A Hernando County high school has earned some serious bragging rights now that a piece of military history has touched down for good in its front yard.
The Navy Junior ROTC program at Central High School recently scored a Naval training plane. The aircraft are being phased out and retired, so one was put on permanent loan at the school.
“It’s called a T-34 Charlie Mentor, Turbo Mentor, and it has been the primary training aircraft for Navy and Marine pilots since the mid '70s," teacher Michael Ralph said.
The school has been waiting six years to get its hands on the aircraft. Now it is the only school in the state of Florida to have one.
Senior Trey Adams is part of the school's ROTC program. He said he wants to be a pilot in part because of the plane.
“I never thought of it but then I talked to the pilots," he said. "They are cool guys.”
After the plane flew over the school to show off a little bit, it landed at the Hernando County Airport. The plane was then loaded onto a truck and delivered to the school.
The plane will never fly again, but that's OK with student Chris Johnson.
“It’s really a great thing for the students to say, 'Yeah, we have a plane in our front yard,' " he said.
The plane is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.