Associated Press
LAKE HAMILTON, Fla. – The two men killed in the wreck of a vintage airplane
in Polk County were identified Tuesday as a Kissimmee pilot and an Oklahoma
man receiving lessons.
Jon Hedgecock, who worked at Warbird Adventures in Kissimmee, and Jim Kern
of Springer, Okla., died Monday when the SNJ-6 “Texan” crashed into the woods
near Haines City. Ages of the men were not available.
The plane crashed “at a very steep angle” and left a crater, Polk County
Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board
are investigating.
The Texan was used to train pilots during World War II.
By: Paul F - 13th May 2005 at 08:39
Warbird Adventures
I visited Warbird Adventures and Reilly Aviation Museum during our Easter hols in Kissimmee. Both organisations were just about back on their feet, Warbird Adventures were still rebuilding a couple of their aircraft which had sufferred during the hurricanes of last year. Will try to post some pics later.
The accident is very sad news, and my condolences to all involved.
Paul F
By: J Boyle - 13th May 2005 at 04:54
Sorry to hear about the crash and fatalities…Condolences to all.
BTW: The day before yesterday I saw an ad in Trade-A-Plane online for their “MASH” marked Bell 47…they said they were reluctantly selling it to raise funds for hurricane reconstruction….
By: AVI - 12th May 2005 at 22:03
Jim Kern was the man behind the FEW Mustang kitplanes.
By: TMN - 12th May 2005 at 20:52
Condolences to the family, friends and all at Warbird Adventures.
Weren’t they just getting up and running again after the hurricane last year ?
Blue Sky.
By: italian harvard - 12th May 2005 at 10:00
uh, really sad news..
I dont know, everybody say that the T-6 is a quiet and good machine, but my restoration partner (who has LOADS of hours under military service on almost all the T-6 variants) always say “it’s a good machine, but dont tickle her or u r gonna remember it, or worse they’re gonna remember u…”. The general idea is that it’s a good machine for basic aerobatics, but since the HPs are not that much u need to strictly respect the given parameters (this is the educative side of the T-6 IMHO).
My deepest and sincerest condolences to their families and friends.
Alex
Sign In
May 12, 2005 at 4:34 am