This particular aircraft was the last available De Havilland DH-4 airframe known to exist in the United States. It was acquired out of Washington state by Dorian Walker of Bowling Green, KY. Walker, a WWI Jenny trainer owner and pilot, led a team to rebuild the DH-4. They chose to honor Bleckley and pilot Harold Goettler, and through painstaking study and reverse engineering, restored the aircraft while retaining about 85 percent original parts and components. Talks were made about ground transporting the aircraft to Wichita to display it for Bleckley Day on Oct. 6, 2018 (as was done at Oshkosh that summer), but costs and logistics got in the way.
Over the next year and a half, engine run-ups and runway taxi and pre-flight tests continued. Then came the initial test flight on May 2, 2020. The DH-4 experienced control issues during its first flight, hard landed, and suffered damage to the landing gear, undercarriage, propeller, right-forward fuselage, and right-lower and upper wing sets.
The Kentucky team decided to sell rather than rebuild the DH-4, and knowing Wichita was the most fitting home, allowed Bleckley Airport Memorial Foundation the right of first refusal. Without that, we could not have competed with the National Museum of the US Air Force and an air museum near Paris and their vast government resources. A private owner even put in a bid!
WHY IS THIS AIRCRAFT SO SPECIAL? This aircraft is historic for several reasons. The FAA considered this airplane to be the ONLY original American-built airworthy military DH-4 left in the world. It has its original Liberty engine, including the original controls and instruments. The military markings include Bleckley’s 50th Aero Squadron ‘Dutch Girl’ insignia, his #6 Squadron number, and an original 1918 manufactured data plate with Bleckley’s aircraft serial number 32517. Four years and almost 10,000 man-hours were invested in the research and restoration of this aircraft. This is the only aircraft identical to the one in which two Medal of Honor awards were earned at the same time. Jerry Hester, an advisor to the Bleckley project, said this DH-4 will be the only flight status plane in the nation to honor not just one, but two Medal of Honor recipients.
Consultations with previous owner Dorian Walker, receipts from the engine rebuild, wood purchases, and other components, and a cost analysis place the price tag of the second restoration at $165,000. Before the DH-4 hard landed, it was commonly thought to be worth about one million dollars. In other words, the rebuild/restoration will cost roughly 16 percent of the expected appraised value once this DH-4 is restored to flight status.
The final sale was completed on March 31, 2021, and the plane’s homecoming to Wichita was held on May 28, 2021. An agreement was made with Global Aviation Technologies to become ‘the home of the DH-4 restoration’, where it began a second MEDAL of HONOR mission!
Two principles guide the rebuild/restoration: 1) to retain as much originality in the aircraft as possible. Wherever possible, restore original equipment instead of replacing with modern components; and 2) when facing the option of procuring less expensive alternatives over OEM or more durable (and more expensive) stock, choose the latter. We want this DH-4’s legacy to be that the Bleckley rebuild team did the best job possible to restore original components, and used high-quality parts to put this DH-4 back to flight status.
