Ken
Marlatt worked as a Crew Chief and started when was fifteen
years old. The purpose of a crew chief is to maintain the
aircraft at the Aerospace
Museum of California at McCellan Air Park in Sacramento
California. Maintenance of static display aircraft is more
than just washing them. Tire pressures, corrosion control,
viewer safety devices, such as ropes and other functions are
involved. In many planes instruments are removed and
restored to a good visual appearance. On planes parked outside
the work is much more, due to weathering and UV damage to
aircraft parts. Some planes are even restored to flying or
nearly flying conditions as parts become available.
The job is a continuous effort and cannot
be stopped or the planes will eventually erode into a pile
of waste metal. At the McCellan Air Park, they have
about two hundred volunteers and they could not run the
museum without people like Ken Marlatt who has the
experience and passion for the job. They have more
than forty static aircraft on display on about four acres at
the museum, most of the planes are sitting in the weathers
and being touched regularly by visitors. Ken Marlatt
is a crew chief on the F-104 Starfighter series of jet
fighters. Along with his job of maintaining the
aircraft, Ken spends a lot of time explaining the aircraft
to the museums visitors.
