Where aircraft come back to life — and history is preserved in every rivet.
Period-correct aircraft restoration, done by hand.
In most museums the restoration work happens out of sight. Here you get to watch it: historic aircraft rebuilt by hand to flying condition, right on the hangar floor, while you visit.
Waldo Wright's Flying Service operates the Collection's dedicated restoration shop inside Hangar 3. Every aircraft in the Collection passes through this shop at some point — for restoration, annual inspection, or overhaul. The work is period-correct and done by hand.
Visitors are welcome to watch the work during open hours. If you're lucky, you'll catch a test run or a first flight.
Services: pre-buy inspections · annual inspections · full frame-up restorations · maintenance of the Collection’s fleet.
Operated ByWaldo Wright's Flying Service ↗
The Collection has eight active restoration projects, some in this shop and some in specialist shops around the country. Here are ones you may see during your visit.
A typical restoration takes anywhere from one to several years. The goal is always the same — a flying aircraft, true to its original configuration, built to last.
The hangar is a working shop. Depending on the day, you might catch any of the following in progress.
This is an active working environment. Please follow staff guidance and do not touch tools, equipment, or aircraft unless invited.
The sections below are archival — the story of the 1943 WWII-era hangar itself, separate from the live restoration work above.
Cadets and trainers line the ramp at the contract flight school built by Oklahoma Air College.
Decades as an aircraft paint shop left Hangar 3 worn down when Tony found it.
Home to The Caldwell Collection, with a Navy Stearman on the ramp out front.
Photo: Nigel HitchmanArchival images from Mustang Field during WWII — the training detachment, the field lined with planes, and documents from the era.
Research in progress — dusting off the archives. More photos and stories coming soon.
At the heart of The Caldwell Collection at Mustang Field stands a structure as rich in history as the aircraft it houses — a 30,000-square-foot WWII-era hangar. Once an essential part of Mustang Field, a training base for American pilots during World War II, this historic hangar played a role in preparing aviators for combat and shaping the future of military aviation.
Built in 1943, this hangar was part of a bustling airfield where young cadets trained in models displayed around the museum today, learning the fundamentals of flight. These very walls echoed with the sounds of roaring engines, hurried footsteps, and the unwavering determination of those who would go on to serve in the skies.
After the war, Mustang Field became what is now El Reno Regional Airport. The hangar stayed, but decades of weather wore it down, and it came close to being lost.
Thanks to a collaborative effort between the City of El Reno and The Caldwell Collection at Mustang Field, this hangar was carefully restored to honor its original design while adapting it for a new purpose. The renovation, led by David French of D.H. French Construction, with building designer Dan Welle of Welle & Company and interior design by Andrea Edwards, LID, IIDA, NCIDQ of CRPDesign, brought this historic structure back to life with:
Today the hangar holds the Collection and a restoration shop, with room to display a couple of dozen aircraft at a time, rotated from our storage hangar until the new Hangar 1 buildings open in early 2028. It is a place for pilots, history buffs, and El Reno neighbors to gather, in the building where cadets once trained.
Separate from the aircraft restoration above, this is how the building itself was restored. The 1943 WWII-era Hangar 3 was brought back in phases across 2025 — from demolition through completion.
Work begins. The WWII-era hangar is stripped back so it can be restored to its original 1943 character and become the home of The Caldwell Collection.
Inside, decades of clutter and outdated infrastructure are cleared out to make room for the museum floor and the restoration shop.
New exterior metal siding is in place, true to the hangar's original lines.
Solid ground, soaring vision. New concrete flooring has been poured, and clean-up inside the hangar has revealed its full footprint.
Siding, structural reinforcement, and interior build-out continued across summer and fall 2025, with final completion in late 2025. Archival photos from those phases will be added as we finish cataloging.
Construction and interior build-out across 2025.
