Structural maintenance technician builds unique attraction Published Feb. 27, 2013 By Tech. Sgt. Brenda Cosola 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- From the time Tech. Sgt. Donald M. Gonzales was a little boy, he said he knew no matter what he did in life, it would involve airplanes. Gonzales said he was "born into aviation." His grandfather owns an airport, so he went from building planes out of Legos as a child to restoring vintage airplanes as a teenager. "I grew up working on older airplanes doing restoration work," said Gonzales, a structural maintenance technician with the Youngstown Air Reserve Station for 13 years. "I was 16 when I started flying. I learned how to fly before I could drive." In addition to Gonzales' current duties in aircraft maintenance, he is working on a project that will add unique flare to the YARS C-130 Bar and Grille located at the Community Activity Center. "It's a [C-130] nose mock-up, just apt of the flightdeck forward," he said. "It will hang from the club ceiling. It will look like a C-130 is coming through the ceiling." This five-foot model has been in the works for several years and is finally coming to fruition in the paint shop. "This was an older project that was passed down from one person to the next," he said. "I was happy to be given the opportunity to do it." Gonzales puts his background in aviation to use and continually molds the project. "I was born into aviation," he said. "I started out with Legos as a child. I would build all kinds of airplanes and it just came natural. It's been a fun, interesting project, just being able to design it as I go." Juggling his primary mission and this additional project is an easy task for Gonzales, according to his flight chief, Senior Master Sgt. Darin J. Wesoloski. "He's very talented," said Wesoloski. "He's an old soul, very smart and motivated." Currently, Gonzales is working on his Community College of the Air Force degree and is interested in furthering his career in aviation. "I'm tossing around the idea of doing engineering or going into aviation management," Gonzales said. "I'm working on my commercial pilot's license now." In the meantime, he will focus on maintaining the 910th Airlift Wing's C-130 aircraft, adding in time to work on the model C-130 nose mock-up as mission requirements allow. "Aircraft maintenance comes first so [the C-130 nose mock-up project] gets put on the backburner quite often," Gonzales said. "I've been working on it now for about two months and it will be probably another two or three months before it is finished." Once complete, it will appear as if a C-130 plane is bursting through the ceiling of the bar. The nose will complete the look started by the previous installation of propeller-shaped ceiling fans.