WARNER ROBINS - Marvin Bessinger was waiting for an old friend Thursday morning.
Bessinger stood patiently at the Museum Of Aviation for his newly refurbished friend to arrive.
When the F-106A Convair fighter jet finally crested the horizon on the back of a flatbed truck Bessinger had a big smile and just the hint of a tear in his eye.
Bessinger and the F-106 go back to 1961, when he joined the maintenance team for the new jet at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan. Bessinger worked on maintaining the fire control system of the jet. In short, he made sure their missiles flew straight and true. Through his 20-year career with the Air Force Bessinger followed the F-106 to Castle AFB in California, Oxnard AFB in California, Klamath Falls AFB in Oregon, and finally Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota.
In 1973 Bessinger retired to Warner Robins, but the F-106 was in his blood. He traveled to Castle AFB in 2002 for a reunion of his old 456th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) and saw a refurbished plane there. When he heard the old F-106 at the Museum of Aviation was going to be restored and put on display, he had this day marked on his calendar.
"I have a lot of memories in that plane, both good and bad," said Bessinger. "When it came out it was state-of-the-art, and it was my job to keep it that way. This was one of the best planes ever built. They tried to retire it many times but the airframe was built so well they kept upgrading it. When they finally retired it in 1989, they still used some of the remaining planes as robot-piloted drones for target practice."
Bessinger is just happy that there was one of the old planes they did not shoot down or scrap.
He's glad he's got an old friend at the museum he can come and visit whenever he wants.
The F-106 underwent three distinct restoration stages under the guidance of the museum restoration crew and two base groups, the 116th Air Control Wing (ACW) and the 653rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron (CLSS). The aircraft was depainted, treated for corrosion and repainted.
"This is just the beginning of a new chapter for the museum, and the bonds we are forming with everyone that becomes involved with us," said Museum Restoration Chief Dennis Oliver.
Oliver recognized Staff Sgt. Chris Peelem and Staff Sgt. Tim Reeves, both of the 116th ACW, for their countless hours dedicated to preserving a piece of U.S. Air Force history. He also recognized individuals from 653rd CLSS: Tech Sgt. Aaron Robinson, Tech Sgt. Steve Reeves, Master Sgt. Ken Foote, Staff Sgt. Joshua Daniels, Tech Sgt. Kevin Stees and Staff Sgt. Robert Baker.
The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center was responsible for all program and logistics support to the communications, MA-1 fire control and missile systems for the F-106.
The aircraft on display was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in September 1960. It served with the 318th and 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadrons during its service career before being retired in 1982. It was moved to the museum for display in 1992.
