Champaign Gal, a B-25 plane based in Urbana, needs new engine to fly home

The museum is based at Grimes Field in Urbana.

Executive Director Dave Shiffer said a flight crew was in Indiana at the end of September to be in an air show and give rides when something went wrong with the plane. He said the aviation museum offers flights called living history flight experiences, a special authorization the FAA allows, and the group is one of a few in the U.S. that have this ability.

“On the way home and on take off, the pilots noticed that there was some excessive smoke coming from the engine,” he said. “The engine was burning oil and so oil was getting out, either on a hot surface or something internally was burning.”

At that time, the pilots turned around and landed, started looking at the issue and decided that the airplane needed further maintenance.

“It turned out that they found metal shavings in an oil screen (similar to an oil filter). They pulled the oil screen and there was little bits of metal in there, which is bad,” Shiffer said. “Anytime there is metal in the oil, it means some place in the engine, something is rubbing or something is breaking down, there’s some kind of problem internally.”

This caused the airplane to be stuck in Indiana on the ramp, waiting for an engine change. Shiffer said last week the maintenance crew got the old engine off, which has since returned to the museum, but the craft is still waiting for a new right engine.

Museum officials searched for an engine, and due to COVID, parts and inflation, could only find one for $135,000. So, they created a PayPal account for people to donate to help buy the new engine to fix the airplane and bring it home.

“Through PayPal, we’ve raised $51,000 towards it ... A couple of weeks to raise that is just amazing support we’re getting for that,” Shiffer said.

Although the $135,000 will cover the cost of the engine, it will not cover the cost of labor and installation to fix it, which could be another $20,000 to $30,000.

Shiffer said the PayPal will stay up for donations as long as it’s necessary. To donate, visit https://rb.gy/aoeizh.