Two Camp Verde men are getting the professional chance of a lifetime, joining an elite crew of detailers responsible for giving Air Force One a presidential shine.
This week, July 24 through 30, Rob Fafrowicz and Rob Zubek of All in the Polish Detailing are taking part in a detailing event at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
Led by detailer Renny Doyle of Detailing Success, the handpicked Air Force One Detailing Team will be detailing not only the first jet to bear the Air Force One moniker, but also a World War II B-52G Stratofortress, the Supersonic Concorde Alpha Golf and a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet.
It is Fafrowicz and Zubek’s first time on the team. Both men have trained with Doyle in the past, becoming part of Doyle’s Detail Mafia.
The pair’s selection to the Air Force One Detailing Team, Zubek said, is due to several factors, including personal chemistry and a commitment to becoming better at the detailer’s craft.
“[Doyle] doesn’t just select anyone,” said Zubek, who moved to Camp Verde from Georgia three months ago. “… It’s a close-knit group not open to the public. We didn’t ask or fill anything out to be selected.
“To be a part of such a significant project as preserving Air Force One, that beautiful icon of our country’s aviation heritage and history, is thrilling for me. How many chances do you get to work on preserving a piece of our country’s history? It is an honor to be a part of this team and to share in this unique opportunity.”
According to Fafrowicz, a longtime local to Camp Verde, the event is a hefty task.
“First off, the paint on an aircraft is sturdier than on a car,” he said, adding that aircraft sensors make detail work more complicated.
The aluminum of the fuselage also presents challenges: “It’s very complicated to polish. That mirror finish takes a long time to achieve. “When we started our detailing business, it was not a career where we expected to be detailing historical, multi-million-dollar museum treasures,” Fafrowicz continued. “We are honored to be joining such an exclusive team of experienced high-end detailers and to have the opportunity to polish an iconic piece of American aviation history.”
According to team leader Doyle, the annual Air Force One Detailing project has become one of the most prestigious detailing projects in the country.
“When this project began nearly 15 years ago with a Bush administration official asking me to save this famous plane, which was falling into ruin on the tarmac at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, I had only five detailers who had trained with me and whom I trusted on such a project,” Doyle said. “We were horrified at the condition of the aircraft, which had served as a flying Oval Office for presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon …. Today, Rob F and Rob Z are among the most skilled and talented detailers in our network capable of helping us preserve her beauty.”
