Watsonville detailer chosen for Air Force One Detailing Team
A Watsonville detailer has been chosen to be part of this year’s 55 person Air Force One Detailing Team at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
Angel Gomez of Gomez Auto Detail was hand-picked out of hundreds of detailers nationwide by the “Detailer of Air Force One,” Renny Doyle of Detailing Success. This year’s project at the museum will last from July 7 to July 14.
“I certainly never expected to be detailing multi-million dollar historic airplanes when I got into detailing,” said Gomez. “But getting the opportunity to clean and polish and be caretakers for all these iconic aircraft- especially Air Force One- is something I will not forget. I am honored to have been chosen for the team, and it makes the Fourth of July holiday special this year.
Gomez got his Detailing Business, Paint Correction, Headlight Repair and Ceramic Coatings Certification from Doyle, but he also has dual certifications from the International Detailing Association.
“I trained Angel as an expert in all types of paint and helped him perfect his skill at cleaning and polishing paint and metal, so I knew when I chose him for the team this year, he is experienced, qualified and will do a great job,” said Doyle. “He has an eye for detail and an instinct for perfection that is an absolute ‘must’ for this project, and it will give him an experience he won’t get anywhere else.”
The team works to restore, maintain and protect the original presidential jet. It served four American presidents, including Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, but spent more than a decade on an open tarmac in Seattle. In 2003, a Bush-administration executive contacted Doyle about restoring the plane.
“The 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.
The plane’s condition has improved, but it still needs an annual cleaning. It is no longer on an exposed tarmac, but is in an open-air pavilion. That is covered, but the plane is still exposed to dampness and cold.
In addition to Air Force One, the team will continue to restore a WWII B-29 Super Fortress Bomber and a Vietnam-era B-52G Stratofortress Bomber. They will also clean and continue to maintain the first Boeing “Jumbo Jet” 747, the Concorde Alpha Golf and the first 1960s-70s-era Boeing 727-022 commercial plane.
