Warbird Information Exchange

From the State.com

Posted on Tue, Sep. 13, 2005

Preparations continue for B-25 salvage operation


Divers cleaned dirt Tuesday from a submerged World War II bomber in Lake Murray as preparations continued for its retrieval.
Once that is finished, plans call for a start on elevating it.

It will pulled up with straps that are attached to the wings of the B-25C sitting about 150 feet deep in the lake.

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I'm no expert so I ask the question. How should one properly raise a 60 year old submerged medium bomber?

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Thanks...

More news from the ongoing coverage:

From WIStv.com

(Lexington) Sept. 14, 2005 - Thursday, WIS viewers could get a first glimpse of a vintage World War II airplane. The B-25 has been submerged in the water of Lake Murray for more than half a century.

Bryce Lever remembers when Lexington's 378 used to be a dirt road lined with cotton fields, "I tell you, my folks never did plow this land with anything but mules, and I've owned two to three tractors"

Mr. Lever recalls a day he won't soon forget at the lake, "I was 19 when I saw that airplane go under."

It was the spring of 1943. Two B-25's were on a routine training run when one crashed into the water, "Next thing, there was a smash out there. You didn't see nothing for a while, then I looked out there. The nose of the plane was down in the water and the tail was sticking up."

"I was a good runner back then. I ran all over that side of the lake looking for a boat."

But he never found one. Mr. Lever spent years regretting that he didn't get the chance to rescue the crew. Another thing that haunted Mr. Lever for years, he didn't know for decades whether or not the crew on board the airplane made it out alive, "Of course, they didn't have tv back then."

So Lever went, "at least 30 years or more" never knowing the five crew members on board got out okay.

Crews are working right now to recover the plane. Mr Lever says, "I'm certainly glad to hear that."

The man who saw the plane go down over 60 years ago says he plans on being there to see it come up.

Reported by Kara Gormley
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Having a hard time linking them but if you go to the website thay have video clips of the different reports concerning the B-25 Recovery.

http://www.wistv.com/global/Story.asp?S=3846074

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Hi Guys in Yank Tank land - wots happenin then - have they got this sucker out yet or wot

If this was in Norway i would have pics on the PC every 30 sec !!

Regards
John P

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Air Vice Marshall
Sunshine State Air Farce

Well they're still at working hard. Here is the newscast of the teams efforts today. Select the video footage with reporter Heather Brown.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/SearchResults.asp?qu=b-25

Sounds like it'll be here soon. I wish them good Luck

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Sounds like they're ready but the weather is giving them fits Hopefully they will be patient and all will go well.

regards,

t~

What aircraft does the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, the future of this B-25, have in their collection?

http://www.southernmuseumofflight.org/collection.html

regards,

t~

Looks like she's on the move.
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Efforts to bring B-25 ashore evoke lessons from the past

(Columbia) September 16, 2005 - A piece of history that has been hidden at the bottom of Lake Murray for decades may have to continue to wait to come ashore.
In 1945 a B-25 crashed during a training mission. Now anticipation rises as it waits to be pulled up from the water.

The plan for Friday is to take the plane and bring it to the surface of the water all the way out to the middle of the lake, but they're not going to bring it to shore until Saturday when cranes will pull it out of the water

As of Friday afternoon, crews were still on the lake trying to bring the plane about 50 feet from the bottom so divers can check it out. There was lot of filth collected on the tail of the plane and they want to make sure all of that is gone.

This process has been described as going two steps forward and one step back.

In this team's effort to raise the plane, they're learning the same lesson the plane's crew learned 60 years ago...everything doesn't always go as planned.

The story is that the plane went down on a Sunday morning on a routine mission.

Before they had time to practice dropping bombs they lost power in one engine.

The pilot wanted to head back to base, but the trainer decided to ditch in the lake.

They had a lively discussion in the cockpit and finally pulled the wheels up and very gently set the plane down in the lake. No one was injured.

Army corps missions like these were common in the 40's

It has been said that on any given day you could look and see several B-25s in the sky.

Interestingly enough, the very same day this B-25 went down, another B-25 ditched into Lake Murray, too

The navy reserve has scanned the lake with sonars and have never been able to find that second plane.

It is believed that it was retrieved at the time but never documented.

According to sonars, the plane that is out there right now is the only one on the bottom of Lake Murray that is in pretty good condition.

This is a pretty big project and a lot of it is being paid for by private donations.

The plane is expected to be up on shore by Saturday morning.

It will probably be there for about two days or so. Then it will be broken up and put on to a flat bend and taken to a museum in Alabama.

Reported by Heather Brown
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Shay
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Semper Fortis

Hmmmm.... "Broken up." That sounds promising!

I hope that's a poor choice of words for disassembled.

Here is the link to the page with todays broadcast. Click the Video with Heather Brown Reporting, mistitled B-52 instead of B-25.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/category.asp?C=1684&nav=0RaP

Shay
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Semper Fortis

the possibility of a b-25 in a river in pittsburgh is very exciting to me!!! i emailed the guy organizing the effort & i want to help because lets face it...... excluding lake erie, there are no aircraft crash sites in ohio, period!!! it would be easier to zero in on the mon river crash than going on a wild goose chase in billions of square miles of lake erie. the prospect of 1 wreck being only 4 hours from me is more than i can bear as a dream come true!!! i've got great connections to help this effort as i related to him, hopefully it will pan out.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

This was posted yesterday on WLTX-TV.com. But gives a little insight in to the difficulties of salvaging and underwater aircraft.

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(Lake Murray) The effort to raise a B-25 bomber plane that went down in Lake Murray more than 60 years ago continued Friday. Crews hoped to get it out of the water, but ran into some complications.

Efforts to raise the bomber paused this afternoon amidst questions that the antique warplane may not be able to sustain the pressure of being hauled out of the water.

The effort will continue over the weekend. Once the plane is raised, it will be cleaned and sent to a museum to be put on display.

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Shay
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Semper Fortis

B-25 still at the bottom of Lake Murray

From WISTV.COM

(Columbia) September 17, 2005 - Despite crews being one step closer to pulling that B-25 bomber out of Lake Murray, the world war two plane that has been hidden at the bottom of the lake more than half a century it's going to have to stay that way for a few more days.
Now the waiting game has become somewhat of a spectator sport.

People of all ages are anxiously waiting to catch a glimpse of the B-25 aircraft when it emerges from Lake Murray.

Residents like Tonya Brown are looking forward to seeing the plane.

"I've always heard my grandma say planes fell in the water, so i finally get a chance to see something that really happened a long time ago."

The world war two bomber crashed into the lake during a training mission in 1943.

Now rescue crews are working to pull the aircraft out of it's watery grave.

Crew member John Adams Hodge compares the experience to bringing life into the world.

"It's kinda like watching a baby being born, it pops out and there it is pretty good shape."

The plan for Saturday afternoon was to have cranes bring the B-25 ashore, but crews ran into unexpected structure damage.

Hodge says that if they had tried to lift it with the silt being in the nose of the plane, the nose could have separated. So it will take a few more days before the aircraft is retrieved.

Word spread quickly that the bomber wouldn't surface but people say no matter when the plane comes up, they're in it for the long haul.

Hodge says the rescue project is a waiting game that shouldn't be rushed.

"It happens when it happens..there is no need to rush to put our own impatience over the fact we want a beautiful aircraft sitting on the beach in one piece that be conserved and restored."

Reported by Tamara King

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Shay
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Semper Fortis