Need Help Identifying Aircraft Part Recovered off of Florida

[CoastieJohn]

Need some help trying to figure out what type of aircraft or helo this came. It was recovered last week by a trawler in the Gulf Of Mexico. I thought maybe an HU-16 but not too sure from the angles we see. Not too sure where exactly in the gulf it was located...we're still working on that. I think the visible numbers appear to be 2476. The Navy is not sure it is their's. They're researching partial numbers. Thanks......

[mike furline]

Maybe a QF-4/100/??? drone?

[CoastieJohn]

Maybe a QF-4/100/??? drone?

Someone else guessed a QF-4 too. The location may have been southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

[CoastieJohn]

A little more info from one of our researchers. Me personally I'll go with USAF #2.

USAF

(1) 56-1476, USAF F-102A, converted to a QF-102A drone on 9/1/91 but no loss date or location was available.
(2) 57-2476, USAF F-106A, converted to a QF-106A drone and was shot down by an AIM-120 on 9/14/93.
(3) All other USAF airframes ending in 476 indicated operational losses at locations other than the Gulf.
(4) The main AFB that uses drone aircraft is located on Florida's Gulf Coast is Tyndall AFB.
(5) The only USAF F-4 I could document was an F-4E, 72-1476 that was listed as an operational loss while
assigned to the 406th TFS on 3/8/81.

USN

(1) The only F-4 type I could locate was a USN F-4N, BUNO 150476, that incurred an operational loss while
assigned to VF-202, on 5/4/83. (I think I worked on this accident case when I was at the NTSB while providing
assistance to the NAVSAFECEN evaluating radar data)

(2) Records available to me indicate that most USN aircraft converted to target drones met their end(s) off the
coast of Southern California

USCG

(1) The only USCG machine with a tail number of 476 was an HC-123B on loan from the USAF that was
eventually returned to the Air Force and saw service in Viet Nam. And, it couldn't go fast enough to be
target.......................

[planeoldsteve]

Found this?
http://www.f-106deltadart.com/lineage/572476Page.html
Steve

[Chris Brame]

As they say in baseball, "Some lucky fan gets a souvenir!"

[JohnB]

Anyone have a photo of a typical F-106 drone?

[Steve Nelson]

Well, here's a pic I found on Google of 57-2477..one number off from the wreckage in the original pics.

SN

[Chad Veich]

57-2476 in service.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... s_1959.jpg

[davidwomacks]

Had it been floating for 20 years??