CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The USS Lexington Museum received a special delivery.
On Wednesday, July 30, a TH-57 Charlie Ranger trainer helicopter landed directly on the historic aircraft carrier's deck, marking an unprecedented event for the museum. The retired training helicopter, which was still being used to train naval helicopter pilots just days ago, will become the museum's newest exhibit.
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KRIS 6 News spoke with Executive Director Steve Banta about this new addition.
"We got the bookends of naval aviation training right here, and they did it at the Lexington," Banta said. "This has never happened before. Not just never at the Lexington. This kind of event has never happened before...ever."
In a rare display, the helicopter's replacement model, the TH-73 Thrasher, also landed on the carrier during the delivery. Unlike most new aircraft exhibits that arrive at the Lexington Museum by truck or crane, the Navy chose to fly in this historic piece directly. The TH-57 Charlie Ranger will become the museum's second helicopter exhibit, joining a Vietnam-era Army Cobra helicopter already on display.
Banta said the new exhibit will undergo several weeks of maintenance before opening to the public.
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