Warbird Information Exchange

Does anyone know how quickly the aluminum on a WW II aircraft deteriorates and to what extent after it is buried in clay type soils?

depends on who's aluminum, is it US, British, German, Japanese, Italian...

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Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
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The aluminum that I am refering to would be for a US Navy/Marine aircraft.

Uh oh, you had better go into a witness protection program. The Navy will NOT be happy if you plan on a recovery!

The Men-in-Black will be at your door shortly to interrogate you. Too bad the Col isn't here anymore. He can tell you from personal experience about the MIB.

what is the general location??

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

What does the location of the aluminum have to do with the original question?

because the Navy believes that all crashed airframes still belong to them, even though they have left them to rot on island for 60+ years.

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Matt Gunsch, A&P, IA, Warbird maint and restorations
Jack, You have Debauched my sloth !!!!!!
We tried voting with the Ballot box, When do we start voting from the Ammo box, and am I allowed only one vote ?
Check out the Ercoupe Discussion Group on facebook

"What does the location of the aluminum have to do with the original question?"


We just want to know where it is! Actually the location (soil composition and water table) have a lot to do with the rate of deterioration. Obviously dry sand would be optimum. The advantage of Naval aircraft is that the planes were built with better corrosion prevention, the disadvantage is that they were also probably exposed to salt water and had corrosion prior to disposal.

The only way to really know is to dig and see. There are more dos and don"ts than a person might guess. I have some experince with excavation of planes and with USN. PM or call if I can help.

Pirate Lex
http://www.BrewsterCorsair.com

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An ego is no match for gravity.

Speaking as the geologist here, perhaps the most important variable is the nature of the clay. Clay soils have complicated relationships with water, and many of these soils have shrink/swell qualities that can be very physically destructive of airframes. An airplane carefully buried in a clay soil might later be crushed to such an extent as to appear to have crashed there rather than simply having been buried. On the other hand, clay because of its small grain size may actually preclude oxygen and groundwater from getting to the aircraft and thus preserve it.

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Kevin McCartney

This post makes me think of something I read about - it was 2 I think F9F Panthers being buried up in Minnesota and being unearthed within the past year or so. Does anyone remember anything hearing about these jets or did I dream this one!?

-Derek