Aircraft on display in Havelock

Havelock Commissioner Jim Stuart, on ladder, watches as a crew from McGowan Painting Contractors begins work on the job to paint an HH-46 helicopter at the Havelock Tourist and Event Center last week. The crew is also painting the RF-4B jet.

By Drew C. Wilson, Havelock News

Two old, retired Marine Corps birds on display at the Havelock Tourist and Event Center are getting new paint jobs.

The HH-46 Pedro helicopter and the RF-4B Phantom jet will be sanded down and repainted over the next two weeks.

The city set aside money for the maintenance of the aircraft in this years budget, so weve opted to do two aircraft with the money that was allocated, said Havelock Commissioner Jim Stuart, who is also curator of the Eastern Carolina Aviation Heritage Foundation.

The city budgeted $46,000 for painting some of the five historic Marine Corps aircraft that are on display outside the center. McGowan Painting Contractors of Greenville was hired for $40,000 to do the job.

It will make them more presentable and get them on a schedule to where every five or six years we revisit them and check their condition and everything, Stuart said. Previously, the volunteers did all the painting, and were still going to continue to do all the basic maintenance and things of that nature, but given the age of the volunteers and how intense the work is, the city opted to fund the aircraft by some commercial folks.

Stuart said the helicopter and Phantom were selected to be first based on their position in front of the center.

Its kind of the central showpiece for the whole place, he said.

Stuart said volunteers repainted the helicopter about four years ago, while the Phantom had not been painted since it was placed in front of the center in 2002.

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Aircraft on display in Havelock