Bye, Guppy

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft takes off March 28. The plane was here to deliver a heat shield for the Orion spacecraft to Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., to have a protective coating applied to it. (U.S. Air Force photo by Walter Santos)

Super arrival

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Workers shut NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after unloading a heat shield for the Orion spacecraft. The heat shield is being delivered to Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., to have a protective coating applied to it. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Herlihy)

Super arrival

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – A heat shield for the Orion spacecraft is unloaded from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft on the flightline March 27. The heat shield is being delivered to Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., to have a protective coating applied to it. (U.S. Air Force photo by Walter Santos)

Super arrival

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft sits on the flightline March 27. The plane was carrying a heat shield for the Orion spacecraft to be delivered to Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., to have a protective coating applied to it. (U.S. Air Force photo by Walter Santos)

Super arrival

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – A heat shield for the Orion spacecraft is unloaded from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft on the flightline March 27. The heat shield is being delivered to Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., to have a protective coating applied to it. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Herlihy)

P-40 restoration complete

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Workers return the P-40 aircraft to its pedestal on the corner of Vandenberg and Marrett streets Nov. 15 after the completion of a more than three month-long repair and restoration project by base civil engineers. The model received a thorough sanding and several sheet metal panels were replaced before it was primed and painted. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mark Wyatt)