DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Two Dickinson men who opened an auto detailing shop about four months ago have been picked for a team that will preserve the nation's original Air Force One presidential jet as part of the 100th anniversary of Boeing and the opening of the Seattle Museum of Flight's Airpark Pavilion.
Paul Richter and Nevada Crimmins of Xtreme Auto Detail left last weekend to take part in the first week of a two-week mega-detailing event aimed at prepping 17 historic Boeing aircraft for the centennial, the Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/1SdVr34 ) reported.
The two men got interested when they attended an advanced detailing certification training session in February. Their trainer and master detailer, Renny Doyle, was impressed with their abilities.
Doyle joined the official Air Force One Detailing Team when it was created by the Bush Administration in 2003 to restore the badly deteriorating jet, which has been displayed outdoors. With the new hangar, the team will ramp up to preserve the plane with an annual cleaning, polishing and paint sealant application.
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Doyle said he picked Richter, 46, and Crimmins, 41, out of hundreds of detailers across the country.
"I have carefully selected my team because there is no room for mistakes in detailing these multi-million dollar airplanes," Doyle said. "I need people who will accept nothing short of perfection, and Crimmins and Richter are two of those people."
Richter, 46, said they were shocked when they received an invitation and thought at first it was sent to the wrong place.
"We went there to learn everything we could, and I guess we impressed him," Richter said. "It might help to be a little obsessive compulsive."
The two will close the shop and pay their own costs to go.
Richter moved to the Dickinson area after 19 years in corrections in Oregon and said the transition from that, to now being part of this historic event, is mindboggling. He said it'll be cool to help preserve the flying Oval Office, used by presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
The detailing team also will polish the all-aluminum fuselage of a WWII B-29 Superfortress bomber and preserve paint and bright work on 14 other historic Boeing craft.
Crimmins said it was an honor to be invited and a great way to make a lasting contribution.
"I think of all the vets and what they give; this is just a way to give back a little bit, too," he said.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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