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Devin Meriam's rendering
portrays the chapter's planned appearance for the F-86H Sabre Jet at
the west end of Holiday Park on Sandy Nininger Drive. Beyond the jet
and pedestal, Gold Coast Chapter 351 wants to erect a "ring of
honor" on a circular pad underneath the jet. Memorial engraved
bricks will then be sold from the pad and wall to primarily raise
scholarship funds for our AFJrROTC and CAP cadets as well as to
provide maintenance monies for the jet. The chapter is in the
talking stages now with the City of Ft. Lauderdale and its
consultants.
After many, many months of delays and lack of forward progress,
we now can see some solid evidence by the City of Ft. Lauderdale
with this project. The pedestal is almost fully repaired after
Hurricane Wilma in October, 2005 knocked the jet down, doing
extensive damage to both the pedestal and the jet. What primarily
have been added are three large pilings on three sides of the
pedestal which will anchor the guy wire tie down hooks. These buried
pilings are every bit of 5 feet square and approach a full 6 feet in
height. The jet will either be securely tied with the guy wires
permanently attached or secured at the time of an approaching severe
storm. A decision is expected soon as to which company will be
repairing the jet. It is hoped that the repair work will be
completed by year end. If so, we would hope to effect a grand
re-dedication of the memorial early in 2009.
Our AFA chapter still intends to place memorial bricks in a
circular pad under the jet as well as incorporate a low "wall
of honor" around the circle. At this point, it is most
important that your chapter's leadership hear from any and all who
might have connections with firms that could donate the necessary
sand, bricks, concrete and labor for this undertaking. It is not
anticipated that the City will subsidize any part of this chapter
intention. If you can help, please step forward and contact Ran
Meriam at 954-575-1069 or warhawk10@bellsouth.net.
Gold Coast Chapter 351 F-86H Sabre Jet
finally back in the air!!
The chapter's long-sought ambition to
repair and remount "our" rare H model of the Sabre Jet
finally reached fruition September 8, 2009. Gold Coast personnel
doggedly pursued the City of Fort Lauderdale since early 2006, 3
months after Hurricane Wilma knocked the jet to the ground in
October, 2005, to effect the repair and re-installation of this
outstanding city landmark. We finally had our way beginning April
21st of this year when the City awarded a contract to American Aero
Services of New Smyrna Beach to "repair, repaint and remount"
the jet. On June 9th, a crew from this firm picked up the jet's
disassembled fuselage and wings and trucked them to their
facilities. September 8th was an outstanding day as we saw this
multi-year project finally reach its proper conclusion as the jet
was returned to Ft. Lauderdale, reassembled and hoisted on to its 12
foot high pedestal. The City has sunk three massive footers around
the pedestal base with hooks so three guy wires will further tether
the jet to its pedestal when storm winds approach. Expectedly, this
will prevent and preclude any further hurricane damage occurring.
A gala dedication ceremony is being
targeted for Veteran's Day, November 11th, to formally welcome this
cold war aerial warrior back to town. Chapter officers Harvey
Bennett, Ran Meriam, Fran Shaw, Joe Roberts, Milt Markowitz and
Virginia Montalvo, along with other chapter members, happily share
the great satisfaction of seeing this long, long project reach its
successful ending. |
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