Aircraft Recovery

[Brett]

To get to where the good stuff is you'd have to put in on floats...

Cheers,

Brett

[airnutz]

Uhh..huh..here comes the "buckets of cash" and "promise of long-term
investment" possibilities that I mentioned in the Morotai thread!

husband-to-wife.., ..or wife-to-husband, 'fer that matter
"Fanny, brace yourself..I've found a great deal on a Rufe and a Dinah III"!

Last edited by airnutz on Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

[setter]

Hi Guys

You all missed the plot ..............if you want a Globemaster on floats ...... whats on Sprout lake BC Canada X2 ????..................... You guys should all be from Mars (Joke get it!!) They could well be retireing soon ... so WIX Mars !!!!!

Regards
John P

[airnutz]

Sorry Setter,..we been there, thought that. Same problem as havin' a
P-6M...no amphibious! Where ever off-water endeavors were planned, then the earth-movers would have to preceed us!...ORRRR!!!!..the WIX
Engineering Dept. could ...ummm...errr.."step-up" to come up with an
"economically viable" amphibious landing gear for the Mars's!"

I have mentioned a coupla' times the Beriev A-40..but it falls upon deaf
ears.Too modern...a jet...and worst of all.. not a warbird! I figure with
a set of Phalanx Vulcans mounted, then the lack of "combat pedigree"
could be remedied on a WIX South Pacific Rim shakedown cruise
to your regions! Cruise down..pacify the pirates at Molucca 'fer a week
or so. Since Havad4 is determined to get hisself "martyrized"...we
could fly SAR/Suppression top-cover for a bit over his project...and then onward to Aussie/Kiwi Land!!!

But, I muse too much!!! Onward to more practical endeavors.....
ps
anyone is welcome to the party, weapons systems optional...

[Forgotten Field]

Okay, okay, I couldn't think of a way to say it more delicately, but please read on...

So we all want to see aircraft recovered, and we all want to see them restored, and it seems like there is a price tag of $150,000 for them. Not unreasonable for a recovered B24.

My background as a basis, I think there are very few qualified people here on the board who are capable of recovering what is out there. However, we do have enough people, all put together, to get a legal holding company together, and ready to take investments for recoveries. I'm not saying to go to better off collector's/owners and ask for $$MegaK for a shot at something that "might be." I'm saying that we should get together the resources to do it, then evaluate the projects out there, and then go for it ourselves. Why don't we put together a company with ourselves as the owners, equal shares, non-negotiable, all put up $100 or so, and start looking for more members to raise money to get aircraft?

Recovery is not rocket science, but it is a science of political homework, diplomacy, title of property, site preparation, environmental abatement/safety procedures, rigging, commercial shipping, marketing, and sale follow-up. Money is what makes it happen, not sugar, no matter what you say. So let's go out there and put up the money. It's doable and I bet we have a few people here who could advise us on how to do it properly so we can protect ourselves and our investments.

Comments solicited...

[HarvardIV]

Folks:

Shay's C-124 idea looks reasonable, however a DC-4 or C-46 would probably be adequate to bring home a fighter. You could land the thing at Morotai, and then load 'er up.

Chris

[TimAPNY]

It seems that a C-130 might be a better choice. Seems like everyone is using them these days (and for the last 40 years).

That big door in the back seems like a nice touch, short Takeoffs / landings. Good range (right?)

[setter]

Hi again - it's me again the irritating Aussie

If the Mars is not a goer - what about the KC97 or other transports offered by H&P even the Liberator thingy with the single fin - all fine warbirds themselves and argueably airworthy although some less so than others.

Kindest regards
John P

[HarvardIV]

On a serious note: I'm sure there are ways to pull off the logistics, and brainstorming no matter how unrealistic is a good way to come up with great ideas. Keep up the good work, and to those who have had the gall to come up with wild idea on this website I salute you for giving it a try.

Chris

[HarvardIV]

Well I think that covers it, oh by the way Chris I was doing some figuring today and taking Davids Budget from his PNG trip in the 70s and applying it to todays cost you are looking close to 5 Million Dollars for your little project, if you got that type of money then go for it.

It could very well be Rob, but there's only one way to find out. To try it. Hey you only live once, and it may be for less than you expected. Especially if you run into some guys named mohammed in the middle of Morotail. Yikes..

[Shay]

The C-130 is a good bird. Always one of my favorites, since I used to work with "H" models. I was suggesting the C-124 since the cargo deck is larger than the C-130's and I was thinking that the Radial engines would easier to maintain then the Allison turbo-props especially in remote areas. Beside on a C-130 you can't work on the engines INFLIGHT, like you can in a Globemaster. But the Herc is unsurpassed when it comes to landing on short rugged unprepared runways. The DC-4, C-46 and KC-97 are all great birds in their own right. But the problem is that they are "Side-Body Loaders" meaning you can only load cargo the size of that openning in the side of the aircraft or angled through that openning. Tail doors and clamshell doors are more friendly towards oversized cargo. I was thinking the Globemaster would allow you to bring back larger aircraft sections. B-24 wings can take up alot of space, you know . Well that's my point of view.

Shay

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/075605/L/

[HarvardIV]

That would be a possibility Shay, and the only downfall would be that the lack of C-124s available for the task. I think all are on static display at museums right?

I can imagine borrowing a boat from southern Kalmintan; go into Balikpapan; pick up the package, and back to an airport where some indonesian airline will pick it up and fly it to Fiji.

Since Fiji is safe, plan the trip from there to the destination, and make sure all paper work is in order to get through U.S. or Australian Customs.

It would be a challenge, but doable. The most challenging part is the remoteness of Borneo. It is more remote than anywhere in that region as fatr as I can tell. As stated earlier, this is probably why Borneo, Halmahera and areas in that vicinity still are probably available for this sort of work.

[george]

Although a couple of posters continue to say retrieval can't be accomplished due to paperwork, expenes, logistics, laws, etc., the fact is that P-61s, P-47s, P-40s have been coming out of the South Pacific recently and are ending up in the U.S. and England, as well as Australia. So it can and is being accomplished, and in today's dollars.

[HarvardIV]

Although a couple of posters continue to say retrieval can't be accomplished due to paperwork, expenes, logistics, laws, etc., the fact is that P-61s, P-47s, P-40s have been coming out of the South Pacific recently and are ending up in the U.S. and England, as well as Australia. So it can and is being accomplished, and in today's dollars.

Hey George:

I'd agree, man you should have seen how many naysayers there were at the airport when I started on my project.

[airnutz]

Hey George,
I don't think anyone has said "can't"..but many of have drawn attention
to the fact that this kind of endeavor will not be a "cakewalk".

Chris originally began on this subject wherein he was tucking a gun in his
belt and trading trinkets to the natives. He seems to have become more
intrigued with the subject...and to his credit..is beginning to approach it
more "realistically".

Sure stuff is coming out of SE Pacific for the resto shops of the west...but
some of those projects have taken years to "bare fruit". If he/you/others
go through with a project like this, it may take some time...but it is
a viable...do-able endeavor in my inexperienced but open-minded opinion.
Being critical of blind enthusiasm is not meant to be a naysay.

PS
My vote for a recovery vehicle/hauler would be an LST or some other
Large portable hotel/work/storage space. Wonder how much a surplus
hauler like this would cost versus a C-124 or Herc? After all the demands
of logistics...why come back with one or 2 Airframes?