Warbird Information Exchange

As mentioned in a previous post, I visited the Precision Aerospace facility in Wangaratta last Friday. A lot sure has changed since my last visit about 12-18 months ago.

Anyway, one new item since my previous visit was the remains of an FG-1D Corsair. The paintwork was quite beatup, though you could just make out the designation and BuNo (below):



This appears to read "87833" (see below) which fits into a series of Goodyear FG-1D Corsairs (87788/88453) as per Joe Baugher's website:
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/thirdseries9.html



A quick Google search suggests that this aircraft crashed into Lake Washington in about 1949:
http://www.centerforlakewashingtonstudi ... /index.htm

I was wondering if anyone had any further information about this aircraft or perhaps its recovery....

_________________
Daniel Leahy

PACIFIC WRECK DATABASE
http://www.pacificwrecks.com

PACIFIC GHOSTS
http://www.pacificghosts.com

http://www.rense.com/general43/msy.htm

This may be the sister ship to the Corsair at the Seattle Museum of Flight that was involved in a mid-air collision. Another Lake Washington Corsair recovery is on display in Charleston, South Carolina.

Bureau #: 82640
Construction #: 4487
Civil Registration:
None
Model: F4U-1D
Name: None
Status: Stored
Last info: 2001
History:
War Memorial Museum of Virginia, Newport News, VA, 1949-1985.
- Port wing cut off to fascilitate display.
Steve McClellan/Confederate Air Force, Virginia Beach, VA, 1985-1998.
Gerald Yagen/Training Services, Inc/Fighter Factory, Virginia Beach, CA, 1998-2001.
- Stored, Norfolk, VA, Pending restoration to airworthy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously incorrectly identified as Bu. 82811.

This aircraft is at Wangarratta but I was unaware of the second machine 87833 - being there or having been recovered - it has been the subject of some heated argument and activity in the past between the Navy and various parties so I would love to hear the story. I would also love to hear who the owner and destination is .

Regards
John P

Regards
John P

_________________
Air Vice Marshall
Sunshine State Air Farce

Hi BDK... the air frame you refer to is Bu.88368, which has been aboard the Yorktown aircraft carrier at Patriot's Point for a good many years now.

This aircraft is a wholly new beast indeed, and it would seem that it had been recovered from Lake Washington also. There is perhaps one alternative, as there is a Bu.87853 in the registry, which doesn't seem to have any histor after 1970. Is there some way that this Bu.No. was not quite recorded correctly, and is actually 87833? The alternative is that this is a clandestinely recovered aircraft... a very interesting development indeed!

Is it a complete air frame?

Do you have any more pictures?

Thanks very much for sharing them.

Richard

Was the one presently in Charleston involved in the mid-air with the MOF aircraft?

Hi BDK, yes, the one at Charleston was the other corsair which collided with MoF's example. It was cosmetically restored some years ago for display on the Yorktown. This new corsair has really got me intrigued. It would be superb if it was a previously unregistered survivor!

Cheers,
Richard

The aircraft is definately NOT a flyer (yet) and appears to be getting cleaned up as we speak. What look to be spurious markings appear to be painted over one section of the fuselage, though the original markings can be seen just below this.

The fuselage appears to have definately been submerged at some stage.

The above photo of the BuNo 82640 fuselage does look similar to a piece of Corsair which has already been rebuilt at Wangaratta. However this aircraft is a F4U-1D type, whereas the pieces I saw were FG-1D (as printed on the original tail markings). It is possible however that there is more than one aircraft present (though it doesn't look like it).

I guess the BuNo 87853 could have been mistaken, though without seeing photos of this aircraft, I cannot confirm this. I've checked Landings.com for details on N9152Z and returned the following:

N-number : N9152Z
Aircraft Serial Number : 87853
Aircraft Manufacturer : GOODYEAR
Model : FG1D
Engine Manufacturer : P & W
Model : R-2800 SERIES
Aircraft Year :
Owner Name : MILLER MALCOLM L
Owner Address : 1350 LINHERE DR
CARPINTERIA, CA, 93013
Type of Owner : Individual
Registration Date : Not Specified
Airworthiness Certificate Type : Standard

More details on a couple of the FG-1s can be found at:
http://www.airpirates.com/gallery/LAKE_WASHINGTON
(BuNo 88382 and 88368)

_________________
Daniel Leahy

PACIFIC WRECK DATABASE
http://www.pacificwrecks.com

PACIFIC GHOSTS
http://www.pacificghosts.com

I restored 88382 for the MOF and from the information I have the other Corsair in the collision was so damaged that Gary Larkin decided to leave it. The Corsair in Charleston is from a previous recovery from Lake Washington before the U.S. Navy decided to claim them all.

_________________
John Lane, Jr.

Daniel

82640 is definately at Wang and was aquired by Murray from Jerry Yeagan - it has a severed wing spar and will require a lot of attention to rebuild which is the intention - there is a lot of airframe to work with so it should be OK. The reason I posted these details is that I haven't been back for a while and wanted to identify that you were talking about another aircraft all together which it appears you are.

It could well be that what you saw was a "Kit set" of parts comprised of parts from several sources to comprise a Complete aircraft 87853 could be a source of some parts but so could the original serial and there may well be good reasons not to explore all of this at this stage online?

Perhaps it came from a recovery that is best not discussed in plain view of Old Blue ?

Regards
John P

_________________
Air Vice Marshall
Sunshine State Air Farce

Research indicates that this is just a component being utilised in the reconstruction of 82640 as a jigging component - still intrigueing as to where and how it was recovered

Regards
John P

_________________
Air Vice Marshall
Sunshine State Air Farce

Bump.

It has been some years since the last post but we have found the FG-1D in Lake Washington with the # 87833. I'm in the process of getting the accident report but underwater video is here:

http://dcsfilms.com/Site_4/Corsair.html

Sweet video DanO!

_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Setter,
Where did you get the history for BuNo 82640? I am certainly confused by the mention of the CAF along with Steve McCellan's name. Have never seen it listed on any CAF listing and I have been in the local unit since the mid 80's.
The VA War Memorial Museum did have the airplane and had it when the picture was taken. Before it was but inside the fence, the spar had been cut so that the airframe could be mounted like it was flying out of the wall, might have looked good but bad for the spar. Last I saw the airframe, Jerry Yagen's maintenance folks had stripped down several layers of paint and found some kill flags. RUMOR had it that it MIGHT have seen combat off the Bunker Hill. Hope it gets fully restored especially if it did see combat.
Bob

Thanks!
The photo Daniel is linking to is in fact part of the Corsair we found recently. That part was salvaged along with (I think) the cowling. The rest, besides one gun, was left. It was too mangled.

Planenutti, just so you know, you won't get an answer from Setter. He hasn't been on this forum for some 3 or 4 years, after it was discovered he was perpetuating false information. Anything he has posted in the past is "tainted", to say the least.