Restored T-34B "Fly-over" to be part of

Veterans Memorial Dedication Ceremony

 

From Veterans Memorial Committee

An exciting part of the dedication ceremony for the new Hopkins County Veterans Memorial on Saturday, June 30 will be a "fly-over" by a Beechcraft T-34B "Mentor" military trainer aircraft in Navy Blue Angel colors, owned and piloted by local attorney and CPA Carl Bryan and co-pilot Danny Goggans. The airplane is a propeller-driven single-engine craft, and this model was widely exported for use around the world. Some remain in service in North and South America, Africa, Western Europe, Malaysia, and Japan almost 6 decades after it was first designed and built in the early to mid 1950's. The Mentor is still used by NASA, and by the "Lima Lima Flight Team" and "Dragon Flight," both civilian demonstration teams.

 

 

 

 

Bryan's T-34B has been completely restored in a 7-year-long project and is now essentially a completely new aircraft sporting a new 300+ horsepower engine, an all-digital avionics package, and a stunning paint job. The fly-over during the Hopkins County Veterans Memorial dedication ceremony on June 30 will be carefully timed to coincide with the other parts of the program, and should provide a thrilling and meaningful accent to the overall message of the dedication. The T-34B, according to internet research, was typically equipped with a 225-horsepower engine, and had a wingspan of almost 33 feet. Its maximum speed was 188 miles per hour, with a range of 770 miles. Trainer models, as is the one that will fly over the new Veterans Memorial during the dedication ceremony, usually had no armament, but regular combat models could be armed with flares, incendiary bombs, rocket or gun pods, and anti-tank missiles. A total of about 1,300 of the trainer models were built, and only about 120 worldwide are still airworthy.

 

Thank You, Carl Bryan!!!

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