Silhouettes of Airpower

  • Published
  • By Shawn J. Jones
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  
A team of Reserve Airmen from the 514th Air Mobility Wing fused art, technology and heritage together in a special project to display the legacy of the wing's contributions to airpower.

Visitors to the wing's main conference room who look up will see a mural that includes five model aircraft in formation, suspended from the ceiling which the Airmen painted in the likeness of a cloud-filled blue sky.

The model aircraft show the wing's airpower legacy, which reaches back to the late 1940's, when Airmen of the 514th Troop Carrier Wing flew C-46 Commandos. Other aircraft depicted in the mural include, from past to present, the C-119 Flying Boxcar, C-141 Starlifter, KC-10 Extender and C-17 Globemaster III.

The project was led by 2nd Lt. Melissa Torchon, 514th Maintenance Squadron. She said it was challenging to find the right Airmen for the job, since it called for some uncommon skills.  Despite this challenge, she soon learned that many of her fellow maintainers were more skilled and talented than she suspected.

"The team came together magnificently," she said. "It was better than what I prayed for."

One of those talented maintainers was Airman 1st Class Diana Horn, also from the 514th MXS, who has participated in formal college-level art programs since she was 15 years old. Horn and two other Airmen were charged with the painting portion of the mural.

"We wanted to make the mural as real as possible," Horn said. "We wanted to create almost a moving effect. By making the painting go from night to day in the gradual darkening and the placement of the clouds, the viewer's eyes flow with the painting."

The mural contains several hidden images painted within the clouds, including the Freedom Wing badge, a compass, and the occupational badges for pilots, civil engineers and maintainers. The Airmen also painted "514th" in stars.

For Horn, the project was a family affair. Her husband, Master Sgt. Robert Horn, 714th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, designed the models and her father-in-law, Cliff Horn, helped build them.

The models look like plane-shaped oreo cookies, with a black synthetic polymer on the outside and a translucent acrylic core which is hollowed out and lined with LED lights. Power wires run from the models, up through the metal piping that suspends the aircraft from the painted ceiling.

"I feel very honored, and proud to be a part of such a beautiful and historic project," Airman Horn said. "I not only got to be a part of something that will represent the pride and heritage of the Freedom Wing for many years to come, but I also made lasting relationships with my fellow Airmen."