B-25 to be raised from lakebed

Shay · **Posted:** Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:50 pm

From Myrtlebeachonline.com

Lifting of sunken WWII plane delayed

Nose could fall off without new gear

By Tim Flach

Knight Ridder

COLUMBIA - A piece of World War II history submerged in Lake Murray for 62 years will remain in its waters for a few days more.

Plans to lift a sunken B-25C bomber from the lake Saturday are on hold after the salvage team concluded that the aircraft's nose could fall off.

"We like to bring an airplane back in one piece," said John Adams Hodge, a Columbia lawyer who is a co-leader of the retrieval effort. "This happens on its own schedule."

Bringing out the aircraft will have to wait until equipment to hold the nose in place arrives.

The delay disappointed some of the 300 people gathered on land and by boat at the landing at the north end of the dam to see the aircraft pulled out.

On her day off work, Sarah Anderson of Red Bank, whose father and uncles helped build the dam 75 years ago, lost a chance to watch what she said is local history in the making.

"I've always been around this lake," she said. "This was a chance to add to what I've seen."

Others shrugged off the wait as inconsequential even if it means they won't be able to see the aircraft raised.

"It's been down there so long, what's another day or two?" middle school teacher Charlie Calhoun of Irmo said.

The retrieval effort created a midday traffic jam as motorists crossing the dam slowed to watch.

Shortly before dawn, workers completed lifting the aircraft from the 150-foot depth to which it sank after a crash landing while on a training mission April 4, 1943.

Military bomber crews from what was Columbia Air Base, now Columbia Metropolitan Airport, used the lake for practice during the war.

The salvage team finished pulling up the bomber shortly before dawn after 21 hours, slowed by tangled cables and balance adjustments. Then it was hauled under water to the landing, where it sits just offshore, under a barge.

The team's only disappointment so far is not finding a missing engine from the right wing under the airplane as hoped.

Inspection of the bomber's right side - damaged when it was ditched - led the salvage team to conclude it is risky to lift it immediately. It might be Monday or Tuesday before work resumes, depending on when the extra equipment arrives.

Once out of the lake, the aircraft will be placed on a pad at the landing and disassembled for transport to an aviation museum in Birmingham, Ala., where it will be displayed after restoration.

Anderson plans to go there to view the exhibit to make up for missing out on seeing its recovery. "Wherever they take it," she said, "we'll go see it."
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Shay
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Semper Fortis

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:58 pm

i can wait, but i'm just glad the salvors are going at this responsibly, methodically, & with foresight, instead of feet 1st. so many wrecks get wrecked worse when a rush job ensues!!! take your time please!!! tom

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11319

Maybe they need some recovery advice from the USN? :shock:

airnutz · **Posted:** Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:46 pm

I thought they used good judgement in NOT using the USN method! :wink:

Shay · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:00 am

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3871232&nav=menu36_3

CONGRATULATIONS to the Team for all the hard work

Follow the link above for video footage.

B-25 bomber breaks surface of Lake Murray for first time in decades

(Lake Murray) Sept. 19, 2005 - Crews worked all day Monday, carefully following procedures to safely pull up a historic B-25 bomber from the bottom of Lake Murray.

After sunset, the bomber was visible above the lake's surface. John Adams Hodge has been working on the project from planning to execution, a process that took years, "It's been absolutely fantastic this evening. We've spent well over ten years planning this event. And I'll tell you, there were times along the process whent people felt that maybe just a bunch of guys getting together organizing this were not as effective as a government agency or a corporation or something like that."

But he is proud of his team's work, "We assembled a world-class team and the guys worked extremely hard this week. Ten days on the water, some of these people were on the barge for 36 hours straight. The plane is on the beach. It'll be in its resting place in a sling in just a few minutes, and then off to the museum in just a few days. So we're absolutely excited about this."

He says that crew did their job right, "It's tedious, it's technical, but the main thing is just to be patient and make sure everything's done right and slowly and deliberately."

It'll be on the lake shore for about three or four days, then off to a museum in Alabama. It will take five or six years for the restoration process there.

Reported by Tamara King

Originalboxcar · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:05 am

Good new indeed. Congrats :!:

By the looks of it in the video, the nose just forward of the windscreen appears to be gone. Did they lose this on recovery? I thought this is what they were trying to avoid. The skin appears to be in remarkable shape and I can't wait to see photos when she's completely out of the water.

Well done

regards,

t~

B-29 Super Fort · **Joined:** Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:12 am **Posts:** 871

Wow, it does look like it survived quite well in the water all these years. What a difference resting in fresh water compared to the condition if it was in the ocean. I see from the video that Air Pirates was involved with the recovery.

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:40 am

I suppose Gary Larkins and crew were responsible for the recovery, or at least lent some of their recovery gear for the effort.

Anyone have an idea which museum in Alabama will be receiving the plane?

RickH · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:05 am

I believe it's the Museum at Birmingham, Rob.

B-29 Super Fort · **Joined:** Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:12 am **Posts:** 871

Rob Mears wrote:

I suppose Gary Larkins and crew were responsible for the recovery, or at least lent some of their recovery gear for the effort.

Anyone have an idea which museum in Alabama will be receiving the plane?

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

Wolverine · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:36 pm

originalboxcar wrote:

By the looks of it in the video, the nose just forward of the windscreen appears to be gone.
t~

10 seconds into the video on the lower left, you can see that the nose is still attached.

This is great. I enjoy hearing news of intact aircraft getting recovered.

Shay · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:45 pm

Hopefully better daylight footage will be posted tonight on www.wistv.com and we all can get a better look at her.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Originalboxcar · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:09 pm

She's out and the nose is INTACT!

LIVE images refreshed every 5 mins. courtesy of the local power company:

http://www.wistv.com/Global/link.asp?L=40481

regards,

t~

Shay · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:09 pm

The State.com has some still images of the recovery

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/12691201.htm

Also WLTX.com has some video footage from a different vantage point.

http://www.wltx.com/news/news19.aspx?storyid=30644

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Shay · **Posted:** Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:24 pm

originalboxcar wrote:

:D She's out and the nose is INTACT!

LIVE images refreshed every 5 mins. courtesy of the local power company:

http://www.wistv.com/Global/link.asp?L=40481

regards,

t~

As our Aussie Friend James Lunday would say "She's a Right Dead Set Beaut".

Simply a georgous aircraft and a timeless design.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

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B-25 to be raised from lakebed

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