Unknown aircraft at a park

[ACarey]

This one was sitting at a park in Tampa, FL during the early 1970s. I have no clue what happened to it.

[K5DH]

Looks like a P2V Neptune.


Cheers,

[Warbird Kid]

Wonder if this was the one that ended up being scrapped due to the fact that it couldn't find a home?

[Joe Scheil]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

[ACarey]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

Why in the hell did they do that?

[Holedigger]

Here is a bit more of it's history, had the same picture.

Special thanks to Art Walker for providing his photo of the Lowry Park plane.

Seen here around 1975 sporting a fresh red, white & blue paint job to celebrate the USA's upcoming bicentennial, for many years the drab, gray plane served as a unique "jungle gym" for adventurous kids with a yearning to climb something. After the plane was removed, it was relocated to the St. Pete air museum (which was basically an outdoor parking lot of old planes.) The museum, which was located by the St. Pete-Clearwater airport and the old 94th Aero Squadron restaurant, eventually fell into disrepair and closed. The aircraft were moved (dumped) in a field off of Hwy 17 south of Ft. Meade FL. Some have been moved to the MAPS Air Museum, Akron Ohio to be restored for museum display.

[ACarey]

Here is a bit more of it's history, had the same picture.

Special thanks to Art Walker for providing his photo of the Lowry Park plane.

Seen here around 1975 sporting a fresh red, white & blue paint job to celebrate the USA's upcoming bicentennial, for many years the drab, gray plane served as a unique "jungle gym" for adventurous kids with a yearning to climb something. After the plane was removed, it was relocated to the St. Pete air museum (which was basically an outdoor parking lot of old planes.) The museum, which was located by the St. Pete-Clearwater airport and the old 94th Aero Squadron restaurant, eventually fell into disrepair and closed. The aircraft were moved (dumped) in a field off of Hwy 17 south of Ft. Meade FL. Some have been moved to the MAPS Air Museum, Akron Ohio to be restored for museum display.

Still a shame what happened to it.

[Warbird Kid]

Yep, that was the one i was thinking about. Shame.

[Nathan]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

Reef?? WTF!

[ACarey]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

Reef?? WTF!

Yes, the fish need to feed off rare aircraft.

[mustanglover]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

Reef?? WTF!

Yes, the fish need to feed off rare aircraft.

The Navy says they are safer there while in storage.

[b747cf]

Here is the P2V that was at the Clearwater airport in 1988.

http://picasaweb.google.com/b747cf/OpaL ... 8980793570


Mark

[Chris Brame]

And wasn't it later dragged far off into deep water by some underwater currents (or a hurricane?) which negated the effect of making the reef in that location?

[rwdfresno]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

While it is true that it was rare, and the second oldest surviving P2V-3, it was not the sole surviving P2V. There is a surviving example of a P2V-3W, sitting disassembled on our property.

Ryan

[BHawthorne]

The plane is a rare, well sole survivor P2V-3....

Here is its fate...

http://p2vneptune.com/v03.shtml

Reef?? WTF!

In Florida where rare fish > rare birds.