XB 15

[bgp429]

Is there any possibility the XB15 could be pulled from the muck? If indeed in muck wouldn't that protect it from corrosion due to lack of oxygen? Being one of a kind it is priceless.




In service for eight years, the XB-15 served with two squadrons at Langley Field, Hampton, Virginia, USA, the 49th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 2d Bombardment Group (Heavy) between 1938 and 1940, and the 41st Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 2d Bombardment Wing between 1940 and 1942. This aircraft was assigned to Sixth Air Force in the Caribbean and arrived at the Panama Air is one of kind aircraft was ignominiously shoved into the Curundu Swamp, east of Albrook Field, where it slowly sunk into the muck. It remains there to this day."

Created May 31, 2006

[The Inspector]

Speaking of 'one of a kind' and 'priceless', yesterday Tom ran a picture of the forward fuselage section from the one and only B-19 on the trash pile @ Wright Field on Plane-A-Day.

[JFS61]

We had a thread about this not long ago:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45951

[F3A-1]

I could speak to the probability of the condition from the swamp. I had recovered several Mustang and P-40 (etc) crashes in swamps/lakes in Florida in the 80's. The parts in mud were nearly perfectly preserved. No rust or corrosion. Parts above the sediment layer, in brown acidic water were extremely corroded, even the stainless, however the magnesium was mostly intact. Many, if not all of the swamps will have the high levels of acid in the water.

The probability of the XB-15 not having a new facility or building over it is quite slim. I "Googled" the former air field and it does not look undeveloped since the 40's.

The theory is good, The site is not. Many air fields were cleared at the end of the war in similar manners. Better chances exist in other places. Keep looking!

Pirate Lex

[TROJANII]

I was at Albrook in July. There is a highway/mall/bus terminal to the east now.

[JFS61]

Would be nice if we could get someone (like Dan Hagedorn) who could clarify as to where the plane was buried, as sources seems to differ as to just where it was dumped:

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00094771/01239/3x?vo=3

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/xb-15/35-277.html

Of course, everyone could be describing the same place, but the various descriptions are such that it makes it seem as if they are describing different locations.

[Cubs]

Diablo, Panama is due west of the airfield according to Google Earth.
3/4 of a mile due east of the airfield, is a swampy area and what I would call a shanty town.
The kind of dwellings that would be expected in the area of an old, swampy, former dump.

According to one article, there were visible remains as late as 1980. Someone must have a good recollection of where exactly that plane was last seen.

Also, the article implies that there are other WWII aircraft in the dump. Even more incentive to investigate.

[JFS61]

That area you described definitely matches the descriptions we've heard. The only question is does it lie buried in an area still covered by the surviving shanties, or underneath one of the various developments built in and around the old shanty town (such as the Cuartel de Policia to the east or the warehouse/shopping center to the south).

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=cu ... CAgQ_AUoAg

[Cubs]

I was just reading an article from a person that grew up in the CZ during the 1940's (1944-46). He relates going behind the school in Diablo and hiking through the swamp to go treasure hunting among the discarded aircraft.

I am reasonably certain that I have located the 1940's era school in question.
8 deg. 58' 03.27" N 79deg 34' 00.54"W

[JFS61]

I was just reading an article from a person that grew up in the CZ during the 1940's (1944-46). He relates going behind the school in Diablo and hiking through the swamp to go treasure hunting among the discarded aircraft.

I am reasonably certain that I have located the 1940's era school in question.
8 deg. 58' 03.27" N 79deg 34' 00.54"W

I assume you're referring to the Escuela Fe Y Alegria located across the road west of athletic fields, right?

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Disregard.

[Ken]

Slightly off topic but I have some great memories of Albrook, 93-97. Although google shows a runway, I don't believe this was in use during my time there.

We made frequent deployments to Howard until the canal was handed over and Albrook, in my mind, was known for two things: Albrook Airways, which was the main communications center for the region ... and depending on HF properties, for the world. Many an HF phone patch was placed from some remote location thru Albrook to call "Smasher" with our info. Second was the O'Club's Mongolian BBQ night. Graze an expansive buffet of raw meats and vegetables, pay by weight, and take your prize to the Panamanian chefs waiting outside cooking on sizzling steel discs nearly twice the size of a 55 gal drum. Sip a beer and pace in the periphery until your meal was ready. Now that was my kind of deployment!

Ken

[Cubs]

I was just reading an article from a person that grew up in the CZ during the 1940's (1944-46). He relates going behind the school in Diablo and hiking through the swamp to go treasure hunting among the discarded aircraft.

I am reasonably certain that I have located the 1940's era school in question.
8 deg. 58' 03.27" N 79deg 34' 00.54"W

I assume you're referring to the Escuela Fe Y Alegria located across the road west of athletic fields, right?

No, this reference is west of Albrook Field. Between Albrook and the canal entrance.
The earlier reference to the "shantytown" is west of the athletic fields, the Escuela Fe Y Alegria

Using Google Earth, photos about 2004, there is a large undeveloped area "behind" the school.
2012 photo shows much of that area graded and developed as an industrial area/pier. If there was any aircraft buried there, they are long gone.

[TROJANII]

That area you described definitely matches the descriptions we've heard. The only question is does it lie buried in an area still covered by the surviving shanties, or underneath one of the various developments built in and around the old shanty town (such as the Cuartel de Policia to the east or the warehouse/shopping center to the south).

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=cu ... CAgQ_AUoAg

The Cuartel de Policia looks to be over 1000 meters away. I would think any planes being dumped would be within 1/4 mile, or at least on the airfield itself.

[JFS61]

According to accounts, the XB-15 was dumped in a swamp located roughly 3/4 of a mile to the east of the airfield, which would be around 1000 meters or so (1200 to be exact), and as the area was said to have been covered by a shanty town, the area around the Cuartel de Policia would appear to match those descriptions. As for other aircraft, it is possible that they were dumped elsewhere, as I do seem to recall an account of aircraft being dumped off the end of the field, so it's possible that there could have multiple dump sites scattered around the area.