Warbird Information Exchange

Found it here:
http://winnipegsun.com/News/Manitoba/20 ... 77943.html

The recovery of a vintage airplane from the bottom of a Manitoba lake hit a snag over the week.

Crews attempting to raise the Fokker Universal 35 metres from the bottom of Charron Lake ran into undisclosed difficulties, said a spokesperson for the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg. Charron Lake is approximately 300 km northeast of Winnipeg.

Recovery workers had expected the plane to be out of the water yesterday following a very slow ascent to the top.

The recovery is being filmed by a London, England-based crew from the National Geographic.

The plane broke through the ice in December 1931 following an emergency landing during a snow storm.

Believed to be the only salvageable plane of its kind, the plane has rested upright at the bottom of the lake which is near Little Grand Rapids.


Read more in tomorrow's Winnipeg Sun.

Hope they make it! Also would like to have the wood concession for the rebuild!

Spirit landing gear is a near copy of the Universal's, except it was inverted and had fewer bungee connections. IIRC, it's been documented that Ryan people specifically visited a Fokker to view the landing gear.

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Charles Neely

I sure will, even if only to see the next SunShine Girl.

August

What was the snag they had?

Any update on this?

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

WCAM recovered the engine and tail in 2006 and went back for the rest in 2007. Oddly, the website doesn't include
the recovery diaries for the 2006 and '07 trips...nor photos. A coupla photos of the main fuse section as it arrived at
the museum...
www.wcam.mb.ca/ghostcharron.html

Pretty neat virtual tour of WCAM, but unfortunately, no tour of the resto or storage area where it may reside.
www.panosphere.ca/gallery/wcam/virtualtour.html

EDIT: Forgot to mention...the website mentions the Universal was to be put on display in the Spring of 2008.
After taking the tour that doesn't appear to be the case...that is if the V-tour is somewhat current.


Another Fokker recovery is in the planning stage. Byrd's Fokker C-2, the first airplane to fly in Antarctica...
http://byrdexpedition.org

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Thanks for the update! Reason I asked was they showed a docu about it on National Geographic. But it was only about the first expedition where they recovered the engine.

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Maybe the part they were raising became parts-plural.

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."