Like a lot of kids growing up during World War II, Colin Powers, of La Pine, was fascinated by planes. His mom, also entranced, had cards with illustrations of plane silhouettes on them so she could identify the different models.

“That had to have been how I learned it,” said Powers, 79, at the Sunriver Airport this week, where his airplane is being stored in a hangar. About five weeks ago, Powers finished restoring a Piper L-4J used in World War II. He plans to fly it at 9 a.m., June 19, at the Sunriver Airport. It will be the first time the plane has flown since 1968. Although he’s had to use lots of new parts for the plane, he’s taken special care to keep everything as authentic as possible.

“It’s essentially a new plane from head to tail,” Powers said.

That meant visiting swap meets, searching online and dialing up businesses he knows make new things look old; from having screws re-plated with silver to having a wooden propeller built with an original decal.

“It’s fun rebuilding these things,” Powers said. “Searching around: That’s the fun part.”

The plane is a war-version of the Piper J-3 Cub, a civilian plane first made in 1937. The body then, and on Powers’ restored version, is actually made of a tough, synthetic fabric: The frame is metal. To fit the fabric tightly over the frame, Powers had to apply the pieces in sections, ironing seams together at 350 degrees. He then painted the white material an Army green. Powers gives credit to the pilots who were brave enough to fly in war zones with such little protection.

Powers bought the plane from an Idaho man in 2012, after 20 years of nudging. The man didn’t have plans to restore it but was slow to sell it, and he couldn’t find the airworthiness certificate. Once the plane was finished this year, Powers again asked for the certificate, but the man still hadn’t found it.

Although he was reluctant, Powers called the Federal Aviation Administration to get a duplicate. Everything went smoothly.

“The joke among pilots about FAA is, ‘Their business is to keep you on the ground,’” said Powers.

Although Powers doesn’t know the exact history of his plane, information gleaned from the plane’s original bill of sale has led him to believe it was used on the island of Saipan following the battle there. After the battle of Saipan ended in 1944, about 50 Japanese soldiers hid in the island’s jungle, continuing to skirmish with the Americans based there. The Americans responded by dropping leaflets telling the Japanese to surrender instead of dropping bombs.

Powers said the plane was built in 1945 and delivered to the Army in June of that year. In the hangar, the plane pairs nicely with a 1945 Jeep Ford Powers also restored, about seven years ago. But even though the Jeep has been restored to authentic perfection too, Powers admits planes are his first passion.

“I’ve been airplane crazy ever since I was a kid,” Powers said.

Growing up in the small California town of Twain Harte during the war, Powers remembers being in the middle of a lake in a rowboat alone. Without any warning, a B-24 zoomed over his head. He remembers his jaw dropping, and said he can still recall the way the numbers on the plane looked right in front of him.

Powers’ plane has tandem seating, which during the war meant it could only carry fairly small, lightweight servicemen. With full fuel and oil, Powers’ plane can carry 380 pounds and keep its center of gravity, but alone he has to steer from the backseat because his legs are too long— otherwise he’ll bump his knees. Powers, who got his pilot’s license in 1963, has about 2,000 hours of flight time. He was a Hewlett-Packard mechanical engineer for 30 years and later volunteered and ultimately became director of restoration for Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville.

He’s excited to take the plane up in the air later this month and hopes people can come out to see the old plane. He has plans to sell the plane to a historical museum later this summer or fall. It’s too valuable to take flying regularly, he said, and besides, he already has his next project in mind.

“We are blessed in this country with the freedom to fly anywhere,” Powers said. “That’s a freedom we don’t want to lose.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, kfisicaro@bendbulletin.com

If you go

Powers will be flying the Piper L-4J at 9 a.m. June 19 at Sunriver Airport, 17600 Center Drive. Visitors who want to watch the flight should park in the lot near the main building, called the FBO building. They can watch the plane take off from inside the FBO or on its porch.