Lake MI Dauntless to HI + comments on Wildcat & Corsair
Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:50 am
Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:15 am
Awesome news, I may be able to see this one recovered 
Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:18 am
Great to see more birds emerging from the Navy's long term storage facility! Ones with history as well. THAT is way cool!
Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:31 pm
Great news!
How did a combat veteran Dauntless, Wildcat and Corsair end up at Glenview?
How did a combat veteran Dauntless, Wildcat and Corsair end up at Glenview?
Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:44 pm
If I understand what I have read correctly, the Dauntless was being pulled from combat because it was replaced by newer, better aircraft whose wings folded (taking up less hangar deck space), were faster, carried a heavier load. Wildcat, being replaced by Hellcat, Corsair....tricky to land on a carrier, have to train them somewhere. The Great Lakes were a "safe" place to practice.
Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:21 pm
The Airzoo's Dauntless, recovered from Lake Michigan, is also a combat veteran...used in Operation Torch.
John
John
Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:50 pm
alot of the lake michigan warbirds were combat veterans & were pulled for training as their air frames became war weary.
Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:01 pm
Wow, great news!
From the article:
"The more than $300,000 retrieval cost is being paid for by Fred L. Turner, former chairman and CEO of the hamburger chain McDonald's Corp., as well as by the corporation itself, DeHoff said."
Who would have thought that McDonald's would ever be a major sponsor in supporting a warbird restoration or cause. Does anybody know if Turner was a combat veteran of W.W.II - specifically an SBD driver or what his connection to history is?
I'm surprised that the CEO of "Enterprise Rent-a-Car" hasn't jumped in on this restoration/recovery bandwagon yet. After all, he was the one who sponsored the History series, "Battle 360" about the life of the USS Enterprise and was a pilot on board that aircraft carrier.
Since McDonald's is now a major sponsor for the Dauntless, I would love to see that creepy-looking King from Burger King get in on the act. Can you imagine a Burger King commercial, where that creepy King is scuba-diving out in Lake Michigan and they show him recovering a Wildcat. That would be weird!
From the article:
"The more than $300,000 retrieval cost is being paid for by Fred L. Turner, former chairman and CEO of the hamburger chain McDonald's Corp., as well as by the corporation itself, DeHoff said."
Who would have thought that McDonald's would ever be a major sponsor in supporting a warbird restoration or cause. Does anybody know if Turner was a combat veteran of W.W.II - specifically an SBD driver or what his connection to history is?
I'm surprised that the CEO of "Enterprise Rent-a-Car" hasn't jumped in on this restoration/recovery bandwagon yet. After all, he was the one who sponsored the History series, "Battle 360" about the life of the USS Enterprise and was a pilot on board that aircraft carrier.
Since McDonald's is now a major sponsor for the Dauntless, I would love to see that creepy-looking King from Burger King get in on the act. Can you imagine a Burger King commercial, where that creepy King is scuba-diving out in Lake Michigan and they show him recovering a Wildcat. That would be weird!
Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:14 pm
That just goes to show that even in this poor economy that there is still money to be had by aviation museum's even from the the seemingly unlikeliest of places.
Enterprise Rental Car
Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:39 pm
The Enterprise rental car guy gave the museum foundation millions a few years back
Re: Enterprise Rental Car
Wed Jun 03, 2009 7:50 pm
ltdann wrote:The Enterprise rental car guy gave the museum foundation millions a few years back
Fantastic, I wasn't aware of that.
Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:48 pm
From the Honolulu Advertiser article:
Baugher has this SBD-2 listed as lost off the Hornet along with its two crewmen on April 21, 1942 - just three days after the Doolittle raid - can someone verify?
DeHoff said the SBD being recovered for the Pacific Aviation Museum, No. 2173, was being piloted by John Lendo in 1944 when the carburetor iced up and the airplane belly-landed in the lake.
Baugher has this SBD-2 listed as lost off the Hornet along with its two crewmen on April 21, 1942 - just three days after the Doolittle raid - can someone verify?
Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:43 am
Chris,
I have this SBD-2 listed twice from the USN A/C Losses microfilm.
21 Apr 42 VS-8 off Hornet, crashed at sea out of gas, crew killed.
25 Jun 42 VB-8 off Hornet, lost in East Central Pacific, no other info on how it was lost or status of crew.
Not sure if that helps or muddies the waters even more.
Mac
I have this SBD-2 listed twice from the USN A/C Losses microfilm.
21 Apr 42 VS-8 off Hornet, crashed at sea out of gas, crew killed.
25 Jun 42 VB-8 off Hornet, lost in East Central Pacific, no other info on how it was lost or status of crew.
Not sure if that helps or muddies the waters even more.
Mac
Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:05 am
ANy Helldivers ever wind up in the lake?
Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:21 am
"Furthermore, of the surviving aircraft of this model type, records indicate
that a total of five SBD-2 aircraft were lost in the geographical confines of Lake Michigan.
These were BuNos 2106, 2111, 2117, 2183, and a fifth Dauntless identified as 2173, which may
be a misidentification as BuAer records indicate that 2173 was lost in the Pacific during service
with Hornet=s Bombing EIGHT."
http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/DAUNTLESSreport2106.pdf
I suppose the correct story may only come out during the raising on the aircraft
I wonder if it is prehaps 2137 ?
BTW Looks like Lt John Lendo MIA 14th Dec 1944
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLDec44.htm
12/14/1944 F6F-5 70995 VF-45 USS SAN JACINTO (CVL-30) MANILA PHIL LT JOHN LENDO M
BTW Lt John Henry Lendo #121308 (if it was the same guy) was from Otter River, near Fitchburg, Massachusetts and in his youth pitched for Templeton High and later Dartmouth College (Gradulated 1941). He trained at Squantum Naval Air Station Quincy, Massachusetts and a photo of him can be found in the book Horio You Next Die! by Joseph G. Nason
Pacific Rim Press, 1987, ISBN 0930926110
that a total of five SBD-2 aircraft were lost in the geographical confines of Lake Michigan.
These were BuNos 2106, 2111, 2117, 2183, and a fifth Dauntless identified as 2173, which may
be a misidentification as BuAer records indicate that 2173 was lost in the Pacific during service
with Hornet=s Bombing EIGHT."
http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/DAUNTLESSreport2106.pdf
I suppose the correct story may only come out during the raising on the aircraft
I wonder if it is prehaps 2137 ?
BTW Looks like Lt John Lendo MIA 14th Dec 1944
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLDec44.htm
12/14/1944 F6F-5 70995 VF-45 USS SAN JACINTO (CVL-30) MANILA PHIL LT JOHN LENDO M
BTW Lt John Henry Lendo #121308 (if it was the same guy) was from Otter River, near Fitchburg, Massachusetts and in his youth pitched for Templeton High and later Dartmouth College (Gradulated 1941). He trained at Squantum Naval Air Station Quincy, Massachusetts and a photo of him can be found in the book Horio You Next Die! by Joseph G. Nason
Pacific Rim Press, 1987, ISBN 0930926110