Rare Rearwin Makes First Post-Restoration Flight

August 26, 2015 - After a nine-month ground-up restoration by the Western Antique Aircraft and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon, the extremely rare 1938 Rearwin 6000M Speedster, N19415 was rolled out and flown. The Speedster was acquired thanks to the generous donation of funds by museum supporters. The airplane, a basket case when it arrived at the museum in 2008, was transported from New York to Oregon by museum volunteers.  

The restoration required 2,500 hours of labor and included fabricating new main spars, rear spars and a large amount of sheet metal fairings including new wheelpants. Of the 2,500 hours, approximately 1,500 hours were volunteer hours, supervised by a staff A&P. In addition to the labor hours, donations from Consolidated Aircraft Coatings for covering and Oregon Aero for seats were an immense help in completing the project. The Speedster will join many other antique airplanes in the collection and will be flown during the Museum’s popular “Second Saturdays” each month.