Warbird Information Exchange

Very nicely done.


Quote & photos: Jim John
"Received at the Ex-USS Midway CV-41 museum restoration facility at NAS North Island... It's literally a foam, plastic, wood, and plexiglass Douglas TBD Devastator. It was made for the soon to be released Battle of Midway movie filmed in Canada. Full size... Corrugated wings... The engine is plastic and foam. Terrific job of making this replica. It'll be a welcome addition to the floating museum."

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

Those foam Ready-To-Fly right out of the box models are sure getting more and more impressive.

Now that's one big model kit!

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Scott Rose
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With those rivets, that's one big Aurora model kit!

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Hello again. I used the search feature the other day to find the dive on the Lexington thread. It wasn't easy for me but I found it, and all without Ballard's help! My plan was to ask about any progress on bringing up some devastators, Gayler's wildcat etc. I was going to bump the thread. But I saw to my dismay that I am the last post and it was a bump from a long time ago. For me, that was the biggest news in awhile, yet all has fallen silent. Figured for sure you all here would have the inside track. So, what the hey, I am asking here instead, while looking at the very nice foam TBD. Will we see any of those in the light of day? The time capsules really thrill me.

I have a friend who knows one of the bigwigs at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. He visited him right after the Lexington discovery and asked him about the possibility of recovery of some of those aircraft. He said that the Navy would absolutely love to raise some TBD's and that Wildcat, but the biggest obstacle, of course, is money. He said the NNAM has no money to bring up any aircraft and that the only way they would do it would be to subsidize the costs to raise it with outside help from a sponsor/benefactor. The figure he quoted to raise the aircraft would be "in the tens of millions of dollars".

So, unless a Paul Allen type can fund the recovery, it is highly unlikely any of those aircraft will ever break the ocean's surface.

What, the entire freakin' U.S. Navy can't do it as a training exercise?
What's the mater, Paul Allen has more and better equipment?

Shame on them if the Navy can't use its own resources to honor its own heros.

Sounds like someone needs to go over the heads of the NNAM staff.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

There is amble evidence that the US Navy struggles to maintain basic seamanship levels of its personnel, especially in the Pacific. It would seem unwise to assume training resources can be easily re-assigned from existing plans.

Yes, I do think that outside groups can do a better job than the U.S. Navy. Two examples illustrate this belief:

1) The U.S. Navy's very bungled recovery attempt on the PBM Mariner in Lake Washington. That exercise was a complete disaster and resulted in the destruction of an extremely rare Mariner.

2) The U.S. Navy's hiring of A&T Recovery Services to recover a great many of the Lake Michigan warbirds. If the Navy thought they could do a better job at it, they probably would have done so themselves.

It is my belief that the U.S. Navy recognizes that other groups who specialize in this kind of work can do it much more effectively and economically than they can.

I think it's great they donated it instead of selling it.
Until the 1990s, Hollywood didn't get there was a huge market for movie props/costumes other than the main character ones. A lot of times, studio-made props and costumes got tossed in dumpsters unless the studio thought they could use it again someday.
The "Titanic" movie auction changed that idea almost overnight. Now, when a TV or movie production is done, they look to selling the stuff that wasn't leased, at top dollar.
You will see an auction of stuff from this movie. Soon. I guarantee it.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Unusual to put such authentic detail into a TBD prop for a movie that looks to be quite the opposite.

Just an observation.

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

Wow...the biggest foamy RC I have seen so far!!! Very nice. Electric?

Aren’t one of the A&T recovery guys on here? Wouldn’t he have an idea what it takes to recover those planes?

No rocket science. It would take a tremendous amount of time and money, along with acquiring permission, and that would most likely take more time and money. And then you would have the very large task of preservation.

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

George Gay wanted a TBD to take around to airshows for years. Even this replica would have excited him. He passed away in Oct 1994 and his ashes were spread out in the Pacific where his squadron mates from Torpedo 8 were all lost. He dedicated a lot of time and his book to telling that story of Midway. We used to kid him about driving a Japanese made car. But George was a class act.