A Lake Michigan recovery now w/ even more photos

[JFS61]

I wish they would pull something different out of the lake other than a wildcat hellcat corsair...

I once saw a list of all the planes reportedly lost in Lake Michigan during the war, and there wasn't anything really super rare or unique on it except for a couple of Vindicators.

On the contrary, the last Corsair pulled up was a very rare birdcage canopy model and several of the airframes brought up have combat time in the Pacific Theater.

True, but I was responding to the OP's lament in regards to there not being anything extinct or really off the wall rare (at least that we know of).

[Chris Brame]

True, but I was responding to the OP's lament in regards to there not being anything extinct or really off the wall rare (at least that we know of).

There is one - an Air Corps O-38D that ditched in the '30s was discovered upside down in the silt several years ago; I think it was closer to Michigan (Selfridge?) but I couldn't find the thread ("O-38D" wasn't enough to pull up any results on the WIX search engine ). With only one other survivor, the very different O-38F in the NMUSAF, I'd say it qualifies as off the wall rare.

[paulmcmillan]

For those of you who forgot about 'Lake Huron' O-38

see

http://www.niagaradivers.com/shipwrecks/sw2007/dt.htm


Also found this reference

"
Shipwreck hunters have made an unexpected discovery in one of the Great Lakes. The team turned up what is thought to be part of the early days of the Air National Guard in Michigan. Shipwreck hunter David Trotter and his team -- several of them from Mid Michigan -- were searching for a new shipwreck on Lake Huron near Oscoda when they spotted a little something on their sonar. What they found surprised even this group of seasoned searchers. A tiny hit on Trotter's sonar would have been dismissed by less experienced searchers as just junk on the bottom. But the instincts and a bit of curiosity of Trotter and his crew kicked in. Putting divers in the water, they made quite a discovery. It was a relatively intact biplane. The canvas coverings on the wings and fuselage were gone and zebra mussels now coated the frame, but there is no doubt about what it was. "It was a rather old airplane," Trotter said. "It was apparently a biplane and had a very large radial engine reminiscent of planes that would have been in service in the '20s and '30s. "They knew it was old and they also realized it was upside down and it had all indications it was likely to be a military aircraft." The mystery is, where did it come from and how did it end up on the bottom of Lake Huron? From looking at video shot by Trotter's crew, aircraft historian Ralph Roberts of Saginaw believes it's a Douglas 0-38. The Michigan Air National Guard flew 0-38s out of what is now Detroit Metro Airport between 1933 and 1941. Some of the pilots trained at Camp Skeel in Oscoda, which eventually became Wurtsmith Air Force Base. But what caused it to go down in Lake Huron?"



Of course maybe it could be this ?
321001 O-19C 31-278 Selfridge Field, Mt Clemons, MI LAC 4 Olds, Thayer S. USA MI Lake Huron, near Camp Skeel, MI

[Warbirdnerd]

In the news:

CHICAGO (CBS) — A sunken World War II Wildcat fighter plane has concluded its final fight–45 miles under the water to a safe harbor in Waukegan.

It was moved there so that recovery experts can safely lift it out of Lake Michigan.

Recovery specialist Taras Lysenko says the recovery lift is less likely to rip off the wings if it’s done in a safe harbor instead of the open waters of Lake Michigan.

That’s where the historic fighter spent the last 68 years in 200 feet of water.

Lysenko says the Wildcat fighter will be lifted from the water on Friday, dried out and then rehabbed for display at the Hangar One Naval Aviation Museum in Glenview.

The FM2 Wildcat malfunctioned on a training flight Dec. 28, 1944 when it rolled off the bow of the aircraft carrier USS Sable. Pilot William Forbes escaped before the fighter sank.

Lysenko described the Wildcat fighter as “a beer can with wings.” It’s not very maneuverable, but it’s extremely lethal with six 50 caliber machine guns and self-sealing gas tanks.

The most famous Wildcat was flown by Butch O’Hare for whom O’Hare airport was named. O’Hare received the Congressional Medal of Honor for downing five Japanese bombers attacking the aircraft carrier Lexington in 1942.

Mettawa businessman Charles Greenhill has financed the recovery effort

Found it here:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/05/ ... -michigan/

[Dan K]

In the news:

CHICAGO (CBS) — A sunken World War II Wildcat fighter plane has concluded its final fight–45 miles under the water to a safe harbor in Waukegan.

It was moved there so that recovery experts can safely lift it out of Lake Michigan.

Recovery specialist Taras Lysenko says the recovery lift is less likely to rip off the wings if it’s done in a safe harbor instead of the open waters of Lake Michigan.

That’s where the historic fighter spent the last 68 years in 200 feet of water.

Lysenko says the Wildcat fighter will be lifted from the water on Friday, dried out and then rehabbed for display at the Hangar One Naval Aviation Museum in Glenview.

The FM2 Wildcat malfunctioned on a training flight Dec. 28, 1944 when it rolled off the bow of the aircraft carrier USS Sable. Pilot William Forbes escaped before the fighter sank.

Lysenko described the Wildcat fighter as “a beer can with wings.” It’s not very maneuverable, but it’s extremely lethal with six 50 caliber machine guns and self-sealing gas tanks.

The most famous Wildcat was flown by Butch O’Hare for whom O’Hare airport was named. O’Hare received the Congressional Medal of Honor for downing five Japanese bombers attacking the aircraft carrier Lexington in 1942.

Mettawa businessman Charles Greenhill has financed the recovery effort

Found it here:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/05/ ... -michigan/

Refrain: Thank you, Chuck Greenhill!

[Pat Carry]

Wow, Chuck Greenhill is the man! This is what the second recovery he has financed? Glad there are people of his means around.

[TAdan]

Nice work Taras and kudos to Chuck for supporting the recovery. Well done. I can't wait to see some pictures of the Wildcat out of the water.

[Russ Matthews]

Do we know where the 'cat is going?

Hangar One Naval Aviation Museum in Glenview, IL (where most of the planes used in the Great Lakes carrier qualification training were based. Very appropriate.)

[Pat Carry]

Do we know where the 'cat is going?

Hangar One Naval Aviation Museum in Glenview, IL (where most of the planes used in the Great Lakes carrier qualification training were based. Very appropriate.)

The museum has to build a new building to house the Wildcat before they offically get it. Hopefully they can raise the necessary funds while the plane is being restored in Pensacola.

[tulsaboy]

Related but slightly off-topic: I have every reason to believe that Taras knows exactly what he's talking about when he says that there is probably a 10 year window left for recovery of these aircraft. If that is the case, and money is the main stumbling block, why doesn't the Navy consider making a blanket offer like this to the marketplace- anyone can recover a Navy aircraft from the Lake with the following requirements: 1-they use A&T Recovery (due to their knowledge of the Lakes and the aircraft there, along with a proven record of safe recoveries) and 2- they have to fully fund and recover 2 complete aircraft; one for themselves and one for the Navy.

I think that if they did so, it would dramatically increase the pace of recoveries. Private folks would have all sorts of incentive to go pay to recover- they finally get to keep Navy warbirds, the population of them increases, and they have the chance to possibly own a combat veteran. The Navy wins big time, as it gets half of the remaining aircraft recovered at no cost to the Navy, with all of the good PR that goes with the project. The Navy becomes the biggest promoter of its own heritage by ensuring that the aircraft are recovered in a timely fashion, while ensuring that a fair portion of them are preserved in the national collection for distribution to partner museums.

Thoughts?

kevin

[Sasquatch]

She's out of the water!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 9324.story

--Tom

[Pat Carry]

[Lightjug]

Sure beats what they usually pull out of the lake in the Chicago area...

Best WIX line of the month

I notice the news reporter starts out with "... a WWII fighter jet is returned to dry land."

[cooper9411]

Thanks for the pictures Pat. I just caught the tail end of the story on WGN. Yeah, we get WGN here in Ohio

If you have any more pictures please post them.

[tulsaboy]

Yay Taras and Co! Congrats! And many thanks to Chuck Greenhill as well. Way to go guys!

kevin