On Saturday, February 7, Monterey Bay Region members met at Chile’s in Seaside for a tour to Cal Pacific Airmotive, which repairs P51 Mustang airplanes. There were 25 cars, which were split into three groups – the first group with 10 cars, the second group with 8 cars, and the third group with 7 cars, making it easier to stay together on the way there.
The business is located at Salinas Airport, so the drive there was straightforward, except for the tricky bit at the end where we crossed over the freeway. Monterey Bay Region member Ron Cline (who won a Cayman in the PCA raffle) works there and arranged the tour.
There are about 250 Mustangs flying, and Cal Pacific Airmotive has repaired 70 of them. They come in different models – P-51 (pursuit), F-51 (fighter) and TF-51 (trainer fighter), and in A, B, C, and D models – much like Porsches. Cal Pacific started out doing repairs for general aviation aircraft, but when asked to repair a Mustang, took on the project and has since specialized in this area.
Ron has worked there for 20 years and is part of the team that finds or fabricates parts. The tour was led by Lori Atkinson, the daughter of the founder of the business who has passed away. She does the quotes, her mom keeps the books, and the team does the repairs.
Customers come from all over the world. It may take 2-5 years to repair a plane and get it ready for its owner. Some customers are private owners, some are museums. They might have three projects going at once. Some of the planes they have worked on have won awards at air races.
Planes suffer from accidents and corrosion, much like cars. Some owners bump into things. One owner forgot to put the wheels down when landing. When doing repairs, the corrosion is cleaned out and new parts are fabricated as needed. We walked past a set of wings that was being prepared to be put on the accompanying plane body.
After Lori showed us the various parts that were being worked on, we walked outside and saw the paint booth. Then we visited the warehouse, which has parts storage and Lori’s grandfather’s Cessna.
After we left, we all headed to T&A Cafe in Spreckels, where everyone ordered off the menu and talked about what a great tour this was.
To view the PHOTO GALLERY, click on any image above. Thank you to our contributing photographers.
A very special thank you to Lori and Ron for a truly educational and memorable event.
