Heinkel He 115 recoverd today in Norway

[hang the expense]

WOW! Its beautiful.

[muddyboots]

[N77657]

I agree with Hang The Expense. It truely is a beautiful aircraft. I hope it gets at least properly preserved and more hopefully restored to fly. What an amazing sight it would be to see this airplane fly.

Bill

[DaveM2]

more hopefully restored to fly. What an amazing sight it would be to see this airplane fly.

Bill

Not going to happen. Structure that has been submerged for 70 years in 'saltish' water isn't going to fly and it has been recovered by a museum who do not have the finances (or the will) to even contemplate such an idea.


Dave

[Steve Nelson]

I can go either way on this one. If funds, parts, and personel are available then I wouldn't have a problem with it being restored to static condition. However, if the museum can't afford to do a full from-the-ground-up restoration, then it's in good enough shape that displaying it as-is would also be acceptable (provided proper conservation measures are taken.) I'd rather see that than an underfunded superficial restoration attempt. In either case, it's awesome to see another important WWII type return from extinction.

SN

[Dave Lindauer]

Given their track record, exercise of good judgment and historical sensitivity, I am happy that the Norwegians have it.

I presume that since it is the only one that they'll not trade it to another museum.

BUT -- Do we know for sure if this recovery was by the Norwegians on their own behalf, or if it might have been financed by a foreign collection for export?

[redvanner]

.........

BUT -- Do we know for sure if this recovery was by the Norwegians on their own behalf, or if it might have been financed by a foreign collection for export?

And even if so, might that be that bad? If restored as static or presented "as is" who cares who financed it, where it will finally rest? But -contrary to my personal credo that planes should be where they belong, in the air- I would strongly vote to put this one firmly on her (missing) floats. Why? It´s one of a kind. Period. I never saw a pic or anything of the other one in France, mentioned in Preserved Axis Aircraft, it might be there or not. No need trying to get the one and only or one of two in the air. But that is my personal attitude.

Michael

[over/out]

Fantastic! Now, Let me guess, someone wants to name it "The VIDEO" He 115 and display it upside down in clear plastic !! PLEASE! NOT AGAIN!!

[Michel Lemieux]

Preserved Axis AC lists another one that has been around for years.....

Anyone ever saw a pic of it?

http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/

He 115 A-2
3043?
France
D
F.60?
Might be the example that was captured by german troops and later used in Russia. Recovered from Russia by private owner in France. Have been availeble for exchange for flyable DB605 for conversion project of unknown spanish 109. One engine missing and cockpit severely derelict

[Planebeach]

The plane was located a few hundred meters from Sola Airmuseum, they will restore the plane and put it on display. Right now the wings have been taken off and the plane will be submerged in a freshwater tank for the next 2 to 3 years, so all the salt is removed from the plane.

All pictures below are taken by Petter Ramsdal, copied from Sola Airmuseums Facebook page.

[kalamazookid]

Thanks for the update, planebeach and for sharing the photos. What a fantastic find! I'm sure the restoration will be top-notch.

[Planebeach]

The Heinkel have now been dismantled and put in the water tank, they will fill it up soon. Will be in the tank for up to 3 years to get all the salt out.

Picture taken form Sola Museums Facebook page.

[Chappie]

Man they are working fast. I'm curious is that line across the swastika due to the tail being buried in the silt? Must be a reason the swastika is in better condition that the cross on the fuselage.



Chappie

[robkamm]

thanks for posting pictures of the update. how do the tanks work? just drain and refill with fresh water once a week or is there a chemical process involved?

[JDK]

Chappie, Yes - Clearly they've gone to a lot of planning (building a sophisticated tank etc.) and that's paying off with speed and efficiency. A lesson to us all here, it looks good and seems quick because of lots of hard work, planning and fund-raising.

I agree on the tail marking perhaps being silted making sense.

Robkamm, I don't know this specific case, but a through flow (input and output) with some sort of circulation is ideal, and it can be very slow flow, as the relative volume of water can absorb a lot of the salts being leached.

No 'chemical' process beyond the chemical one of salts in / on metals and water solution.

A simple process would indeed be a drain and refill, but given the effort that's gone into planning and building in this project, I'd expect a degree more sophistication, unless something like an annual drain/fill is calculated to be enough.

Regards,