P-47 in Lake Talquin, Florida

[p51]

In the early 90s, there was a P-47 in Lake Talquin, just to the west of Tallahassee, Florida. I've seen several photos of the remains of the plane, which was upside down, taken when the lake was drained for dam work. I've read that the remains were pulled out but I have no idea whatever happened to them. The veteran who found it said it was piloted by a French pilot who collided in mid air with another Jug over the lake, out of Dale Mabry Field (if memory serves, I was told that both managed to bail out). He suspected the other P-47 might have been underneath the one he'd found in the lake as no other plane ever was found in the lake or the surrounding woods.
One AN-M2 .50 caliber MG was recovered from the wreck because I once personally saw it hanging on the wall of the basement of the guy who found it, P-47 pilot Nick Fallier, who has since passed away. I wonder whatever happened to that, as well, hopefully it's in a museum somewhere...
Nick's grave in Tallahassee has one of the bent props from that Jug next to his headstone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/880 ... hn-fallier
Anyway, does anyone have clue what happened to the rest of this Jug?

[p51]

it's been forever since I posted this. I know for sure the P-47 was there as I've seen photos of it in the lake.
Seems odd that nobody seems to know anything about it.

[mike furline]

Found this, only Lake Talquin mention on AA.

https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src ... p1944S.htm

440919 P-40N 43-24619 CCTS 335BU Dale Mabry Field, Tallahassee,. FL 3 BOF 5 Cole, Douglas P USA FL Lake Talquin, 7 mi W of Dale Mabry Fld, FL

[p51]

I guess I just don't get it. I know there must be other planes in the lake, but this P47 is known, and you can't find anything on it anywhere. So odd...

[menards]

I was able to find a 1957 newspaper article that detailed the discovery of the (probable) P-47 in Lake Talquin. So ther WAS a probable P-47 located in the lake.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipp ... rUMFmI_O0k

[p51]

It was found then but was still there as late as the 90s.

[menards]

So the 1957 discovery of a P-47 in the lake was related to the 9/30/57 dam break. I came across some photos of the 1957 dam break showing the lake with no water in it.

https://www.facebook.com/statearchiveso ... 511921251/

I also came across a 1984 photo showing that the lake was drained that year as well.

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/florida ... lquin-pic/

The story and dates are coming together. I would bet money there is a long forgotten P-47 wreck hiding in a barn around the area.

[p51]

So the 1957 discovery of a P-47 in the lake was related to the 9/30/57 dam break. I came across some photos of the 1957 dam break showing the lake with no water in it.

https://www.facebook.com/statearchiveso ... 511921251/

I also came across a 1984 photo showing that the lake was drained that year as well.

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/florida ... lquin-pic/

The story and dates are coming together. I would bet money there is a long forgotten P-47 wreck hiding in a barn around the area.

Yeah, I think the '84 lowering of the lake was where Mr Fallier had the photos of him standing next to it.
He told me that he was with the guy who was paid to locate crashed WW2 airplanes in the 50s. They walked out into the lake and he said the second step he took was to step onto the .50 caliber machine gun that was hanging on his basement wall in the 90s.
I was told the prop that sits next to his headstone was from that jug. But nobody seems to know what else happened to any of the rest of it.
And that, I find odd, as there seems to be documentation for any other easily found WW2 fighter in the wild. Coupled with Fallier's theory that the other jug was underneath the one he'd found, you'd think a lot would be known about this.
If it did get yanked out, I'd pay any price the current owner would want for a small piece of it, as I'd love to have any piece of a plane that had flown out of Mabry Field...

[Dan Jones]

Didn't Jay Wisler pull a P-47 out of a lake in Florida somewhere around that time? I think it went to... Evansville??

[Chris Brame]

If so, wasn't that the presentation aircraft Spirit of Evansville, Indiana - a razorback - that was destroyed in a warehouse or hangar fire? I don't think that one was found upside down, though.

[Warbirdnerd]

Didn't Jay Wisler pull a P-47 out of a lake in Florida somewhere around that time? I think it went to... Evansville??

The Wisler Jug came from Lake Kerr. 42-8320 later went to Evansville and was destroyed in a warehouse fire...
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p47regis ... 28320.html

[menards]

So the 1957 discovery of a P-47 in the lake was related to the 9/30/57 dam break. I came across some photos of the 1957 dam break showing the lake with no water in it.

https://www.facebook.com/statearchiveso ... 511921251/

I also came across a 1984 photo showing that the lake was drained that year as well.

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/florida ... lquin-pic/

The story and dates are coming together. I would bet money there is a long forgotten P-47 wreck hiding in a barn around the area.

Yeah, I think the '84 lowering of the lake was where Mr Fallier had the photos of him standing next to it.
He told me that he was with the guy who was paid to locate crashed WW2 airplanes in the 50s. They walked out into the lake and he said the second step he took was to step onto the .50 caliber machine gun that was hanging on his basement wall in the 90s.
I was told the prop that sits next to his headstone was from that jug. But nobody seems to know what else happened to any of the rest of it.
And that, I find odd, as there seems to be documentation for any other easily found WW2 fighter in the wild. Coupled with Fallier's theory that the other jug was underneath the one he'd found, you'd think a lot would be known about this.
If it did get yanked out, I'd pay any price the current owner would want for a small piece of it, as I'd love to have any piece of a plane that had flown out of Mabry Field...

Back in the mid to late 80s there were alot of restorations happening...usable bits of this plane may have been used in other restorations, pieces may have been used tp make patterns ect. Its either hiding in someones barn, or was used for another resotation

[PinecastleAAF]

Didn't Jay Wisler pull a P-47 out of a lake in Florida somewhere around that time? I think it went to... Evansville??

He did but from a different part of Florida, it was Lake Kerr in the Ocala National Forest. As I understand it was burned up in a hanger or building fire a few years later.