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No it's not a T-34 but when I stopped by
Centennial Airport on 9/21/08, I didn't see any T-34s on the ramp
but I did see 1Lt Valarie Annunziata and 2Lt Chris Sullivan briefing
for their return flight to Vance AFB.
Since they were flying the Texan
II
and since I flew the Corsair II
and the Thunderbolt II
(before they were born!) I asked if they would mind letting me walk
out to their hot rod with them. Since it wasn't a military base we
didn't have to worry about red lines on the ramp and the security
police and I got an up close look at what the USAF is using (and the USN
will one day use)
for primary training -- nice glass cockpit...
Chris, the student, got his private
pilot license while attending ROTC (on his own dime!) and then went
through the flight screening program which the Air Force runs down
in Pueblo CO. I forgot to ask him what he hoped to fly.
Valarie, the instructor pilot, is a "FAIP"
-- first assignment instructor pilot. She went through T-6s (the
T-37s were already gone) and T-38s and is hoping for a fighter
assignment after this tour but said there is a chance she may end up
in UAVs before getting back in a cockpit that gets off the ground
again.
The T-6 has the same engine (?) as the
T-34C but is rated at 1200 shaft horsepower vs. the T-34C, which, I
recall, is de-rated to 400 shaft horsepower.
1Lt Valarie Annunziata and 2Lt Chris
Sullivan, Centennial Airport, 9/21/08
Don Ramm
webmaster@t-34.com
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