Warbird Information Exchange

Rain and snowfall has been low in north Idaho this winter and the lakes are expected to be extra low this year. I have heard that on such years a B-17 is visible from the air in Lake Pend Oreille in the Sandpoint / Ponderay area of north Idaho.

Can anyone verify this, and is there any info on the serial, date of accident, or model B-17?

Thank you.

Lowell Thompson

I'll ask some frinds who are into old planes and fly over the area a great deal....maybe they've seen something or heard of it.
How sure are you that it's there and in (more or less) 1 piece?

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

I was fartin' around the Idaho back-country in my
'54 C-170 and was shown what was quoted as a B-25
wreck from the air. Wonder if this was really the B-23
wreck you refer to? It was clearly identifiable (even
from 1000+ AGL) as a medium twin engine bomber,
but that's about it.

As I recall, we were going from Cold Meadows to Chamberlain
when we spotted the wreck from the air.

Bela P. Havasreti

I have lived on that lake for most of my younger years. The lake is controlled by a Dam and is only low in the winter. It is never low in the summer or for dry years. It is very well controlled.

I have lived on that lake for most of my younger years. The lake is controlled by a Dam and is only low in the winter. It is never low in the summer or for dry years. It is very well controlled.

My friend hadn't heard of a bomber in Pend O'rville (sp?) ...but he has heard of a biplane amphibian (a Loening?) in Couer D'Alene...
anyone else heard of it?

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

Thanks RER. I'll win a beer bet or two thanks to your
info!

Speaking of B-23s, there's a (relatively?) well known
B-23 wreck in the Olympic Mountains in Western
Washington (within hiking distance of Hurricane
Ridge if you're familiar with the area).

We recovered a wrecked C-182 on behalf of an
insurance company there, and an old-timer park
ranger told me there were numerous WW-II
aircraft in the park complex (a P-38, the B-23,
there's also a well-known B-17 up there that
has been picked apart over the years).

Bela P. Havasreti

I have been to the B-23 at Loon Lake (in 1988), and am not at all confused about that airplane and this report.

I have no other details other than "when the lake is low." I have a few other notes written down somewhere.

No luck with Internet searches but will keep pursuing.