The Grumman Restoration Team was started in 1973 by Arthur Romeo when the Navy came to Grumman to help in the restoration of a Grumman Wildcat for the Smithsonian in Washington, D. C. Art Romeo chose a few skilled craftsman to complete this task. The completion of this project sparked an interest for the restoration of more air and space craft. These men who designed, built and flew these aircraft in war, peace and to the moon were still proud to be associated with Grumman. The restoration team focused on the desire to preserve the historic Grumman products. Projects completed to date 10/98:
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- | F4F Wildcat || Smithsonian, Washington, D. C.
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- | LM Spacecraft || Cradle of Aviation, Uniondale, NY
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- | LM Spacecraft || Ben Franklin Museum, PA
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- | F11F Tiger || Cradle of Aviation, Uniondale, NY
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- | F11F Tiger || Carrier Museum, USS Intrepid, NYC, NY
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- | F11F Tiger || Carrier Museum, USS Intrepid, NYC, NY
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- | F6F Hellcat || Smithsonian, Washington, D. C.
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- | G-72 Kitten || Cradle of Aviation, Uniondale, NY
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- | TBM-3 Avenger || Cradle of Aviation, Uniondale, NY
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- | F9F-6 Cougar || Smithsonian, Washington, D. C.
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- | F4F Widlcat || Carrier Museum, USS Yorktown, Charleston, SC
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Projects under restoration:
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- | F4F Wildcat || for Cradle of Aviation, Uniondale, NY
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- | F8F Bearcat || for Thailand Air Classic Assoc. - Bangkok, Thailand
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Ernie Finamore told the story of meeting the pilot of an F4F-3 Wildcat, Howard Little. Howard was 19 years old, a Navy Lieutenant who was practicing making landings on a carrier in Lake Michigan in January 1944 to qualify for carrier landings when he missed the carrier and the plane was lost in Lake Michigan. When Howard saw the restoration of this Wildcat, after it had been salvaged from Lake Michigan, he commented, "it sure looks a lot better then the way I left it!"
The Prince of Thailand located a F8F-1 Bearcat, the plane his father flew in the Thai Air Force in the 1950's. When the Prince took the plane out of storage he searched out the Grumman Restoration Teams assistance to rebuild the Bearcat to flying status. The goal of the Restoration Team is to rebuild and have it certified to fly. Take the plane on a US carrier to Thailand where the Prince will fly the plane off the carrier to a museum in Thailand.
This presentation was made at a CPHS meeting on October, 1998, by Ernest Finamore, Walter Schnurman, Sal Buonincontro, and honorary member, Richard Kalen.
Below information by Bob Albertson - CPHS Newsletter, April, 2003
On Monday, February 24th, I had the opportunity to accompany my son John, who works for WNBC News Long Island Bureau, to Northrop/Grumman, Plant #1 (where I spent my career working for Grumman). The Grumman Retiree Restoration Team (average age 77) was preparing the F8F Bearcat aircraft, which they had restored to flying status, to be shipped to Thailand. This Bearcat was one of the 129 sold to the Royal Thailand Air Force in the 1950s. The restoration was done for the Thai Air Force under the direction of Veeryuth Didyassarian, a Thai official whose father was a squadron commander. The Bearcat was very impressive! You could see the pride in Grumman workmanship all over this aircraft.
John videoed the entire plane, plus a photo history from the start of the project. He taped the men doing prep work while getting the plane ready to be shipped out. It will be loaded on a flat bed truck and driven to Glen Cove on March 4th, then on to a barge for shipment back to Thailand. This will be the last plane to leave the former Grumman site in Bethpage.
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