Wing's

I got the chance the other day to visit Wing's Metal Works in the little one horse town of San Pierre, Indiana. Actually, it's more like a one Shetland pony town. Not much happening in San Pierre except for Wing's but there's a lot going on there. The shop is located in what used to be a grocery store. It's a cool old building - big enough for plenty of equipment and cars. The shop deals with aircraft and auto restoration/fabrication. The owner, Dave Wenglarz, was kind enough to give me the guided tour and tell me a little about how he got into the business and what he does there.

From what I saw, he's got everything a fabricator could want. English wheel, Pullmax, shear, planishing hammer, brake, welders, lathe, milling machine, and lots of clamps. The place has got quite a few cars in the shop that are in various stages of repair. He is working on a sleeper cab for a car hauler that he made the doors for and is skinning out. He also had a cowling for an old Waco airplane he was finishing up. The work that I could see was nothing short of top notch. He also was kind enough to give me the go ahead to set up a field trip for my vocational welding class. I'm sure the boys will like seeing his operation as much as I did.

I'd love to have a shop like this one and work on all that cool old stuff. It appears, however, he's got a similar situation that myself and many others have - always too busy working on everyone else's stuff to work on his own. He's got an old pickup in the shop that belongs to him that he hasn't worked on in a while. What he's got done is really nice and I'm sure when he finishes it up it will be just killer. Seeing all of that was just what I needed to start the new year off on the right foot. Some great inspiration! Thanks Dave.