Buff Man Provides Boom Support - Mobile Unit Provides Power & Storage for Team

EPHRATA, WA July 20, 2017 - Bill the Buff Man Quinn heads to Seattle later this week (July 24-30) having been selected for his 5th year as a member of the influential Air Force One Detailing Team at the Museum of Flight, where they will detail 17 historic aircraft while continuing their role as caretakers to the first presidential jet Air Force One. Quinn is also serving his 3rd year in a supervisory and support role with Quinn operating the Genie Z-60 boom that takes veteran detailers up to polish the American flag on AFO’s vertical stabilizer; and his Buff Man mobile unit will provide electrical power and equipment storage for this year’s team.

Led by Master automotive and aircraft detailer and detailing trainer Renny Doyle of Detailing Success, the 2017 team is the largest ever at over 50 of the finest detailers from around the country.

Managed and supervised by the newly-formed Board of Directors for Doyle’s Detail Mafia, the prestigious team will also clean, polish, and apply protective coatings to the now retired supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf; a remarkable WWII B-52 Stratofortress Bomber; and the first “Jumbo Jet” Boeing 747 christened in 1969 and whose engine rings haven’t been polished since it came to the museum.

“I am as excited to attend this year as I was the first year, but the thrill for me now is seeing young team members get this special opportunity,” says Quinn. “I remember how honored I felt that first year polishing the bright work and paint. Today, I am happy to pass that honor to the younger team members, while still offering support to the project. Myself and Evan Elliott operate the Genie boom lift so military veterans on the team can go up and detail the flag on the stabilizer.”

Air Force One

Known as Special Air Missions (SAM) 970, the first Air Force One presidential jet lived for more than a decade on the open tarmac exposed to Seattle’s notorious climate. In spite of the team’s initial success back in 2003, it has taken more than a dozen years to restore it to as close to its natural glory as possible.

In just the last year, the plane has been relocated under a covered hangar in the new open-air Airpark Pavilion, but it is still exposed to Seattle’s dampness. The team has entered into a “preservation” rather than restoration stage with the plane, and it still requires an annual cleaning and polishing – a responsibility assigned exclusively to Doyle’s Air Force One Detailing Team until 2020.

WWII B-52G Stratofortress

Last year, the Team, polished the WWII B-29 Superfortress “T-Square” and received commemorative mission patches from a WWII widow whose husband flew the plane. This year, they will polish an all-aluminum WWII B-52G Stratofortress, America’s first long-range, swept-wing heavy bomber that began as an intercontinental, high-altitude nuclear bomber. The US Air Force deployed the plane in 1955 and it saw active duty during the Vietnam War as part of operation Bullet Shot/Linebacker. It spent its entire life in-service with Strategic Air Command.

Supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf

The 2014 Team was the first to detail the supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf since its retirement in 2003. Due to its substantial length and the iconic shape of its slender delta wings and fuselage, the 204-foot luxury jetliner has always presented huge challenges for the Team.

Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet”

The team has cleaned the Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” in the past but this will be the first year they have polished the engine rings on the 300-ton jet. Standing taller than a 6-story building, the 747 is one of the most recognizable jets in existence and answered one of the first calls for the growing demand for air travel and the need for a large, mainstream passenger jet.

For more information about Bill the Buff Man’s participation in this year’s Air Force One Detailing Project at the Seattle Museum of Flight, contact Bill Quinn at (509) 398-1284, or Kimberly Ballard at (256) 653-4003. High resolution pictures available from past year’s events as well as live shots from this year’s July 24-30 event!