DE. Campus Life Editor

In a large, blue hangar at the Southern Illinois Airport in the midst of what looks like an aviation graveyard full of once great and powerful aircraft, Mike Gartke can be found restoring a 1940s Lockheed T-33A jet aircraft.

Gartke, a senior in aviation technology from Bensenville, talked with aviation faculty two years ago about restoring the plane instead of scrapping it. The plane had sat outside a hangar for many years where it continued to diminish at the hands of bad weather and little tender loving care. That was when Gartke intervened.

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The project is a step down from being a mission from God, Gartke said. I want to get the plane finished, but I’m not setting any time limits.

Gartke said he may not finish this project before he graduates, but the learning experience alone is worth his time.

Seeing the progress in the plane is rewarding, he said. It gets slow at times, and it’s easy to get discouraged at times.

After the T-33 was purchased in 1972 it was used for mechanical training by aviation students. The plane continued to deteriorate until a decision to restore it kept it from being stripped for parts. Gartke targeted the plane as an opportunity to hone his restoration and mechanical skills.

Airplanes are nothing new to Gartke, who took to the skies for the first time when he was 12. His passion for model airplanes and PBS airplane specials led him to engage in airplane design work in high school.

Gartke said it takes a lot of patience to successfully work on such a project.

I have absolutely no clue how much time I’ve spent working on this, he said. Through working with the plane, I have determined that a lot of thought went into this particular aircraft.

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Countless hours of work have been poured into the craft, including a full body paint job, restoration of the cockpit and landing gear. Gartke’s closest estimate of the amount of time he has put into the plane is about 15 hours per week for two years.

Gartke and his crew of four undergraduate helpers have faced unparalleled challenges removing various parts of the plane.

I don’t think the designers of this plane ever meant for the floor boards to be removed from the cockpit, Gartke said, laughing about one of the tedious aspects of renovation.

So far the nose section, the landing gear and the cockpit have been reconstructed. There were 60 screws holding the nose together. Some of the screws were rusted and had to be drilled out one by one.

Along with the mechanical work, the plane received a new coat of gray paint. The teeth painted on the nose of the plane, making the plane look like a big, gray shark, were already on the plane when Gartke started the restoration.

The plane will never fly again because it would be too costly. The restoration is not aimed to get the plane in the air, it is to provide aviation students a better airplane to study.

The Lockheed T-33A was designed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft. It was developed from the single-seat F-80 fighter by lengthening the fuselage slightly more than three feet to accommodate a second cockpit.

The T-33A was considered to be a stretched version of the F-80 when it was designed in 1947. Between 1949 and 1959, when production of the T-33A came to an end, there were 5,691 T-33s built, more than any other jet aircraft.

The T-33 was so successful that almost every Air Force command has used the T-33. Until the T-38 came into inventory, the T-33 was the mainstay of the Air Force pilot training programs. The plane also was used as a reconnaissance plane, RT-33A; a drone director, DT-33A; and an attack aircraft, AT-33A.

The T-33A aircraft is being held by SIUC in lieu of a newer, more modern aircraft, but the possibilities of ascertaining a new craft are uncertain at this time, Larry Staples said.

Staples, chairman of the Department of Aviation Technologies, said SIUC will continue to house the jet because it still has basic uses for aviation students. Even though the aircraft is outdated, it has systems that are basic to most aircraft, such as the flight control system.

The cost of the restoration has been minimal. Staples estimated only a few hundred dollars have been spent on the project.

These guys have done a great job with the plane, Staples said. There hasn’t been much money spent on the plane, it is mostly elbow grease, and it shows that Mike and his crew have pride in what they do.