General Aviation News - 21 June 2018

20 General Aviation News — 800.426.8538 June 21, 2018

By JONI M. FISHER

In 1987, Reid Garrison bought a shell
of a T-34A Beechcraft Mentor that had
been languishing in a hangar in Memphis
to restore with his sons Brett and Jeff.
It had no canopy, no engine, no instru-
ment panel, and no control surfaces. This
did not faze Reid.
He had already restored two T-6s.
And his life has been devoted to his
family and aviation.
With over 20,000 hours of flying time,
he’s a retired Army captain who flew and
taught flying in fixed wing aircraft and
heli copters.
He started the Oconee County Regional
Airport (KCEU) near Clemson Univer-
sity in South Carolina, in 1965. He then
bought Anderson Aviation at Anderson
Regional Airport (KAND). He has run
flight schools, a charter service, towed
banners, and he’s an aircraft broker who
also writes aircraft insurance.
A member of the South Carolina Avia-
tion Hall of Fame, he was awarded the
Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award
in 2015 and the Charles Taylor Master
Mechanic Award in 2016. He has been
a member of the Experimental Aircraft
Association since 1972, the Warbirds
of America since 1981, and the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association for 35
years. He flew aerobatic airshows in a
T-28 Trojan for five years.
It was Reid’s plan to restore the T-34 to
fly with his sons. The project took three
and a half years.
According to Reid, it took a year just
to restore the cockpit. The breaker panel
is so clearly labeled it’s a thing of beauty.
During SUN ’n FUN 2018, Reid point-
ed to stainless steel plates on the floor-
board under the rudders and said they
took 11 hours to build. The rivets in the
plates are flush with the plate, allowing
shoes to slide easily over them.
“We replaced the original magnesium
sheeting with aluminum. We put a 300
Continental engine in it and replaced the
two-blade prop with a three-blade prop,”
Reid said. “And we added a smoke sys-
tem for aerobatics.”
“We’ve flown to Titusville, Oshkosh,
SUN ’n FUN, and local airshows,” he
continued. “We started flying this one so
much, I bought a second one.”
Like their father, Jeff and Brett have
earned their ATP ratings. The family that
once owned 15 aircraft is now down to
five: A T-34A, a T-34B, a Beechcraft Bo-
nanza V35A, a deHavilland Chipmunk,
and their “favorite toy,” a Piper Super
Cub.
“The best part of restoring our T-
with my father and brother was how
much dad taught me and my brother,”
said Brett. “We learned about stripping
paint, sheet metal work, painting, wiring
and anything you do when restoring an

aircraft. My brother and I were amazed at

how much knowledge my dad had about

aircraft maintenance.”

When asked if he’d do it again, Brett

said, “Yes, we would restore another T-

again if we still had the facility we had

when we did this aircraft. Now we do not

run the FBO in Anderson. At that time, we

had a lot of hangar space, parts, and tools

to do what we did. Dad actually almost

bought another project at one time, so we

would have three matching T-34s.”

Brothers Brett and Jeff each have about

Terrific twin T-34s

Brett Garrison and his father Reid Garrison fly the T-34 Beechcraft Mentors they restored with Jeff Garrison.

Photo by Chase P. Hunter

The restored cockpit is a thing of

beauty.

Photo by Matthew Genuardi

Photo by Matthew Genuardi

Photo by Matthew Genuardi