'Old 42' hides her age.
The World War II era Pt-27 biplane was fully restored and donated on Tuesday to the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum, where it logged many miles training British cadets.
"Not many Brits knew where Dallas, Texas was," retired U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Phillip Webb said. "But they knew where Terrell, Texas was!"
That's because cadets in the Royal Air Force trained in Terrell at the No. 1 British Flying Training School.
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"Remember, at that time Great Britain was under duress and Nazi Germany was threatening," Webb said. "The skies over England were not safe for flight training, so they sent a lot of their cadets to the U.S. and they were training right here, in Terrell, Texas."
British cadets trained on biplanes that included 'Old 42'.
"The plane was a teacher in the war. It taught students how to fly, but it's also a teacher now. It teaches us our history," Webb said. "It is a living witness to the history and it does talk."
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Webb bought 'Old 42' about a decade ago and started researching the biplane's history. It was a skywriter and a crop duster, but before all that, it was stationed in Terrell at the BFTS.
Webb restored the plane and on Tuesday donated it to the No.1 British Flying Training School Museum.
"This plane needs to come right here to its home," Webb said.
It's been 80 years since the plane was pressed into service to train the Brits.
"That trainer was used for two years in that training," BFTS Board Chairman Bill Huthmacher said. "For it to come back to the museum now and be donated to the museum is incredible because it's a piece of history."
"We all celebrate when children come home and this is like a child coming home," Richard Hyde, His Majesty's Consul General in Texas, said. "That was a phenomenally important gift of the American people to the British people and it's a gift that was unrecognized and never discussed for a long time...on behalf of the British government, I say again, thank you."
An 80-year round trip, complete.
"And it happened right here, in Terrell, Texas," Webb exclaimed.
