Dublin resident Gary Schnell has been named Museum of Aviation Volunteer of the Quarter. The award, presented March 15, recognizes Schnell’s outstanding work as a volunteer during the first quarter of 2012. He has contributed a total of 1,170 hours in the Museum’s Aircraft Restoration Department since 2007. Schnell has had a life-long interest in aviation, earning his pilot’s certificate in California at the age of 19. Shortly thereafter, he purchased a 1962 Mooney aircraft, his first and only aircraft which he still owns today after 24 years. A few years later he earned his A&P license from the Orange Coast College.
Museum Director Ken Emery, right, congratulates Gary Schnell, left, and his wife Regina at the Museum of Aviation foundation board meeting on March 15.Schnell was named Volunteer of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2012.
His experience includes working in the nuclear industry, building control rod mechanisms for Naval reactors; building hydraulic flight control actuators; and doing research and development experiments as an engineer. He came to Georgia in 2003 on a temporary assignment while working for the Parker Hannifin Corporation in Irvine California. His two-week assignment turned into an 11-week stay and in 2005 he moved permanently to Dublin.
Schnell has a great interest in history and aviation and collects old tractors, engines, radios and firearms. He also owns a 1931 Ford. At the Museum, he has worked on several aircraft including the B-29 bomber, the P-80 and the F-102 fighter. He is presently working to restore the Museum’s F-86 fighter.
– Bob Dubiel, Marketing Director
