On 12/31/64 the T-34A Mentor N5506V owned by the Edwards AFB Flying Club was rented by two Air Force enlisted men. They were on a flight from Edwards AFB to San Diego, Califorina. The aircraft went down about five miles west of the town of Wrightwood when the non instrument rated pilot flew into a severe winter snow storm. Even though the crash site was only a quarter mile from the Angeles Crest Highway and close to a hiking trail, the T-34 went undiscovered till 7/31/65 when a hiker stumbled upon it in a heavily wooded area.

(Click on photos for a larger view.)

This is the forth time in two years that I'm searching for the T-34 site. The main clues I had to go by was that the crash site is a few hundred feet from the Angels Crest Hwy and close to a hiking trail.

On this attempt, I'm looking in the only area I haven't searched yet.

It didn't take long till I spotted something.

Zoomed in on the object. Can't tell what it is, but it looks like aluminum.

You can't tell by this photo, but this is the T-34's crash site. It's a lot further than a hundred yards from the highway. That's what kept me from searching this area on past attempts.

The first thing I came upon was this steel tubing and piece of aluminum.

The tubing had a couple 90 degree AN fittings.

The piece of aluminum had a part number with a 45 prefix which confirms that this is a Beechcraft T-34.

More wreckage in the brush.