Kevin Kimball, right, of Dresden, and Andy Peacock, of New Gloucester, work on restoring the inside of the Lockheed L-1649 Starliner at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport in May 2010.
The L-1649 had to be kept in "zero stress condition" during restoration in order to remove and replace any damaged panels. It was checked frequently throughout the day with lasers to make sure the craft stayed perfectly level.
Michael Austermeier, then-project manager for the restoration, shows the cockpit interior of the duplicate L-1649 sitting outside the large hangar at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.
Benjamin Paine inspects one of the wings of the L-1649 during an earlier phase of the restoration work in May 2010.
Concrete had to be placed inside the reference L-1649 sitting outside the large hangar at the Auburn-Lewiston Airport after the engines were removed. Without the weight present, the plane would have tipped over.
This interior section was part of a second L-1649 that was used as a reference, and for the occasional part, during the restoration work. It was kept under shelter outside the hangar where the main restoration work took place.
A detail of some of the mechanical components of a duplilcate L-1649 that was used for reference during restoration.
To make the wings of the L-1649 safe for the installaton of new fuel tanks, the interior of the wings had to be scraped bare of old epoxy and other finishes that coated the surfaces. Workers also had to replace every rivet on the aircraft.
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