day at castle
July 25, 2026
Our Day at Castle, July 25, 2026 was a blast, a real learning experience and a whole lot of fun. As a club, Valley Classics Car Club volunteers to help out at the Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater CA. Castle AFB opened in 1941 and served as a training base for America's heavy bomber crews. During the Cold War it became home to the 93rd Bombardment Wing flying the massive B-52 Stratofortress off of its 12,000-foot runway. Closed in 1991, today, it's been civilianized, with a large airport, hangars, warehouses, businesses of all kinds, and of course the legendary Castle Air Museum. If you've never seen it, you owe it to yourself and your kids to take the tour. There are over 80 historic military aircraft on display there and it's incredible to be able to walk through the history of aviation, from before World War II to during the war, to the Korean War, the Viet Nam war, the Cold War and the Middle East Wars. It's spectacular! There's not another word for it.
But this Castle has a secret. Behind the scenes, where the public doesn't go, what they don't see. There are several huge hangars full of amazing military aircraft that are in various stages of restoration including an F-117 Stealth Fighter. The hangar we were working in this time has a TF-102 trainer-fighter, a Russian Mig-17 and the Navy A7 Corsair II we were working on this day.
ABOVE & BELOW: Here's the Vought A-7 Corsair II we were working on this day. Our mission was to mount two missile pods and an inboard pod for a drop tank on the left wing. Sounds simple but what a job. First off, they're big, and heavy. We used a forklift masterfully piloted by Darrel from our crew. And the fitment tolerances are near zero. In other words the parts that needed to fit together had no clearance between them. It was an interference fit and it had to be lined up perfectly or it wouldn't go.
ABOVE: We tried everything. We wiggled it, we jiggled it, we hit it with a hammer, put shimmied it with the forklift, we shimmed one end to try to get it perfectly aligned, but nothing worked. The first pod just wouldn't go. Above is Steven on the left and Ed on the right.
BELOW: Darrell is on the forklift, Valley Classics co-founder Darren is in the coveralls, his son Alex is on his right, and Steven is on the wing.
ABOVE: Fortunately, this plane was never going to fly again or see combat, so we were able to loosen those critical clearances with a grinder. No more than absolutely necessary, but we finally got it to move.
BELOW: Once in place, Ed drove the bolt home with a light tap.
ABOVE: The second pod went swimmingly. Success! Now on to the fuel pod. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Six of us struggled with this for a couple of hours. Yet during this A-7's service life, 18- and 19-year olds were doing this work, day in and day out. At night too, on a pitching carrier deck, in the pouring rain! God bless our troops!
BELOW: This A-7 had seen combat in the Kuwait War. The camels painted on the sides indicate how many combat missions it flew. Interesting fact: It's only called a mission when you drop ordinance. If you never fire a shot, it's not called a mission, it's a 'sortie'. So this one had seen some real action, and the museum has made contact with the actual former Navy pilot who flew those missions. When the restoration is complete, the museum plans to invite him to the unveiling.
ABOVE: This A-7 is earmarked for a complete stripping and painting. That's right up our alley as car guys. One of our own, Jeff, showed how it would turn out by stripping and painting just this one spot on the plane. It came out great. When we're done, the whole plane will look like this. You think sanding your Mopar was hard work? The A-7 Corsair is 47 feet long!
ABOVE & BELOW: Missiles? We've got missiles, everywhere...dummies, of course. These are going to attach to the weapons pods we just installed.
ABOVE & BELOW: Valley Classics Car Club volunteers every month to do whatever the Castle Air Museum needs done. At another recent work day in February Ed, our master diesel guy, got this tow vehicle for B-52s running, first time in decades! Sometimes we're cleaning and sorting, through the mountains of unbelievably cool stuff. Missiles? Yeah, we got 'em. Cockpit canopies? We got lots of 'em.
ABOVE & BELOW: Crankcase for an 18-cylinder radial engine? Check. English wheel? Of course, along with several sheetmetal brakes.
ABOVE: Millions upon millions of aircraft rivets & screws? You bet. In fact one of our members sits down for hours and sorts this stuff out to make it look like this.
BELOW: Airline seats? Why not.
ABOVE: Heck, we've even got a Russian Mig-17.
ABOVE: These two miniature jet fighters are powered by Briggs & Stratton engines and can be driven around. If they run, that is. I sense a future coming project here.
BELOW: The only way I ever get myself in the picture is to take a selfie. So here it is. That's me, Andy.
A Day at Castle, July 25, 2026 was an excellent investment of about 4 hours. We learned all kinds of stuff, got to do things that most people will never even dream of, and it's just extraordinarily cool! If you want to take part in the next one, watch our EVENTS page on this site for future dates. We do it once a month on a Saturday from 8am to around noon. Then we often go out for a bite afterward. Lots of fun and satisfaction from doing something worthwhile. In our own small way, we're helping to preserve our nation's history.