Helldiver replica soon to be sunk

HELLDIVERS · **Joined:** Sun Nov 07, 2004 3:38 pm **Posts:** 642

Hi,

Today I recieved some info on the SB2C replica that was aboad the Intrepid. It seems that the new staff of the Intrepid museum don't want any replica a/c in their collection :cry:

. The SB2C was given away to the Dutchsprings aqua park of Bethlehem Pa. to be sunk and used as a underwater attraction. :roll:

I've been told it was built out of aluminum and not a fiberglass replica as I had thought before. :shock:

Does anyone have good photos of it that shows the constuction of it? They said it was built for a movie prop does anyone know which movie this was? There was also a replica Hellcat that was on board but also was given away, any clues? With only 6 SB2Cs in the world it seems like a shame to display a replica as a underwater toy. I would think it would be able to find a better home above water but I maybe wrong.

Thanks Mike

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:34 pm

I saw it in person a year ago, maybe a little longer. It was not a bad replica. The F6F looked real! It is a shame that they are going to sink it. I will see if I have any pics of it that are good. I have a bunch, but it was in the corner of the hangar bay, and kind of hard to see.

k5083 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:03 pm

I was not impressed by the mock-up and would say that underwater toy is a pretty good use for it.

August

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:19 pm

wow sounds rather unappreciative on the museum's part. sea world aurora ohio donated their bermuda triangle repro avenger to the maps museum of akron ohio a few years back, but totally different circumstances.

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:06 pm

Yeah I think that K5083 is kind of right. You could easily notice that it is not real. While it seems that the Hellcat was better made. I would rather them get on eo fthe real warbirds inside. Also the TBM Avenger replica now at Maps is better looking than the Helldiver one. I saw the TBM form afat, and it was not intil I got up next to it that I realized it was not real.

george · **Joined:** Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:20 pm **Posts:** 435

Any news of sinking warbirds brings back a bad memory of that very rare early-model Neptune that I saw at St. Pete, FL. It had the cannon nose and rear turret, and it was a real treasure. I still don't understand why the Naval Museum didn't want it, or at least not sink it.

TimAPNY · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:01 pm

george wrote:

Any news of sinking warbirds brings back a bad memory of that very rare early-model Neptune that I saw at St. Pete, FL. It had the cannon nose and rear turret, and it was a real treasure. I still don't understand why the Naval Museum didn't want it, or at least not sink it.

That is because Saltwater preserves aircraft for future generations.

Can anyone find that article written by the head of the NHC saying that, that was posted by the Col.

Edit:
Here is the link to the thread, but it seems the link doesn't work. I'm working on that now

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... 17&start=0

Google can be your friend, as long as you don't live in China
http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/24-01/24-01-10.pdf
In her own words... take it as you will, I only know what I've been told on this subject.
Tim

kmiles · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:30 pm

The Helldiver was at Dutchsprings as of mid-July of last year. My wife and I went there to go diving for a day on our vacation. When we pulled into the parking lot, she was not nearly as happy as I was to see it sitting there in the parking lot on a large pallet. It is aluminum construction, and seemed as if it broke down into pieces pretty easily. A walk over to it, and it was pretty easy to tell that it was a replica, but was a pretty well done one. There are several other aircraft that are 60-80 feet below the surface and you see more details on their website at http://www.dutchsprings.com/

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Maybe we could swap one of these for one of the Lake Michigan birds and the Navy would never notice??? :twisted:

Dan K · **Posted:** Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:28 pm

Tim, This includes at least a portion of Dr. Neyland's comments on the "advantages" of leaving aircraft submerged for at least 150 years.

http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/training ... _lake2.htm

TimAPNY · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:19 am

Dan K wrote:

Tim, This includes at least a portion of Dr. Neyland's comments on the "advantages" of leaving aircraft submerged for at least 150 years.

http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/training ... _lake2.htm

I'm a bit surprised that the Midway Museum would print such a thing. I hope they do get some of those aircraft!

Tim

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:25 am

would love to see a an f4f in royal navy martlet markings pulled from lake michigan, f.y.i. some brits brits trained their. a real find from the lake michigan drink would be a tdn remote controlled drone. those were secretly tested on the sable & wolverine great lakes training carriers as well.

Don Martin · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:07 am

Quote:

According to
many professional
salvors and collectors,
the government, especially
the Navy, is
doing more harm than
good by restricting
access to historic aircraft
crash sites.
Salvors claim the continued ravages of saltwater
on aluminum components and the imminent
decay of aircraft sites are due to inaction by the
U.S. Navy. These individuals seem to believe that
if they do not retrieve the aircraft components,
these rare aircraft will disappear within the next
year or so. These claims are overly exaggerated.
While it is true that saltwater is corrosive to
aluminum parts, sunken aircraft have been in the
saltwater for more than 50 years. Experience has
shown that objects reach a stasis in their new
environment after a certain time period. Unless
the environment changes, the object will likely
maintain its structural integrity for hundreds of
years. Most would agree that wood is much more
fragile than metal and yet wooden shipwrecks

That sounds like the people who were planning on "Raising the Titanic", only to find that it's so far gone, that she probably wont be there in another 100 years. Or for that matter, how the State(of Maine) Experts(Drip under pressure?) claim that the salt brine they spray on the roads up here doesn't accelerate vehicle corrosion(cars only 2yrs old are having to replace brake lines because they are rusting out :evil:

)

NO, SALT HAS NO AFFECT ON METAL, IT'S JUST SHODDY WORKMANSHIP!!!

PreservedAC · **Joined:** Sun Dec 26, 2010 12:09 pm **Posts:** 63

Reworked today a neg scan of a SB2C Helldiver Replica onboard the USS Intrepid

I'm surprised that its now an underwater attraction.
Although the link on the "The Dutch spring" site doesn't work for the Helldiver (yet)

Noticed a similar (TBM) replica at MAPS years ago.
Looks great in a distance ,but don't look inside.

The Intrepid Helldiver -1998

SB2C HELLDIVER

Ref Photoset http://flic.kr/s/aHsjs5kpZs

Was the Hellcat also a Replica ?

Johan

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:03 pm

Quote:

Noticed a similar (TBM) replica at MAPS years ago.

When I last visited MAPS in 2009 this was laying out on the ramp..I understand the rest of the Avenger replica was scrapped (could the cowl be the real deal, and saved for that reason?) The cowl was encrusted with what appeared to be fake marine growth. Given the number "19" on the cowl, I can only surmise that the replica was originally part of some sort of Bermuda Triangle display.

SN

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