For more than a decade, Renny Doyle and a growing team of experienced detailers from around the country have been restoring, maintaining, and preserving the first presidential jet Air Force One. Known as SAM (Special Air Missions) 970, the plane was a flying Oval Office for four U.S. Presidents including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. The Boeing 707-120 also entertained many international VIPs such as Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger.
It began with a phone call in 2002 from a Bush administration official asking Renny to bring a team to Seattle's Museum of Flight to clean and attempt to restore the deteriorating paint on the iconic jet.
The restoration project started in 2003 with Renny and a small staff. In 2007, Renny opened up the project to a team of experienced detailers who had been through his training. By 2010, the team had grown into a highly specialized and selective team of about 30-35 detailers. That team returns every year as caretakers of the multi-million-dollar icon of American history.
Over the years, the project has grown to include dozens of other iconic aircraft including the Concorde and WWII bombers! Enjoy our story!
Eight Years & Counting, Bill the Buff Man & the Air Force One Detailing Team Make History Restoring & Preserving the Original Presidential Jet Air Force One at the Seattle Museum of Flight!
Bill “the Buffman” Quinn, Ephrata’s most celebrated automotive detailer was selected for his 8th year on the much-anticipated 2021 Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, July 11-18.
After two years, and thanks to a generous benefactor, Master automotive and aircraft detailer Renny Doyle of Detailing Success will return to the Museum of Flight this year with a smaller but more streamlined Air Force One Detailing Team to continue the preservation of the first presidential jet Air Force One on display at the museum. Also on the agenda is the equally historic WWII B-29 Super Fortress Bomber.
This will be the 18th year Doyle, known as “The Detailer of Air Force One”, will lead a team to Seattle to continue their role as caretakers of the famous presidential plane and the notable B29 Bomber. While the team is less than half the size of teams in recent years, this year’s slimmed down team of 20 will consist of the most experienced and proven members of the team who could make the last-minute commitment.
Doyle chooses his team members carefully every spring from detailers he has certified over the years. Many of them are senior members of the team that go back to the original restoration project in 2003, while he tries to also bring in rookies every year who show promise in the meticulous art of paint correction and polishing one-stage paint and brightwork.
Quinn and other team members are successful detailing business owners who pay their own way to Seattle and donate their time and skills to the project. As one of the senior members of the team, the Buffman is a team leader who brings his Buffman trailer to the project every year providing storage for the project. He also operates the Genie lift that carries detailers up to the highpoint on the vertical stabilizer where team military veterans can polish the American flag painted there.
“When I started detailing out of the back of my car more than 30 years ago, being an integral part of this incredible project and talented team was the farthest thing from my mind,” said Quinn. “I am not only honored to be chosen every year out of hundreds of qualified detailers in our network, but quite honestly, I consider it my patriotic duty to be there, preserving a piece of American aviation history.”
The famed detailers will tackle only two of the more than 15 historic aircraft the team has been restoring and preserving over the past decade; however, Doyle said he is grateful for the opportunity to be working on the two celebrated airplanes after having to skip last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the early days of restoring Air Force One, we had a very small but elite team of detailers that only came every couple of years to clean it,” said Doyle. “The plane was still out on the tarmac and in that two-year period, it was almost like having to start all over every year.
Today the plane is on display inside the open-air Aviation Pavilion, but it is still exposed to moisture and Seattle’s cold winter weather conditions. Doyle said every year when they come to work on it, the paint has begun to show signs of weathering and the brightwork has begun to dull, even though they use a 1-year protective coating to tie it over until the next year.
“I have chosen Bill for the AFO Team year after year because he brings much more than just his skill, his experience, and his commitment to the art of detailing to the project,” said Doyle. “These are priceless vintage aircraft and there is no room for mistakes. I trust him and his leadership and his eye for perfection. I look forward to having him back on the team and as a leader this year.”
It has been two years since they have laid hands on the two aircraft and the coating will have worn off by now. Doyle said they expect to see some weathering of the paint and oxidizing of the aluminum.
This goes double for the B-29 Bomber with its 100 percent aluminum fuselage.
Bill “the Buffman” Quinn, Ephrata’s most celebrated automotive detailer was selected for his 8th year on the much-anticipated 2021 Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, July 11-18.
Ephrata’s Bill the Buff Man is now one of the longest running members of the Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. He also provided lift ops & mobile storage support for the 16th annual project.
Ephrata’s most prominent detailer, Bill “the Buff Man” Quinn of Bill the Buff Man Auto Detailing will serve his 7th year - one of the longest-running members - of the Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Quinn is not only a member of the Board of Directors of the Detail Mafia managing the team, but he is a Senior Team Leader and will provide Genie lift and storage support for the team as well. He again made the cut from hundreds of detailers nationwide by the original “Detailer of Air Force One”, Renny Doyle of Detailing Success. Doyle announced this year’s 55-person team just in time for the Independence Day holiday, and will lead the weeklong project at the museum, July 7-14.
For 16 years, members who are chosen for the exclusive Air Force One Detailing Team, do so voluntarily as their patriotic duty to restore, maintain and protect the original presidential jet Air Force One and more than a dozen additional historic aircraft currently on exhibit in the museum’s new Airpark Pavilion.
Quinn says his continuous work on the planes would not be possible without support from BTBM Business Solutions.
Quinn has supported the AFO Team with more than his detailing and paint correction skills for several years. Using his Buff Man mobile unit for secure storage, Quinn also operates the Genie lift (cherry picker) that takes detailers up to the top of the fuselage and to the vertical stabilizer where traditionally, military veterans salute and clean the American flag painted there.
“I trained Bill years ago as an expert in all forms of detailing, and few members of the team have more experience or skill at cleaning and polishing paint and metal than Bill. However, in the past couple of years, he has chosen a more leadership role that has allowed younger detailers to have a chance at cleaning and polishing the plane, while he provides much needed support services,” said Doyle. “Bill is the only one on the team licensed and certified to operate the lift and has volunteered to do that and so much more in support of our team and the project overall. We are lucky and proud to have him back for a seventh year!”
“I am just as excited this year about being chosen for the team as I was the first year back in 2013, but I bring more to the table every year than I did to the last,” says Quinn. “It is an honor to be steward and caretakers for all these iconic aircraft – especially Air Force One. I am honored to have been chosen for the team again and it makes the Fourth of July holiday special this year.”
In addition to Air Force One, which is currently in preservation stages after 15 years of restoration, the team will continue restoring a solid aluminum WWII B-29 Super Fortress Bomber and a recently acquired and badly deteriorating Vietnam-era B-52G Stratofortress Bomber. They will also clean and continue to maintain the first-ever Boeing “Jumbo Jet” 747; the Concorde Alpha Golf; and the first 1960s-70s-era Boeing 727-022 commercial airliner – all three, planes previous teams have begun restoring in the past 5-10 years.
Air Force One is the first presidential jet, known as a flying Oval Office for four American presidents including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It entertained International dignitaries like Nikita Khrushchev and Henry Kissinger. For more than a decade, it lived on the open tarmac exposed to Seattle’s notorious climate.
In 2003, a Bush-administration executive contacted Doyle about saving the deteriorating paint and brightwork on the iconic plane. Doyle was known for his skill at paint correction and restoring the shine on classic cars, as well as his knowledge in caring for expensive car collections, exotics, and aircraft.
“That beautiful jet was in such a distressed state when I first saw it in 2003, and it was just me, my wife and business partner Diane, and a few staff members who decided anything we did would help and nothing we did could make it worse,” said Doyle. “There was a lot of new technology, new equipment, and innovative products coming onto the market for professional detailers 16 years ago that I had been field testing.
“Since then, those tools and products – some for which we have developed specifically based on the needs of this project, have been instrumental in bringing the plane up to the excellent condition it is in now.”
Air Force One still requires an annual cleaning because even though it does not sit exposed on the tarmac, it is inside an open-air pavilion, covered but still subject to the dampness and cold that causes her paint and brightwork to get cloudy. The team also continues their restorative work on the other iconic planes on display.
Ephrata’s Buff Man Hits Seattle’s Museum of Flight for 6th Year on 15th Anniversary Air Force One Detailing Team Project Never Gets Old with Newly Acquired B52 Bomber on Agenda
One of the longest-running detailers on the Air Force One Detailing Team at the Seattle Museum of Flight, Master detailer, Bill “the Buff Man” Quinn will serve his 6th year on what will be the 15th Anniversary of the infamous detailing and preservation crew who have restored the original Air Force One presidential jet. Chosen by Master detailer Renny Doyle, Quinn and 64 other professional detailers from around the nation hit Seattle’s Museum of Flight July 15–22. Once again, the Buff Man will operate 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 the team.
In addition to the first presidential jet Air Force One, there is a new airplane on the agenda this year! Although they will continue their annual cleaning and preservation of the presidential plane on display at the museum, they will also take their first shot preserving the museum’s newest acquisition, a Boeing B-52G Stratofortress Bomber known as Midnight Express. Built in 1960 as a nuclear-armed Cold War platform, she was used extensively during the Vietnam War, and was active during Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, which led to the release of 591 prisoners of war in 1973.
The Buff Man, as everyone calls him, is a senior-level member of the renowned Detail Mafia who acts as mentors to younger, rookie team members, is trained and certified by the International Detailing Association (IDA) and by Doyle’s Detailing Success. He is a successful detailing business owner in Ephrata and makes the weeklong commitment on a voluntary, pro bono basis.
Doyle has spent 15 years restoring the historic presidential jet to its original glory. The plane was a flying Oval Office for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It was in distressed condition when he was first approached by the Bush administration in 2003 to put his skills to work to save it. It took over a decade to fully restore the brilliance of the paint and clarity of the bright work (aluminum). Until 2016, the plane lived outdoors on the tarmac, exposed to the elements, requiring a robust annual cleaning, polishing, and protection for its paint and aluminum.
These past two years the plane has found a home under the museum’s new open-air Airpark Pavilion. Although it is mostly protected from the elements, it is still exposed to the area’s damp climate and extreme temperatures, requiring a rigorous cleaning, polishing, and application of a paint sealant to protect it from year to year.
Also, on the agenda this year is polishing the B-29 Super Fortress, a WWII bomber the team began restoring in 2011; cleaning and polishing the first-ever Boeing “Jumbo Jet” 747; polishing the supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf, which they have been working on since 2014; and numerous other priceless aircraft on exhibit at the Museum of Flight.
“Cleaning something as big as a jet airplane has its challenges, but when you are cleaning aircraft valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and that have such historical significance in aviation history, it requires unique skills and knowledge of paint and bright work, not found in most detailers,” says Doyle. “The first time I laid eyes on Air Force One 15 years ago, I doubted whether it could be saved – that is how challenging the project was; however, I see what Bill has done and I know what he can do. He is one of the best.”
“To see Air Force One shining in the sunlight from year to year is a testament to our commitment, hard work, and skill,” says Quinn. “I am proud to have been a part of this project the past five years and I am excited about tackling that B52 this year! I look forward to many years ahead as a caretaker of aviation history.”
The Buff Man in his 3rd year as a supervisor
As a 5th-year member of the influential Air Force One Detailing Team at the Museum of Flight, the Buff Man was not only team supervisor, but he had a support role providing electrical power and equipment storage for this year’s team, as well as operating the Genie Z-60 boom that takes veteran detailers up to polish the American flag on AFO’s vertical stabilizer.
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 also cleaned, polished, and applied 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.”
In spite of the team’s initial success back in 2003, it has taken more than a dozen years to restore Air Force One 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.
This year, they will polish the 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 204-foot luxury supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf jetliner with its substantial length and the iconic shape of its slender delta wings and fuselage, has always presented huge challenges for the Team. Last year, the team cleaned the Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet”, but this year is 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.
Bill & Shae participate in the 2016 AFO/Boeing Centennial
The biggest and most prestigious detailing project on record, the 2-week-long event consisted of 55 detailers in week-long shifts.
In Year 4, in celebration of Boeing 100th Anniversary, and the opening of the Seattle Museum of Flight’s new Airpark Pavilion, the Buff Man participated in the biggest and most prestigious historic aircraft detailing project on record.
The 2-week long mega-detailing event started Sunday, April 10 and ran through Saturday, April 23, and included the team’s continued preservation of the original Air Force One presidential jet; polishing the all-aluminum fuselage of a legendary WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber; and cleaning and preserving the paint and bright work on 14 additional priceless Boeing aircraft.
The new Airpark Pavilion now houses on display, over 15 icons of American aviation history. In addition to their annual preservation of the original Air Force One presidential jet, they also polished three WWII military aircraft — the B-47 Stratojet, a B-17 and the B-29 (T-Square) Superfortress bombers; and several of Boeing’s “firsts”: the first 727, the first 737, and first 747. They also cleaned a rare DC2, an F14 Tomcat, the A-6 Intruder, the Concorde Alpha Golf, and the 787 Dreamliner.
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.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.
“Boeing wants all their aircraft in mint condition for the Centennial so we will be coordinating twice the number of team members (60) as ever before, and working on about 15 multimillion dollar aircraft simultaneously,” says Doyle. “They will come in two, weeklong shifts — Team Alpha and Team Bravo — with Team Centennial consisting of team leaders, supervisors, and veterans of the project who will be onsite for the full run.
“This is by far the most exciting and yet the most challenging project the Museum of Flight has offered us and we are all honored to be tasked with such a prestigious and unprecedented opportunity.”
Team members were presented with a commemorative mission patch by Marlene Houtchens, widow of WWII B-29 pilot Lowell Houtchens, who was stationed on the island of Tinian with Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbetts, when he dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
The Team Details a $2 billion Boeing 787
In 2015, Bill the Buff Man Quinn and daughter Shae Morrissey returned to continue their annual preservation of the Air Force One presidential jet, and they brought with them, the Buff Man mobile trailer to help with equipment storage during the event.
This year, in addition to AFO, they began restoration on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner Series #3, one of three test planes, together valued at over $2 billion, donated to the museum by Boeing.
They also cleaned the only air-worthy Douglas DC-2, one of two historic rivals (the other is a Boeing 247) dating back to the 1930s. They finished up with a touch-up shine to the Concorde Alpha Golf.
Designed to help customers protect their automotive investments and guarantee higher trade-in values when they do sell, both the Buff Man and Morrissey’s expertise on the AFO Detailing Team translates into cleaner, shinier, better-maintained car care and appearance habits among his client base.
“It is important for residents of Ephrata, Moses Lake, and the Basin to understand that just because your vehicle is aging, it doesn’t mean it has to look old,” says Quinn. “We can restore automotive paint by removing environmental contaminants and correcting scratches, UV fading, and oxidation on the exterior to bring back the original shine. We can work just as much magic on the interior using protective coatings and innovative steam technology and odor control techniques to combat wear and tear on the inside as well.”
“I carefully selected my team every year because there is no room for mistakes in detailing these multi-million dollar airplanes,” team leader Renny Doyle says. “I need people who will accept nothing short of perfection and Bill and Shae are two of those people.”
The job gets bigger in Year 2!
In 2014, the Buff Man was again selected to Air Force One Detailing Team to perform their annual cleaning of Air Force One but they began what would become the preservation stages of the SAM 970, which will finally come off the open tarmac and find a home in a new hangar in 2016.
In addition to AFO, the team tackled one of the world’s first supersonic airliners, the Concorde “Alpha Golf”, known for breaking a speed record of 3 hours, 55 minutes, and 12 seconds flying from New York to its new home in Seattle at the Museum of Flight.
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.
In 2014, the Buff Man helped detail it for the first time since its retirement in 2003.
"The 204-foot luxury Concorde jetliner offered a significant challenge this year with its substantial length, and the iconic shape of its slender delta wings and fuselage,” said the Buff Man in a press release in August 2014. “While restoring AFO, we saw firsthand the effects of torrential rain, elemental contaminants, oxidation, and UV fading on the surface paint of an airplane. Having been out of commission for nearly a decade without a detailed cleaning or wax, the exterior surface of the Concorde is remarkably vulnerable.”Supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf
Buff Man & Shae's first year at Seattle's Museum of Flight
In 2013, Bill the "Buff Man" Quinn was invited to join the supreme team of 30 high-end detailers from across the country, handpicked by Master Auto detailing connoisseur, Renny Doyle of Detailing Success, to help detail and restore the shine on a paragon in American aviation history — the original presidential jet plane known as Air Force One.
On exhibit at Seattle's Museum of Flight, the team has spent the past decade restoring the paint and saving the aluminum bright work on the iconic Boeing 707-120 SAM (Special Air Missions) 970 that was a flying Oval Office for U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
In addition to the historic multi-million dollar plane, the team also cleaned and polished the sleek and rakish Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber that guards the south entrance to the Museum.
The AFO project requires an unprecedented 2,000 microfiber towels, 1,000 terry cloth towels, some 2,000 feet of plastic sheeting, over 5,000 feet of extension cords, some 200 polishing pads, and gallons and gallons of cleaner, polishes, and paint protective sealers.
“It is an exhausting job, but to see that plane shine afterwards is well worth the time, labor, materials, and equipment,” said the Buff Man. "I am honored to be able to contribute to the restoration of such an important part of our history as Air Force One."
“This is a special plane and a special team,” Doyle said at the time. “We are essentially the caretakers helping preserve a piece of U.S. aviation history.”
