Tennessee community rallies behind restoration of historic plane
Published 4:11 pm Sunday, February 27, 2022
CROSSVILLE, Tenn. — A community group has flown into action to restore a retired A-4 Navy jet that landed at Cumberland County High School in 1981. The goal is to restore the aircraft to U.S. Navy standards and ensure the mascot for the Jets remains outside the school for years to come.
“We’ve received amazing support from the community,” said Principal Jon Hall.
Hall is a member of the Save Our Jet restoration committee that includes Crossville City Manager Greg Wood, Cumberland County High School graduate and retired U.S. Marine Trey Meadows and Stone Memorial High School senior and Boy Scout Will Magnusson. The effort has also garnered support from local veterans groups.
“It’s neat to see how many people have gotten involved with it,” Hall said.
The campaign brought in $6,000 in one week toward a goal of $12,000-$14,000.
Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, a 1974 graduate of CCHS, said, “It’s important for all schools to have their mascots to support. It’s a tradition. It’s been here forever. A lot of people are interested in this.”
The A-4 bears the name of Curt Watson, a 1968 graduate of CCHS who flew with the Blue Angels. Watson helped have the jet repainted as a replica Blue Angel jet. At the time, CCHS was the only high school in the world to own a replica Blue Angel Jet.
Watson played football for the University of Tennessee after high school, earning All-SEC honors before being drafted by the New Orleans Saints. He was cut during training camp before signing with the Green Bay Packers. But he was unable to duplicate his college success and was cut again.
Soon, Watson found a new path with the U.S. Navy.
During a ski trip to Utah, a friend, who was a pilot for American Airlines and a former naval pilot, noted the Navy was looking for individuals to fly its planes and encouraged him to check it out. Watson heeded his friend’s advice and enlisted. Following a rigorous 18-month training program at Navy flight school, he earned his pilot wings. That eventually led to a spot with the Blue Angels, which he qualified for on his third attempt. Watson flew with the Blue Angels from 1983-86.
“It was the best job I ever had,” Watson said. “It was a lot of concentration and work. I got to travel around the country.”
It was while he was with the Blue Angels that Watson made a trip to Crossville and noted that when the jet was delivered in 1981 from a “boneyard” in the Arizona desert, it looked “terrible.”
He arranged for a team of four to five Navy crewmen from his home base in Pensacola, Florida, to come to Crossville and do some restoration work on the plane.
“I think it’s super they’re restoring the plane,” said Watson, now retired from FedEx and living in Germantown, Tennessee. “People realize how difficult it is to get one of these planes. You do what you have to do to keep it.
“We’re the Cumberland Jets and have jets as a mascot. How cool is that?”
The Department of the Navy contacted the city of Crossville, which holds the lease with the Navy, last summer about the need to restore the jet. They gave the city two years for the work to be completed.
Hall said the necessary work includes some sandblasting, structural repairs and a fresh coat of paint. The paint makes up the bulk of the cost at $8,000. It’s only available from a company in Jacksonville, Florida, and can’t be shipped. Hall said the restoration committee is working to coordinate a flight to Jacksonville to pick up the 10 gallons needed for the project.
The school will also work with students from the automotive collision repair program at Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Crossville, taught by Nancy McInerney. They will strip the old paint and complete the repairs before applying new paint and decals provided by the Navy. That work is scheduled for the summer.
TCAT president Cliff Wightman said: “The jet will expand the learning experience. I have great confidence in our auto collision instructor, Nancy McInerney, leading her students through the process. We are excited to help with the restoration. On a personal note, I’m a graduate of CCHS, as are many of our students, staff and faculty. So once a Jet, always a Jet.”
Meadows noticed the jet’s need for some TLC when he visited Crossville last fall. He reached out to members of the community and the Blue Angels and its alumni association, the U.S. Navy and the National Museum of Naval Aviation.
Meadows was a sophomore when the A-4 jet was installed at the school. He developed an interest in aviation that led to 20 years of flying helicopters in a 35-year career in the U.S. Marines.
“I want to ensure that future generations of CCHS alumni are proud to be Jets and are proud of our two great mascots,” Meadows said.
The school also has Miss Nettie, a T-33 Navy training aircraft on display at the Jet football field.
In addition to the community donations, the Cumberland County Board of Education’s budget committee recommended supporting the project with $8,000 from the school system’s general fund. That has not yet been approved by the full board, however.
Hall said the goal is to have all the work complete by next fall’s football homecoming.
Donations can be mailed to the school or made online through a PayPal account that can be accessed through a link on the school’s and district’s websites. Hall said they’re in the process of building a Facebook page that will provide updates and a Pay- Pal link.
