wrecks at Lake Washington

Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:51 pm

I was looking at this interesting site and was wondering if anyone here has gone to the Seattle Museum of Flight and seen any of the recovered aircraft?

http://www.nwrain.com/~newtsuit/recoveries/lkwash/lkwash.htm

Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:25 am

The Corsair looks good. I'll see if I can dredge up a picture later on today. I forget if the Wildcat they have in restoration came out of the lake also. Anyone know?

Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:08 am

Curtis Block wrote:The Corsair looks good. I'll see if I can dredge up a picture later on today. I forget if the Wildcat they have in restoration came out of the lake also. Anyone know?

The Corsair indeed is a good looking a/c, just not airworthy. It's a prime example of what can be done with something that came out of fresh-water. John Lane did a good job of completing the restoration after it was started at Paine Field. I seem to have a little intimate knowledge of this a/c :wink:

The Wildcat presently under restoration did not come out of a lake. At one time it was located in a park in the White Center area. Then headed to the east coast for restoration, then back out west again. I think its been "under restoration" for the last 25 years or so.

Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:39 pm

after lurking here for so long it's time for my first post. i was just at the m.o.f. restoration shop last weekend and here's where they are on the wildcat. the bottom photo is what it originally looked like and what they're gonna put back on it. i can't wait!!!

Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:23 pm

spookythecat wrote:after lurking here for so long it's time for my first post. i was just at the m.o.f. restoration shop last weekend and here's where they are on the wildcat. the bottom photo is what it originally looked like and what they're gonna put back on it. i can't wait!!!

Good pics! Glad to see it's made some progress since the last time I saw it a bunch of years ago.

Fri Nov 02, 2007 11:07 pm

Sorry I must have lost my photos of the Corsair. I looked but found nothing. It's unfortunate how one can get almost numb aircraft they are accustom to. Now when I go to the Museum of Flight I usually don't bother to take out my camera. The pictures of the Wildcat are more recent than the ones I have also. I'm sure someone here has a photo of the Corsair.

I have not been down on any of the wrecks still in Lake Washington. I'll have to admit I much prefer warm water diving. The only diving I've done up here involved someone paying me to get in the water. I suppose however if someone twisted my arm...

Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:32 am

Kind of an off-topic question, but is the date on the caption correct? I was under the impression that the Wildcats were gone by 1944 at the most.

Could definitely be wrong though.

Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:35 am

The General Motors Eastern built FM-2 "Wilder" Wildcats continued in service with TBMs in composite squadrons (VCs) until the end of the war, flying from the smaller carriers. F6F Hellcats were normally limited to the larger fleet carriers. Hope that helps.

Randy

Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:44 am

Randy Wilson wrote:The General Motors Eastern built FM-2 "Wilder" Wildcats continued in service with TBMs in composite squadrons (VCs) until the end of the war, flying from the smaller carriers. F6F Hellcats were normally limited to the larger fleet carriers. Hope that helps.

Randy

Well cool, learn something new every day.

Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:01 pm

thats great that they are restoring the Wildcat. What is with the PB4Y-2? is that still resting on its landing gear on the bottom?

Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:35 pm

bax101 wrote:What is with the PB4Y-2? is that still resting on its landing gear on the bottom?

Yes Bax, they're all still there..SNV-2..PB4Y..PV-1(or 2), all participating in the USN's deep cold
storage experiment. :roll:

Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:55 pm

Curtis Block wrote: Now when I go to the Museum of Flight I usually don't bother to take out my camera. The pictures of the Wildcat are more recent than the ones I have also. I'm sure someone here has a photo of the Corsair.

Somewhere, I've got pics of the Corsair; both when it was under restoration in the old hanger at Paine and then in the Museum after it was completed. I'll see if I can dig them out...

Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:00 pm

I've been planning on making a trip up there sometime soon. I just need to find a day when I'm not so buisy.

Sun Nov 04, 2007 12:59 am

Airnutz: Don't forget the PBM the Navy managed to almost completely destroy in an attempt to salvage it. Instead of listening to the experts, they tore the aircraft in half trying to pick it up in 80 feet of water while it was full of silt. Up until that time, the only thing wrong with the aircraft was a punctured float that caused it to roll over and slowly sink. It would have been a perfect candidate for a flyer.

Sun Nov 04, 2007 1:22 am

Cvairwerks wrote:Airnutz: Don't forget the PBM the Navy managed to almost completely destroy in an attempt to salvage it. Instead of listening to the experts, they tore the aircraft in half trying to pick it up in 80 feet of water while it was full of silt. Up until that time, the only thing wrong with the aircraft was a punctured float that caused it to roll over and slowly sink. It would have been a perfect candidate for a flyer.

I didn't forget it Cvair..but because the Navy salvage team, "pretty much destroyed it" by
attempting a lift before evacuating the the silt saturation within the machine...she's a write-off.

Like I suggested years ago..the team showed up..had a mission dedicated profile to lift
the bird by "X-day"..common sense be damned, they attempted it, and destroyed the
bird on that day.

I've got CRS on many details these days...but I don't ferget the "big chunks"! :wink:

I hope you and yours are well..is yer young'n bending wrenches on that Fairchild yet?