Rare Warbird Is A Mix Of National Cultures
‘Fuji Phil’ McLanahan helped rescue a forgotten project, then bought the finished product.
The Fuji LM-1 is a Beech T-34 airframe with a modified upper fuselage to accommodate a four-place cabin. Photo: by permission of Phil McLanahan
Phil McLanahan picked up his Fuji LM-1 while he was still on active duty with the U.S. Navy years ago. It belonged to an older pilot in Maryland, who had imported it directly from Japan decades ago. But like so many projects that “seemed like a good idea at the time,” it languished until McLanahan finally helped the man to restore it to flyable condition.
But by that time, McLanahan told AVweb here on the Sun ‘n Fun flight line, the owner was too old to fly the airplane, so he offered to sell it to him. McLanahan took him up on the offer and has since earned the nickname “Fuji Phil.”
If the LM-1 looks familiar, that’s because the oddball four-place is the love child of a post-war relationship between Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries and Beechcraft in the U.S. The Japanese Defense Force was looking for an aerobatic trainer, and Fuji built 176 tandem two-seat Beech T-34s under license. Then the company redesigned the upper fuselage to accommodate four seats for a communications aircraft (still fully aerobatic). Twenty-seven of the resulting LM-1s were built between 1955 and 1956.
McLanahan’s aircraft is serial number 14 from 1955. It is mechanically solid, but what makes it most special is its original patina. “That’s the factory paint,” he told AVweb, proudly. “And the interior, upholstery and headliner are also original.”
It shows—in the best and most original of ways.
He operates the LM-1, one of just three known to be flying, from a grass-strip fly-in community in Culpeper, Virginia, and is a regular participant in Commemorative Air Force events. Look for a video featuring “Fuji Phil” and his LM-1 in future AVweb posts.
