F4U Pulled from Lake Michigan

That cold water does wonders for preserving. Time to go get the other 70 or so planes that are down there.
 
Good to see a rare warbird brought back to the light of day and heading toward restoration and display. Just too bad it won't be on display anyplace close to me.

OBIO
 
Bone said:
That cold water does wonders for preserving. Time to go get the other 70 or so planes that are down there.
Click to expand...

You have that right. If you every get up to the Michigan UP out on Whitefish Point on Lake Superior close to a little town called Paradise there is the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. There are many artifacts on display. I found it interesting and it's a beautiful spot.

Link: http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/
 
.....As we know,...it took the British Royal Navy to somewhat 'tame' the Corsair in order to land it on a carrier deck. I wouldn't envy the greenhorn Navy or Marine aviator trying to land his F4U on the small carrier bobbing around in Lake Michigan.
 
The thing about these Navy aircraft that they bring up is that legally they still belong to the Navy. The Air Force abandons claims on it's old wrecked aircraft, the Navy don't.
 
What's amazing about this, is as far as I know, these recoveries from Lake Michigan, though destined for the U.S. Navy because they are still owned/accounted for by the Navy, is that the recoveries are paid for by private individuals! For instance, this latest recovery, of such an amazingly rare F4U-1, was paid for by Chuck Greenhill, owner and pilot of warbirds such as the P-51D Geraldine, and the famous Pearl Harbor-survivor, Gruman Duck. Without this backing, the planes would still remain on the bottom of the lake.

There has already been some fairly interesting details emerging from this recovery, such as "salmon" primer being found throughout the entire aircraft - finally putting to rest what was considered a myth amongst model-builders for quite some time! On these early Corsairs, before the switch to green/yellow primers, the primer used made for a pinkish/orange-shade throughout the interior. Later model Corsairs, you would only find this primer remaining in select areas, like the gear wells (Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Museum FG-1D, currently under restoration, will feature this primer in proper areas).

Though there is somewhere around 80 or so WWII-era Naval aircraft still at the bottom of Lake Michigan, 'I believe' this was the only Corsair.
 
Bomber_12th said:
Though there is somewhere around 80 or so WWII-era Naval aircraft still at the bottom of Lake Michigan, 'I believe' this was the only Corsair.
Click to expand...
John, you may very well be correct in your comment. In 1943 there weren't yet too many "pre-owned" (war-weary) F4U's to pass on to the Training Command. I've seen only one pic of a F4U aboard one of the paddle-wheel carriers. However there were quite a few F4U's assigned to the reserves at NAS Glenview after the war, likely there are a couple of them down on the lake bed.
 
Willy said:
The thing about these Navy aircraft that they bring up is that legally they still belong to the Navy. The Air Force abandons claims on it's old wrecked aircraft, the Navy don't.
Click to expand...

Real nice of them.... They wil came an Aircraft but not 1,500 live shells lost in Gravesend Bay, NY.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/1...d-under-ny-bridge-dpgonc-km-20101024_10259262

If the Navy showed up at my door asking for the plane with out paying me for it. I'd tell them "It will be back in the lake in 24 hours and go find it your self if you want it so bad!" :a1310:
 
The argument of the USN still owning abandoned wrecks went all the way the Supreme Court with the discovery of the world's only F3A-1A in a North Carolina swamp. The person who found the wreck was awarded ownership. Since other aircraft have been recovered and ownership has been awarded to the person or group that salvaged them, I think the precedent has been set. The USN can challenge this one, but I expect they will come from the court house with egg on their face.
 
All of these recoveries over the past two years, from Lake Michigan, have come as a 'partnership' of such, between the Navy and those who sponsor the recoveries - those puting up the money are basically working with the Navy, knowing full well that the planes will be sent to Pensacola, restored, and either put on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation (as this Corsair will, when completed), or to another selected museum that may be agreed upon.

Some may recall that in the early 90's, several aircraft were brought up from Lake Michigan - some went to the Navy, and some went to private hands, including a couple of Wildcats that became airworthy in an incredibly short amount of time - due to the crazy level of preservation (for instance, at least one of the Wildcats that was recovered and restored, wasn't even re-painted on the interior, as the paint was still all there, only featuring the scratches and scuff marks left from use during WWII). Shortly there after the Navy seemed to change its mind on the recoveries, and thus, up until the last two years or so, there weren't any recoveries at all from the Lake. Thankfully, now under new management, with a new decision change a few years back, the recoveries have been taking place again - I believe 4 aircraft were pulled up last year, and I believe this is the 3rd, possibly the 4th pulled up this year.
 
The upshot of the Brewster Corsair case was that the guy got grandfathered to keep it, but the Navy's claim on future wreck recoveries was upheld. The Navy wasn't overly concerned about it's wrecks until warbirds came to be worth in the millions. Then it became an issue and they pulled every trick they could to get that Brewster Corsair in NC and settled for keeping ownership of all other wrecked and abandoned Naval aircraft.
 
They brought up a Douglas Dauntless from Lake Michigan back in the '90s, and I remember when I was young they had the wreckage displayed at the Kalamazoo Air Show and were taking donations to have it restored. Last year I visited the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and got to see that Dauntless restored to static display condition. I'm glad to hear more vintage aircraft are being pulled up from the Lake.
 
Sorry Panther - a U.S. Navy-owned aircraft, thus it will be restored to static display, and placed in the National Museum of Naval Aviation - this of course is the known plan all along, by all parties involved in the recovery. The recovery itself, like all of them over the last two years, has been thought out well in advance, through to where it will be restored and where it will be displayed.

Mind you, the Navy also has a recently recovered Hellcat, Helldiver, and I believe a Dauntless in line for restoration.

RedGreen, that Dauntless restoration you speak of is an amazing aircraft! It is soooo cool that many of these airframes, like that particular Dauntless, have combat records (though this Corsair does not).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top