A little more than 15 years ago, Adam White, EAA 741750, had an idea. With years of experience in the film industry and an interest in aviation, Adam decided he wanted to document some of the people restoring old warbirds and vintage aircraft across the country. Over the course of 10 months of filming and editing, his work became the movie The Restorers, which was released in 2003 and this year is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
Adam, along with a small panel of people who were also involved in the project, will be presenting about and discussing The Restorers on Thursday, May 24 as part of the EAA Aviation Museum’s Aviation Adventure Speaker Series.
When Adam began working on the project, he was unaware just how vast the restorer landscape was. As he starting talking with a variety of people, Adam soon realized how many different stories there were to tell.
“Just like anything, you begin working with a subject that interests you and then suddenly the well reveals to you how deep it goes,” Adam said. “In my naiveté, I had no idea how deep the warbird and vintage aircraft community was at that point. It was my goal to make a film about people who restore warbirds and release it in 2003 for the 100th anniversary of powered flight, which we did. I started making the movie without really two-thirds of the stories lined up. I was just kind of plowing ahead with the stories I was finding out about. As I went through each one, each time we did a story, whoever the participant was would say, ‘You know what would make a great story?’ Then they would introduce us to another story. It sort of progressed from there.”
Adam started shooting in February of 2002 in Fargo, North Dakota, and finished up in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the following October, filming approximately 10 different aircraft restoration projects. In picking subjects for the film, Adam intentionally tried to not only get a variety of aircraft, but types of restorers — from larger companies to individuals working on airplanes themselves. Adam specifically pointed to the late Bob Odegaard and his Super Corsair as a project he was glad to spotlight. Bob died in 2012 in an accident with his Super Corsair.
“On purpose, I picked stories that were very different in their backgrounds, as to where the airplanes came from and the path that they came to fruition,” Adam said. “Some of them were done by large organizations, some were done by professional restorers, some were done by somebody in a garage. One that had sort of a great beginning, middle, and end to it was the story of Bob Odegaard and his Super Corsair. While it’s prohibitively long for us to follow an airplane restoration from beginning to end, we had enough background in many instances to be able to tell the full story. That was particularly fulfilling to be able to tell it at such great length. We’re very thankful to both Bob and [fellow restorer] Gerry Beck, who opened their doors to me to tell their stories when they really didn’t know who I was. That was the very first shoot that we did and they were very welcoming. I’ll never be able to repay them for the kindness they showed me.”
In looking back on the process of filming The Restorers, Adam said he understands that he got to be in a position that many longtime aviation enthusiasts can only dream about. Riding in legendary warbirds is fun, but Adam is working hard when he’s in them.
“I have gotten to ride in B-25s and B-17s and Mustangs, which a lot of people would love to do,” he said. “I’m usually busy working, so I don’t have a lot of time to be able to just sit there and enjoy the moment because I’m burning $10 a minute in gas, but I do appreciate the rarified position that I’m able to take on some aircraft just by the stories that I’m telling.”
One moment that stood out to Adam was watching a replica Wright Glider take flight at Kitty Hawk in the way fashion that the original did, a century later.
“That’s a moment where you can say, ‘I’m watching precisely what happened at that time 100 years ago and it worked,’” he said. “You’re watching history happen right in front of you. Because of the work of these restorers, you’re able to have that window into the past as opposed to just a dusty aircraft sitting in a museum or archival film.”
Although The Restorers is now 15 years old, Adam hopes the stories he told and the subject matter is timeless. He also said he’s far from done documenting different aviation projects, having helped produce one season of a television series, also called The Restorers, as well as the film Red Tail Reborn, among others.
“Aviation only really gets reported on in the media if somebody inconveniently lands an airplane somewhere,” Adam said. “I think being able to tell the greater, more inspiring stories of aviation is never a task that’s going to end. We’re into it, so we’re very enthusiastically wanting to take up that mantle and push ahead.”