In a crane operation reminiscent of the recent move of the Concorde, a Beech T-34 Mentor airplane and a replica of a Gemini 3 space capsule, part of the first American two-man space mission, were craned onto the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The crane and rigging crew from R. Baker & Sons of Red Bank New Jersey picked the airplane, and then the capsule, from the pier and craned each one up to the port (left) side aircraft elevator of the Intrepid. The plane will be used as an interactive display on the ship’s port side aircraft elevator, which has been restored and will eventually move up and down between the hangar deck and flight deck levels, providing visitors with an authentic experience of what it was like to bring planes to the flight deck when the ship was in service.
The aircraft was transported and assembled by Whisler Aviation of Seward Nebraska. The T-34 Mentor aircraft is packed with modern day radios and navigation aids that have intrinsic value. The T-34 is an extraordinarily clean and complete example of a T-34 and will soon be utilized as a centerpiece of the Intrepid Museum’s Educational programs.
The Gemini 3 capsule is a replica of the original that on March 23, 1965, Intrepid helicopters picked up Gemini 3 astronauts John Young and Virgil “Gus” Grissom and their two-person capsule nicknamed “Molly Brown” after the popular musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” It was the first manned Gemini mission and essentially was a test flight. The capsule orbited the Earth three times, and after was retrieved and lifted aboard the Intrepid using the crane near the starboard side elevator, which is where the replica capsule will hang. -- www.intrepidmuseum.org
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