A group in the Rio Grande Valley is busy working to restore old warplanes. They want to bring back that history and share it with others.

The Mid-Valley Airport in Weslaco is where enthusiasts have been rebuilding and refurbishing old aircraft going back many decades. They're doing this in order to get people excited about aviation.

"As a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, I skipped school a lot to ride my bike to the airport to hang around the old airplanes," Vintage aircraft restorer Jeremy Reiley said.

These old airplanes have a history going back to the last great war.

Reiley owns some of these aircraft. He's one of several who spend much of their free time restoring them.

"I think about it all the time when I crawl into it. It gives me goosebumps right now, thinking who were these people that learned to fly in this airplane? Where are they now?" Reiley said.

That aircraft collection includes a Vultee BT 13. Reiley owns one in Harlingen, and the one at the Mid-Valley airport is owned by a friend.

"It was a basic trainer during World War II. There were three phases of training," Reiley said.

The Vultee has a history in the Valley. During World War II, crews learned to fire machine guns at moving targets across the coast, these Vultees pulled the targets.

"Somebody got to fly these airplanes, while other people flew behind and shot at this bedsheet. Cameron County airport, that was a military base, that's the aux field, auxiliary field. They did a lot of gunning, dropping bombs and shooting targets on the ground and in the air all over the Laguna Madre," Reiley said.

He says after major wars, many aircraft weren't needed, many were scrapped. He says there are 50 of Vultees left around the world. Also included in his collection is a Messerschmitt 208, of which there are four left in the world; none of them are flying.

"During World War II, this was an airplane that was used by the Germans to fly mail, cargo," Reiley said.

He plans to get the Messerschmitt flying. It was built from parts made in the last days of the war.

"Many of us believe we're not the owners of these airplanes. We're just a caretaker and our job is to make sure they're still flying and sharing their stories long after we're gone," Reiley said.

Reiley says they look forward to restoring these old planes for air shows to show kids and the public the stories behind them. He hopes one day the Valley can have a museum, dedicated to these.

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