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Re: Florida B-17s!

Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:59 pm

Growing up as a Florida bubba.....

Years ago there was an old military plane that had crashed in Mosquito Lagoon (north of Kennedy Space Center). We would drive right by the pole that marked it as we ran to the fishing flats. This was back in the 70's. It is probably corrodied to the bottom by now and nothing left.

I have read of stories about WWII planes that went down northeast of the old Deland NAS (between Deland and Daytona) That area is swampy. Don't know if they ever recovered them.

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:19 pm

CoastieJohn wrote:

I have read of stories about WWII planes that went down northeast of the old Deland NAS (between Deland and Daytona) That area is swampy. Don't know if they ever recovered them.



Probably not been recovered. We've all heard about the 2 P-40's that supposedly were recovered from the Everglades (some say they didn't come from the 'glades, others say they did) that recently were sold to the Curtiss museum. I would be willing to bet that there is quite a few aircraft still down there waiting to be salvaged. :shock:

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:55 pm

p51 wrote:The B-17 in Orlando AAF was taken out right after the war. I've seen photos of it being removed from a vet who helped close the base out for the Army. Forget there being that B-17 still there, they used it for ditching training, pretty well documented if you know where to look.



I know the machinery was dismantled, but wonder about the actual plane (he actually said there were two at one point, side by side...). The Soda Shop was directly acrossed the street from the lake (where the VA is today), and his memory was that they dropped the B-17 into the lake, cut the cables and started pulling them out. The poles they used were still there in the mid-60's.

I would love to know any documentation on the base. I think somewhere in our house is a photo of the set-up somebody in the family took. Can you list any places/ books/ whatever to learn more?

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:09 pm

cooper9411 wrote:Sooooo, we really don't know if there are any there or not? :roll:

No, there isn't a B-17 left over from Orlando AAF. I've seen several photos of the only one I've seen pictures of in the lake, being removed from said lake either in 1945 or 46. It's not there.

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:24 pm

Back in the early 90's I remember the everglades burning and in the aftermath they discovered the wreck of a TBM. I do know the wings and center section were recovered as I remember seeing them on the airport at FLL.

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:04 pm

What if they took out a B-17 after WW2 (I'm talking about Orlando AAF here), yet the Air Force decided to place another one because of the Coast Guard B-17's...

Do you have the pictures of it being removed from the site? the B-17?

Oh, and here's another one for you. Near my house off I-75 is a huge swamp, and a B-26 crashed in there in 1946. The salvage team managed to recover the fuslage, but could never find the wings.
Last edited by Wildchild on Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:07 pm

p51 wrote:
cooper9411 wrote:Sooooo, we really don't know if there are any there or not? :roll:

No, there isn't a B-17 left over from Orlando AAF. I've seen several photos of the only one I've seen pictures of in the lake, being removed from said lake either in 1945 or 46. It's not there.



p51 let me clarify, what I meant by "there" was in any lake in Florida. Not just Orlando area. :)

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:33 pm

I realize that this is covering B-17s that are down in Florida, but I have often wondered if the USAAC ever pulled the remains of 40-2231 a B-25B out of Lake Apopka near Oakland, Florida after it crashed there on 18 January 1942. Killed four on board; but I wonder if all of the ship was recovered. I know that the lake was heavily contaminated at one time from pesticide run-off. What would that do to the remains if in fact still there?

And then there is 40-2298 B-25B (47th BG, 95th BS, "Green Hornet") a Tokyo Raider that ran out of fuel and ditched in Poyang Lake near Nanchang Apr 18, 1942. I wonder if anyone ever looked for this iconic piece of World War Two hardware.

I'm pop2 just sayin'

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:14 pm

This is one of the P-40's recovered in Florida.It was at Tom Riley's in Kissimmee.

Image

Mark Fidler

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:19 pm

Here is a TBF/TBM recovered from Florida It is now at the Deland Museum being restored to static.

Image

Mark Fidler

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:37 pm

b747cf wrote:Here is a TBF/TBM recovered from Florida It is now at the Deland Museum being restored to static.

Image

Mark Fidler


Oh......My......Gawd... :roll: .....don't let the frickin' NAVY see this!!

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:41 pm

Pull the picture down NOW!!!!!!

-quote from the Navy

:D

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:06 pm

cooper9411 wrote:let me clarify, what I meant by "there" was in any lake in Florida. Not just Orlando area. :)
Ah, sorry!
I just got tired of arguing this point when I still lived in Florida, so many people were convinced the Orlando ditching trainer B-17 still had to be there when it's well established that it was removed before the 50s...

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:02 pm

gary1954 wrote:
And then there is 40-2298 B-25B (47th BG, 95th BS, "Green Hornet") a Tokyo Raider that ran out of fuel and ditched in Poyang Lake near Nanchang Apr 18, 1942. I wonder if anyone ever looked for this iconic piece of World War Two hardware.

I'm pop2 just sayin'


I thought that with the possible exception of Ski York's Mitchell (the one that diverted to a safe landing, and internment, in Siberia - where it apparently met its end in the early 50s) all the angles on the rest of the Doolittle B-25s had been exhausted.

Re: Florida B-17s!

Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:46 pm

Ok, so after about 15 minutes of staring as serial numbers, I have found a list of possible aircraft wreck sites in Florida. Most of these have probably ben recovered, yet the website I got my information from does not list enough detail. Here I go.

Possible aircraft buried at Sebring (Hendricks AAF):

41-9168
41-9169
42-97802
42-30960
42-30876
42-30912
42-30917

B-17's that are proboaly still sitting of coast or in Lagoons:

42-38179- Crashed 4 Miles South West of Eglin into Choctawhatchee Bay
42-3471- 35 Miles North West of Tampa
43-37691- 35 Miles West North West of Ft. Myers, middle of swamp

Possible Okeechobee bird: 42-3718 (Listed as having ditched due to engine fire....)

Here are other possbile B-17's that could have been left where they are, buried, or crashed in lakes (another one on the list here sounded alot like the Okeechobee bird) :

42-102734
42-102735
43-37698
43-37728
42-5361
42-5096
42-102546
43-37709
43-37682
42-102722
42-13470


If you want to continue from where I left off, here you go:

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/ ... offset=275
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