The
venerable T-34C Turbo Mentor made its final student training flight at
Whiting Field Naval Air Station in Milton today, landing at about noon.
The
final training flight included student 1st Lt. Sarah Horn and
instructor Cmdr. John Hensel, the commanding officer of Training
Squadron 2.
The T-34, which has been in service at Whiting Field since 1977, has been replaced by the more modern T-6B Texan II.
Training
Squadron 2 — known as the “Doerbirds” — retired the T-34 today, marking
the last unit at Whiting’s Training Air Wing 5 to cycle out of the old
plane.
“From this day on, the Doerbirds will forever be known as
the squadron that flew the T-34C into history here at Wing 5 and NAS
Whiting Field,” said Col. James Grace, commander of Training Air Wing 5.
Whiting
Field has been home to 400 T-34s over the years. Most of remaining
crafts will be sent to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, where the Navy
continues to train with them.
“If only these planes could talk
and tell us about the thousands of aviators who took their first flight
in the T-34C,” Grace said. “The anxiety, fear, fright and excitement.
The total joy of that first solo flight or being absolutely sick to
their stomach from air sickness. The highs, the lows, the dreams
realized and the dreams taken away. The first loop, first spin, first
takeoff and first landing.”
An estimated 22,600 students have trained on the T-34 at Whiting Field, completing more than 2.8 million hours of flight.
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