Story ID: 
Paint Company Gives C-47s New Coats
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: A pair of the WWII-era transports on display at EAA AirVenture sport new paint schemes thanks to Sherwin-Williams' philanthropy.
Word Count: 210
Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, through its aerospace coatings division, has contributed to the restoration of a pair of C-47s appearing in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this week at EAA AirVenture.

A WWII-vintage C-47 owned by the American Flight Museum was painted in the colors of an AC-47 gunship in which Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John Levitow served during the Vietnam War. The company donated the paint necessary to recreate the historic scheme, including nine kits of military specification primer along with military topcoats in tan, black, and two shades of green.

“[For] a not-for-profit flying air museum, this kind of support from Sherwin-Williams is tremendous,” said museum president Robert Rice. “With this donation, we can continue to pay proper tribute to the gunship’s legacy.”

The second of the twin-engine transports on display is from the Yankee Air Museum, which chose to replicate the brown and gray paint scheme worn by the 1st Air Commando Group during WWII in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. “The coatings applied are military grade,” noted Fernando Hernandez, a technical representative with Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings, describing the donated materials. “Now that the plane is done, it is fit for service, as everything we are supplying meets military specifications.”