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I thought this needed its own thread separate from "First Venture into Wreckchasing".
The quick backstory: I had the site of a Capital Airlines DC-3 crash in Clarksburg, MD registered with the Maryland Historic Trust as a Historical Archaeological Site. The MHT informed me that this was the fourth such crash site to be registered as a Historic Site in Maryland, but the first on dry land. I asked about the other three sites and this is what I was told:
The one in Talbot County is described as follows:
Wreck of US Navy PBM-3 Martin Mariner patrol bomber (seaplane), Bureau of Aeronautics number 6672, crashed on 2 January 1944 during training flight. No fatalities. Top of fuselage has been cut open, perhaps by Navy to recover radar and radios. Tail is broken off. Port wing is broken off and lies alongside. Port wing stub rises to within 7 feet of water surface. Depth approximately 30 feet alongside fuselage. Both engines missing. Site was surveyed and reported to MHT and USN in October 2000.
One of the two in St. Mary's County:
Aluminum structure, appears to be the elevator, horizontal stabilizer, and perhaps other components of an aircraft empennage. The exact nature and extent of the structure have not been determined.
Because the tip of the elevator wraps around the outboard tip of the horizontal stabilizer, it is possible the aircraft is a Navy AD "Skyraider" (later called an A-1) or an OS2U "Kingfisher." Those were the only, or at least the most common, types of mid-20th century US Navy aircraft with that configuration.
...and the third is quite interesting:
All-metal, low-wing, single-seat aircraft with bubble canopy, left wingtip to fuselage side 15 feet, fuselage 2' 6" wide, right wing broken, estimated wingspan 32' 6", rounded wingtip, vertical stabilizer not seen, engine and propeller missing. Possible military. Found via sidescan sonar. Site dived on 9/6/2010 by Institute of Maritime History members Dan Lynberg, Mike Nowotny, Dawn Cheshaek, and David Howe. As the plane's engine was removed, it clearly did not reach this point in the bay under its own power. Howe muses that perhaps it was a fire-fighting practice hulk at NAS Pax River and was dumped into the bay to clean up the grounds.
There weren't too many low wing Navy fighters with a bubble canopy and the measurements would point to the XFL-1. I sent off an e-mail to the Institute of Maritime History and David Howe was kind enough to respond:
Thank you your inquiry. Our reconnaissance projects in Maryland are conducted for the Maryland Historical Trust, and we are not free to discuss them in any detail without permission from the Trust. I asked Dr Langley whether I may answer your questions and provide any more information than was on the site report, but she was out of the office today and was unable to respond. I hope to hear from her tomorrow.
That said, two points: First, you may very well be correct. Wikipdia says the wingspan of a P-39G was 34 feet, or 35 feet for the XFL. Those numbers, and the fuselage width estimated from drawings of the P-39, are very close to what we saw on a short dive on the site. The amidships engine position in the P-39 types could also explain why we found no engine in the nose. We did not open any part of the fuselage to look inside. If the site is indeed the XLF, I would not be surprised to find the engine is gone. We also did not see a dorsal air scoop aft of the cockpit, but we easily could have missed that.
Second, we did not take any photographs. The site is murky, and the current was kicking uo the mud, so photography was problematic. The sidescan sonar images are poor, but just adequate to see the general shape of an aircraft.
If Dr Langley wants us to go back for pictures, more accurate measurements, or a peek inside the structure, we will -- but probably not this year. Our schedule for 2014 is already set, and the year is booked solid with work in the potomac and Florida.
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