Aircraft restoration volunteers.

I was going through old posts here on the forum, and there I found a post asking for advise on how to get involved with some mueum as a volunteer. A lot of good advise was given on where to go, and who to talk to (I could not have done better, living as I do in Iceland), but there was one piece of information left out that I, personally, feel is very important as well. And that is what to expect, once you start as a volunteer.

I´m a member of a group that is restoring old aircraft, and at the moment there are two projects going on, a Waco YKS6 and a DFS Olympia glider. We are always willing to accept more people, but some of them seem to stay a very short time indeed and we are getting a bad reputation on the airport as being very egoistic and difficault to get along with. I do not think we are (obviously!!!;-) ) but I think it is more of a lack of information problem than anything else. When people start as volunteers in a group they have to realize that we have to do more than just build airplanes. It took us some three years to build ourselfs a desent workshop. During that time we got six new people and none of them lasted more than a couple of evenings. They came to build airplanes, not workshops, and did not realize that in order to build airplanes we needed to have a workshop!!! So if you are thinking about volunteering as an amature airplane builder, be prepared to have to do something completly different for the short term, like for example building a workshop or mending the roof!!!
Another area of friction with new people is what they are put to work on. A couple of guys have been lost because they came at a time when we were fixing corrotion in the fuselage of the Waco. It was a two man job, one removing corroded parts and making new ones in their place and another was welding them in place. The newcomers were put to work on the wing of the Olympia with the rest of us. They had come to fix a biplane, and to work on the glider was something they didn´t like. Both left, but if they had hung in there a little bit longer, we could have had lot to do for them on the Waco. So be prepared to do other jobs than just your favorit airplane.
Another area where there seems to be some misunderstanding, is regarding communication. If you are new in a group and want to talk, find a suitible time to do this when someone is not working. If you go to somebody who is working on something, do not expect him to be much of conversationizt. He is concentrating on his work and if he does not engage in deep conversation, he is not trying to be rude, he is just working. Usually about half an hour each night (in our case at least) is set aside for general bull S**t. So do not feel insaulted if someone or another does not talk to you while working. We have lost a number of newcomers because of this.
Another point, try to asses the morale of the group and adjust to it. We have lost people because they do not understand the local humour in the workshop!!!!
And last but not least…..do not try to start to run the show on your first evening with a new group, regardless of your experiance. It will lead to friction, and rest assured, if you take your time you will get all the responsibilities you want when you have been accepted by the group.

I hope these few points might help somebody that is interested in volunteer work. I started with my group when I was 16 and have been at it for 13 years now, enjoying every minute of it.

Regards,
Galdri