Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Fri Jul 05, 2013 9:19 am
there are so many war trophies, booty, prizes, what have you that have been documented as captured since ww 2, but have simply vanished........ no paper trail, no physical dna etc. many axis projects regardless of how crazy, far fetched etc. also a lot of projects that never made it past the drawing board!! 
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Wed Jul 17, 2013 10:23 am
An Update:
OK, so yesterday afternoon, I met up with "traku1" (Nice guy, good to meet ya!) down here at Pax and we went and had a look. We indeed found the exact location and verified it with his photos (which he brought along). The area is about a 30-40 foot drop off down to the Chesapeake Bay/Patuxent River and has since become a dumping area for chunks of concrete runway/tarmac...and lots of it! Runways and sections of the flight line are routinely torn up and replaced. The area is pretty much a seawall of torn up concrete, some of which still contain the lighting receptacles and aircraft tie down rebar. I'd venture to say, if anything of substantial size still remains, it is under chunks of cement.
We did find evidence, however. There were a few small sections of what is unmistakably aircraft structure crammed between crevices of concrete. Nothing in the way of easily identifiable pieces though.
The area is also heavily covered in ground vegetation which would hide any remaining parts. My plan is to go back again in the fall/winter when all the weeds recede and take a more detailed look...it won't be 100 degrees out then either!
Pics to follow.
OK, so yesterday afternoon, I met up with "traku1" (Nice guy, good to meet ya!) down here at Pax and we went and had a look. We indeed found the exact location and verified it with his photos (which he brought along). The area is about a 30-40 foot drop off down to the Chesapeake Bay/Patuxent River and has since become a dumping area for chunks of concrete runway/tarmac...and lots of it! Runways and sections of the flight line are routinely torn up and replaced. The area is pretty much a seawall of torn up concrete, some of which still contain the lighting receptacles and aircraft tie down rebar. I'd venture to say, if anything of substantial size still remains, it is under chunks of cement.
We did find evidence, however. There were a few small sections of what is unmistakably aircraft structure crammed between crevices of concrete. Nothing in the way of easily identifiable pieces though.
The area is also heavily covered in ground vegetation which would hide any remaining parts. My plan is to go back again in the fall/winter when all the weeds recede and take a more detailed look...it won't be 100 degrees out then either!
Pics to follow.
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:04 pm
Sounds like you may want to bring a pneumatic hammer along next time as well....or an EOD team 
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:35 pm
OK, here are some current pics of the site, taken last week. As you can see, lots of tarmac dumped into the area.
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:53 pm
Thanks for sharing the pics AFWhite. Glad to hear you were able to meet up with traku1 and investigate the area. I'm happy to see that there are still at least a few aircraft scraps left. Hopefully you'll find something worth preserving. Happy hunting. 
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:18 pm
Pretty sure that last one is an in-ground runway edge light...those are usually found where taxiways turn off, hence them being in-ground.
Brandon
Brandon
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:16 am
Punisher05 wrote:Pretty sure that last one is an in-ground runway edge light...those are usually found where taxiways turn off, hence them being in-ground.
Brandon
Yup, the entire pile had runway lights with their embedded receptacles exposed. That last one is typical of the type of light you have on a carrier flight deck. NAS Pax has areas that replicate aircraft carrier and LHA landing and catapult areas.
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:11 am
It's unfortunate that of all the Axis aircraft which had been at NASPAX for testing and evaluation there's such limited information, and everything has mostly vanished and been forgotten.
Re: Where did the Arado 234s go?
Thu Oct 24, 2013 4:12 pm
Issue #5 of The Aviation Historian (www.theaviationhistorian.www) is now out and features a six page article about the Pax River Arados co-written by myself and a renowned aviation author in the UK. As far as I know the publication isn’t available here in the US and can only be mail ordered. In summary, the article covers how the Arados came to be at Pax River and there subsequent disposal. It’s noted that at the time of their disposal there was little interest among the aviation community on retrieving the aircraft based on their neglected condition. Included are photos I had taken in 1976 and a couple photos of one of the Arados when it was still on the tarmac and of the Bell XFL-1 in flight. Another theme of the story comments on the lengths to which contemporary institutions will go to in remote parts of the world to retrieve mere parts of wrecks in any condition. While at the same time there could be forgotten remains in our “backyards”. The story goes on to speculate about the likelihood of a qualified entity with the right resources to mount some sort of recovery of what remains of the Arados. A questionable endeavor based on the volume of landfill dumped at the site. After revisiting the site in July 2013 there are indeed pieces of aircraft mixed in among the concrete rubble. But what lies deeper down is impossible to guess.