |
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Local News 
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Tower re-creates WWII feel Old pictures, salvaged lumber keys to the Fly-In's 30-foot structure ARLINGTON -- It's even made with lumber from the 1940s.Volunteers with the Arlington Fly-In are building a replica of a World War II-era control tower to welcome aircraft from across the country. Now the third largest recreational aviation event in the nation, the Fly-In is set for July 9 to 13 at the Arlington Municipal Airport. It takes nearly 600 volunteers to run the annual air show and some have been working for months to get ready, Fly-In director Barbara Tolbert said. Those wielding hammers on a recent Saturday included Ron Jacobson of Everett and Ed Murray of Marysville. Both retired and both recreational pilots, the men are among Fly-In enthusiasts building the replica air traffic control tower. "All of us have a fascination with airplanes, and the tower has been a great project," said Jacobson, who served as a Navy air traffic controller in the 1950s in Trinidad. Designed by Fly-In facilities manager and board member Bruce Angell, the tower is fashioned after a photograph of a control tower that once stood on an Army air base in Florida. No building plans for such a tower existed, he said. Angell instead used a computer-aided drafting program to design the 30-foot tower, which will be the centerpiece of the air show's displays of vintage aircraft and military vehicles. "Some of our volunteers are engineers and they helped crunch the numbers," Angell said. "We had to improvise as we looked at available tools, equipment, crews and materials." The lumber for the tower, old growth, straight-grain fir, was salvaged from the airport's World War II-era firehouse and armory building, which are being torn down. Airport officials gave the recycling project their blessing. "When I saw those huge beams and beautiful siding, I said, 'There's our tower.' And the more I thought about it, the cooler the idea got," Angell said. "Lumber like that would be cost-prohibitive today. Sure there are imperfections, but they add to the authenticity of the tower." With the lumber pulled from the old buildings, Fly-In volunteer coordinator MaryAnn Thompson arranged a work party to pull old nails from the wood. "It was so much fun," Thompson said. "We're a nonprofit volunteer group, and we work hard to preserve and promote aviation." The Fly-In's air traffic control tower has been constructed in three sections and will be assembled with the help of a 22-foot forklift. After the air show, the tower's pieces will be stored at the Fly-In office at the airport, Angell said. The Cascade Warbirds, an Oak Harbor-based squadron of airplane collectors, annually sets up its display of vintage aircraft at the Fly-In. It's this display that generates the most interest at the air show and the place where the tower will be every year, Angell said. "The tower is part of the entertainment value of the Fly-In," he said. Jacobson and Murray said they are happy to be a part of the tower project and the mix of volunteers who make the summertime event happen. Jacobson, 76, is president of the Fly-In board of directors and Murray, 66, has volunteered for the air show since the 1970s. "When I first saw the tower, I was totally amazed," Murray said. "Bruce (Angell) is the genius behind the tower, but we like to show up and do whatever is needed to help out." Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com. |
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