T-35A Buckaroo Restoration

T-35A Buckaroo Restoration This is the dedicated page for the Kientz family Temco T-35A restoration which was dug out of the Saudi Arabian Desert by Bill Kientz.

02/23/2026

A huge milestone was made today. Just a few days shy of eight long years of work…

Throwing out a hail marry. Trying to get our fuel gauges to work. They look like old military surplus Jeep gauges, so I ...
02/10/2026

Throwing out a hail marry. Trying to get our fuel gauges to work. They look like old military surplus Jeep gauges, so I ordered two 24vt, but we are struggling to get them to work with our fuel floats. We’ve checked the resistance on the floats, but nothing comes up on the gauge.

Anyone want to toss out any suggestions?

02/06/2026

I promise ya’ll we are getting close. It’s just all the little things that need fine adjustment to make it airworthy.

7 years ago to the day. Center section was completely torn down to each individual piece and started to get put back tog...
02/05/2026

7 years ago to the day. Center section was completely torn down to each individual piece and started to get put back together. First photo is a before and after.

Progress has been slow. We’re working on the small gremlins that have been popping up with electrical and hydraulic.

Last week pops and I did a 22hr road trip. St. Louis, to Athens, Tennessee down to Perry, Georgia and back to St. Louis....
10/22/2025

Last week pops and I did a 22hr road trip. St. Louis, to Athens, Tennessee down to Perry, Georgia and back to St. Louis. We needed to stop at the Swift Museum Foundation, Inc. before picking up the remaining spare parts for the T-35 down in Perry.

We’re currently doing system checks, leak checks, and working with a DAR since this bird was ever issued an Airworthiness Certiicate as it was built and sent directly to Saudi Arabia.

2018, 2020, 2025
09/05/2025

2018, 2020, 2025

First time anything has been powered in this old girl in nearly 70 years!
09/02/2025

First time anything has been powered in this old girl in nearly 70 years!

With the recent photos of me polishing, I’ve been asked what livery we plan on using. “Put invasion stripes on it!” “Sta...
07/20/2025

With the recent photos of me polishing, I’ve been asked what livery we plan on using. “Put invasion stripes on it!” “Stars and bars!” “Are you going to paint her yellow again?”

Our T-35 never had US markings on it. In fact, when it went over to Saudi Arabia it had just the MDAP number on them. Ours is 34467 and the Swift Museum Foundations is 34466.

Thankfully due to my dad’s efforts, he was able to get a lot of archived photos from prior Temco employees. These photos (3-6) show the packing process back in March 27th, 1953.

The archived photo from Saudi Arabia shows them on the flight line, actively being flown in various stages of Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force markings. Ours has only the MDAP number at the time.

Around 1955 they stopped flying all but two T-35A’s. Those two were painted yellow to prevent further corrosion from the Red Sea. Ours was one of those airplanes.

07/19/2025

Threeish days of polishing. Didn’t get quite as much as I wanted done, but with the 98F heat, the more coarse polish was flashing over on me. Luckily Tailwind Aviation Solutions let me stay after hours and I got a long more done as it cooled off. We also played around with weight and balance which was a bit eye opening with all the armament. I’ll post more pictures in the next few days.

07/18/2025

Making airplane noises.

07/17/2025

Just a sneak peak. You won’t be seeing me at Oshkosh this year, but good things are on the horizon. We have a lot to be thankful for and all the help we’ve received so far!

Address

Perry, GA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when T-35A Buckaroo Restoration posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share