Maintaining history

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/07/2019 (2461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local Winnipeg man recently worked on one of the most renowned airplanes in United States history.

Not a lot of people have the chance to work with the Air Force One detailing team, but Crisanto Aquino was one of the lucky ones. He was the only Canadian picked to the 2019 team to work at the Seattle’s Museum of Flight from July 7 to 14.

As a member of the team, Aquino had the duty to restore, maintain, and protect the original presidential Air Force One. He also worked on other historic aircraft in the museum’s Aviation Pavilion, such as the Second World War B-29 Superfortress bomber, and a deteriorating B-52G Stratofortress bomber used in the Vietnam War. They also cleaned and continued to maintain the first-ever Boeing 747, the Concorde Alpha Golf, and the first Boeing 727-022 commercial airliner from the 1960s.

Aquino, who owns Dr. Shine Auto Spa (2-1050 Logan Ave.), received his training through The Detail Mafia and was invited to join the Air Force One detailing team the first time on July 2018. He said he felt petrified then, afraid that something would go wrong, but conquered the fear once he started working on the airplane. Now, coming back from his second time, the Winnipeg detailer said he feels much more confident.

Air Force One is the first presidential jet, known as a flying Oval Office for four U.S. presidents including Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. It entertained international dignitaries like Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger. For more than a decade, it lived on the open tarmac exposed to Seattle’s notorious climate.

“Knowing that plane was used by (U.S.) presidents like JFK, it’s definitely a big deal because you’re not only restoring the plane, you’re restoring the history,” he said. “You’re preserving that history for the generations to come.

“To me, it was also a big deal because I was the only one representing Canada.”

Aquino worked with a team of 50 detailers from the U.S. and the Caribbean.

While Aquino was working his craft, he had the opportunity to meet and listen to some veteran pilots about the history of the airplanes he was restoring.

“Knowing them is knowing the history, what they did. It just blew me away,” Aquino said.

The Maples Collegiate and Red River College graduate dedicated the work to his alumni, as a way to thank them for the education he got. Now back in Winnipeg, he said the experience gives him the recognition needed for his business.

“If they trusted me to work on the Air Force One, that means you should trust us to work on your vehicle. We are trustworthy to work on your vehicle.”

Detailing was an escape for Aquino. He was looking for a way to channel his thoughts and find a passion.

“Detailing became one of those passions, you know, that I can get away with instead of focusing on the problem, I have that, something to fall back.”