A Winnipeg man is preserving the history of American aviation.

For two years, Crisanto Aquino has been selected to be a part of the Air Force One Detailing Team.

For his skills and efforts in preserving planes like Air Force One and a B17 Flying Fortress, Aquino was given a personal letter of thank from the United States Congress.

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"It actually made me cry, it was a personal letter from members of Congress, which is pretty cool," says Aquino. "I was the only one from Canada- the representative for Canada."

The Air Force One Detailing Team has been working on these planes for sixteen years. Aquino says, "It made an impact on history. That was the goal, to maintain those planes for generations to come."

"We polished the exterior of the planes. The Air Force One was badly deteriorated so that definitely took a lot of years, time, and man-hours to restore it to what it is right now," says Aquino

Aquino says without this type of work, the history these planes hold would be lost.

"A couple of weeks ago I met one of the pilots. He is now 96 years old. Knowing how many missions he went to and his story... that was definitely iconic - it just blew me away, basically," says Aquino.

"Basically, to teach the younger generations what the [plane's] history is all about. Without preserving it, how are they going to know? In preserving those... you are just sharing it with the younger generations what the plane was all about."