An A-7 Corsair II jet captured the attention of passers-by as it was unloaded from a truck in the parking lot of the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center.
A day after it was unloaded, motorists still drove into the parking lot to get a glimpse of the aircraft even with its wings dissembled and its fading gray paint. “It’s already drawing mass attention,” said Bob Doyle, operations manager of the center. “That’s the idea: to draw attention and get them in here.”
The A-7 Corsair II is a Vietnam era light attack aircraft that was capable of landing and taking off from aircraft carriers. In a few months it will be refurbished and put on display at the entrance to the center and museum.
“The whole thing it going to be repainted to look like it did when it was in service,” said Bill Kowalczyk, who is heading the project for the center. “Everybody wanted a jet for a long time.”
The aircraft came form the National Naval Aviation Museum at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Kowalczyk is awaiting information on the history of the aircraft.
It will take several months to get the aircraft on display in front of the museum. Brevard County workers still must fill in a retention pond with dirt from the adjacent newly created Veterans Park. A platform or pad for the plane will have to be built.
“We want to get it on display as soon as possible,” said Kowalczyk, who served in the U.S. Marines in the 1970s.
The center also still must raise up to $30,000 to pay for moving and transporting the plane, for the painting and refurbishing and to build the platform to display it.
Kowalczyk said he is looking for anyone who can help to raise the or donate the money. The veterans at the center have raised money for other large displays and monuments over the years.
The museum rotates displays of military and war memorabilia, and has a library of more than 5,000 military books. Admission is free. Veterans hope the aircraft will serve to attract more visitors to the museum.
The aircraft is going to be displayed just west of the present entrance to the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center and Museum. A new entrance that will serve the entire park will be built close to it at Sykes Creek Parkway, behind the Merritt Square Mall.
“I really think once we get it primed and painted it’s going to be the crown jewel for the center and the adjacent park,” said Bill Vagianos, president of the center. “I think it’s a wonderful addition.”
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