Recent Solomon Island Recoveries.

[TAdan]

Some very interesting photos posted on Facebook last night of significant aircraft and components being recovered in the Solomons, I count at least two Betty's and several single engine types.

Graham Orphan from Classic Wings had this to say:

Graham Orphan Hi Guys, This recovery operation is designed to ensure that some of the last remaining specimens from the island will actually be saved instead of rotting into the ground as so many already have. The mission involves the Solomon Islands National Museum in conjunction with local land-owners. Look for an exclusive major feature in the next issue of Classic Wings magazine. Our team from CW was there to witness and record the recovery work.

Just wondering if anyone else had any details on this impressive recovery.

Here is the link to the photos, not sure if it will work for those who don't use FB.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/antique ... ment_reply

Last edited by TAdan on Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

[old iron]

The "Betty" looks like a beaut from the outside (completely gutted from within)

[Kyleb]

The "Betty" looks like a beaut from the outside (completely gutted from within)

I hope it survives the handling required to deliver it to wherever it is going. I imagine it is fragile after sitting out for 70+ years.

[JohnTerrell]

At least two "Betty" airframes in the photos.

[JohnB]

I'm surprised, I thought anything worth having was picked up in the 70s.

That leads to the question...is there anything else out there?
I wonder if China will yield stuff like Russia and Eastern Europe in the 90s?

[OD/NG]

I'm surprised, I thought anything worth having was picked up in the 70s.

That leads to the question...is there anything else out there?
I wonder if China will yield stuff like Russia and Eastern Europe in the 90s?

There is plenty of stuff out there still. The problem for the Pacific War relics is the environment. Anything in the jungles or mountains will invariably be heavily corroded and only be useful for patterns and perhaps small parts, forgings, gear struts, etc.

In my opinion, there is a lot more promise with Europe and Russia. Because most of that environment is in a cold climate, it tends to inhibit corrosion and acts more like a preservative. I think the greatest potential is cold, fresh water lakes such as those in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia. If you've been paying attention to recoveries from that area over the last decade or so, you will know that whole complete Luftwaffe aircraft (He-111's, He-115, Ju-88's) have been recovered that have nearly all of their original paint intact and with very little corrosion. Most of those aircraft could be made flyable again utilizing large amounts of original material and structures.

That is what holds the most promise for future recoveries. It was mentioned by someone here on this forum in the past that there are something like over 1000 W.W.II aircraft wrecks that could be potentially salvaged from European lakes.

This He-115 was raised from the waters of Norway 6 years ago. Tell me this isn't spectacular:

[DoraNineFan]

Finally? It looks like the Betty that has been sitting at Ballale Airfield is finally coming out. Hopefully it is headed to FHC to help with their future Betty project.

[JohnB]

Related question prompted by the last photo...
In photos of various abandoned Japanese aircraft, there seems to be a faint red tint to the airframe.
-Primer?
-jungle "crud"?
-corrosion?

You are right about fresh water lakes, this summer I was at a show featuring the recently restored P-47, they had plenty of photos and artifacts found in the airframe.
Absolutely amazing!

While there may be 1000 warbirds in lakes, I wonder how many are in that kind of shape like the Thunderbolt or Heinkel...or will they be a basket of parts like the recently announced Spitfire "restoration" (looks to me more of a data plate special recreation judging by the photos of recovered pieces ...note I said pieces, not parts... published in the latest Flypast).

[old iron]

The Betty bombers appear to be #s 1800 and 2806, see

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/g4m/1800.html
https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/g4m/2806.html

According to these sources, a G4M1 fuselage was also recovered.

[menards]

The betty's look like they borrowed some design elements from the early fortresses.... just mt opinion that I see some similarities...

[Invader26]

If one looks at aviation development things evolve as a product of the times rather than copying everything. Same happens today. Remember the USA is not the only centre of best technology>>

[Noha307]

The mission involves the Solomon Islands National Museum in conjunction with local land-owners. Look for an exclusive major feature in the next issue of Classic Wings magazine. Our team from CW was there to witness and record the recovery work.

Glad to hear they're working with the locals. I hope the museum can get something out of this to display.

[lucky52]

Recover what you can while you can.

[Chris Brame]

Always glad to see more stuff coming out of the weeds. I remember reading in Air Classics in the mid-'70s about Bob Diemert wanting to recover a couple Bettys to go with his Zero and Val (can you imagine him getting one flying ala the Val, with sheet metal screws on the panels and a couple B-25 QECs lashed up to the firewalls? )

[marine air]

it's really good news as eventually they'll dissolve into nothing. I find scrap petals and tin all the time on my farm that one can only guess what they may have been. The cool thing about those Betty's even if just displayed as is , is that one can get a sense of size and chape by seeing it in person. Maybe they will collect artifacts to go with it.