Historic Belgian Cessna 310 Under Restoration by Preservation Group

Nestled right in the middle of Belgium in the town of Gembloux, a group known as the Belgian Aviation Preservation Association (BAPA) is hard at work restoring a number of impressive vintage aircraft. Among those projects is the 1958 Cessna 310B OO-SEI. OO-SEI began its career in October of 1958 when it was delivered to the Belgian airline Sabena as a multi-engine trainer. Sabena was operated from 1923 through 2001 as the national airline of Belgium using airplanes from Fokker Tri-Motors, Douglas DC-3/4/6s, Lockheed Constellations all the way to Boeing 707s and 747s. 

Sabena’s long history began as a government assisted program to make airline transportation available to the Belgian population. In 1925 Sabena opened a route from Brussels to Leopoldville, the capital of the Belgian Congo in Africa. Sabena actually began building aerodromes in the Congo so they could expand and continue their operations into Africa. This route is one that set Sabena apart from any competitors and for some time was their only profitable route.

During the time this 310 was in service with Sabena, the training program began in a Tiger Moth, progressed to the 310 and then concluded in a DC-3. OO-SEI was one of nine Cessna 310s to be operated by Sabena and remained in service with them until 1981 when they were replaced with the Embraer EMB 121 Xingu. When it was retired, the 310 was initially parked in storage at Brussels airport.

In the 1990s a group known as the Sabena Old Timers chose OO-SEI as a restoration project. The group had previously completed the restoration of the Westland Lysander Mk.IIIA V9546, OO-SOT. The group intended on using the 310 as a chase plane to move the technical team for the Lysander when it went to displays. Unfortunately the group was never able to complete the 310 and it moved on to the VLOC Technical School in Oostende, Belgium, where Sabena’s very first airline flight operated from in 1923.

VLOC used the 310 as most technical schools use their airplanes to repeatedly dismantle, assemble and repair for training their students. OO-SEI once again lent her hand to preparing people for a career in aviation even without flying. Years later when the school acquired newer aircraft for their training, they offered it to BAPA as a restoration project.

BAPA took delivery of the airplane in 2021 and after a three day disassembly and transportation, began taking stock of the many parts required to complete the airplane. The interior of the airplane had been stripped out including the windows. They were also missing the tail cone, wing fillets and most significantly, the characteristic wingtip tanks. However the bones of the airplane still appeared to be in good condition and with the acquisition of some components, a total restoration was very achievable.

BAPA’s efforts have had a great impact on OO-SEI since its restoration began. The remaining parts have been sourced including a full interior from a Cessna 310D donor in the north of France. Unfortunately the big missing component of tip tanks remained. Luckily through a Facebook group, BAPA found a perfect set of tip tanks which they give great credit to Dianne Baginski for. Unfortunately they are still seeking further assistance in getting them delivered to Belgium from Ohio where they are currently located. 

In the meantime, work progresses on the pieces of OO-SEI which BAPA actually has in house. The airframe has greatly progressed from a nearly empty shell to freshly primed and painted components which are nearing the assembly stage. The striking blue and green scheme of Sabena’s Cessna 310s is being reapplied to show OO-SEI exactly as she was when in service. The transformation of OO-SEI is entirely through the hard work of the BAPA volunteers, one of whom actually did his first multi-engine flight in OO-SEI when training with Sabena decades ago.

BAPA is also continually working on the restoration of a B-25J which starred in several films including the 1970 movie Catch-22. The enormous undertaking of bringing this airplane from a very sad state of dereliction to a beautiful display ready static aircraft is taking place alongside OO-SEI and a handful of other aircraft. Their impressive efforts can be viewed on their website at WWW.BAPA.AERO and support of this great organization would greatly benefit the excellent restoration of these once-flying pieces of history.