WHO: Edwardsville Township Supervisor Frank Miles and Keller Construction
WHEN: Monday, May 15, 2017, at 7:00 am
WHERE: Robert C. Stille Edwardsville Township Community Park, 6368 Center Grove Road, Edwardsville
WHAT: The U.S. Navy A7E Corsair on display at the Robert C. Stille Edwardsville Township Community Park will be lowered from the display pylon by Keller Construction so restoration work can begin. The aircraft has remained on the pylon since it was originally installed in Township Park by Keller Construction in 1991.
In October, Edwardsville Township approved a contract with the Flight Deck Veterans Group, a nationwide nonprofit organization based in Tennessee for the restoration of the historic aircraft on display at Township Park. The Flight Deck Veterans Group restores aircraft as a part of its mission of veterans serving veterans and to pass on the history and legacy of veterans and flight deck operation.
The restoration is the culmination of a multi-year project to restore the historic aircraft. After establishing a Community fund with the Edwardsville Community Foundation, the Township launched MISSON: PRESERVATION, The Campaign to Restore the Plane, a three-tiered approach to raising the funds necessary to restore the aircraft to ‘display ready condition’ as defined by the U.S. Naval Aviation Museum, from whom the aircraft is on loan from.
The Flight Deck Veterans Group has restored historic aircraft across the country including an F-14 Tomcat on display on the historic USS Yorktown in Charleston, South Carolina and the Fast Eagle 102, the first F-14 Tomcat to shoot down another aircraft in combat, on display at the Commemorative Air Force’s High Sky Wing in Midland Texas. For more information about the Flight Deck Veterans Group, visit www.fdvg.org.
MISSION PRESERVATION 