SWAMP GHOST UPDATE

[brucev]

What a pity that these veterans have been denied their wish to see the Ghost come home due to Justin Taylans decision to destabilise a perfectly legal and valid contract. How does this guy sleep at night?

is there something factually wrong with this statement? please enlighten me

Many would say that Justin Taylan has done a wonderful job PRESERVING history through the discovery and documentation of the instruments that upheld freedom across the globe.

Anyone else wondering who this Jungle Rose is and what his/her involvement was in this situation? I am not a fan of anonymity as I feel it is a gateway for cowardly smearing like the above. Was it not the local gov't that prohibited shipment for so long?

pardon me, but WTF, accuse someone of smearing mr taylan, right after you call them a coward and suggest they were somehow involved in the screwed up situation that existed the last few years over this mess.

[Taylor Stevenson]

The difference is, we have no clue who this is writing or their agenda. I would like to know the aforementioned facts to understand why they take the positions they do to fully understand and take the most out of this subject. Yes, anonymity on the internet when calling names is cowardly. The original post would have been fine without the last lines... If you disagree, please PM me to further discuss.

On the topic of Swamp Ghost, I hope she has a safe voyage and arrives home complete and ready for well deserved TLC

[Earls]

Thanks for the low down

So, does Hagen still own it?

As for Justin's views versus others views.... How could anyone not want the aircraft in the air again? He has done alot for MIA's and wreck locating no doubt. I'd like to hear what he has to say. If there is any plausible argument for not putting these remote tropical location wrecks back in the air again.....Then I'm open ears. I just don't see it...

Neely

[DaveM2]

You can do a search and find out who the players are in this debacle, and many of us know who JR is.
No one can dismiss what Justin has done for MIAs, kudos to him, but when it comes to interfering with the perfectly legal recovery of wrecks (i.e.Swamp Ghost and the Solomon Island Japanese wrecks of a few years ago) that is another matter.

Dave

[Nathan]

What a pity that these veterans have been denied their wish to see the Ghost come home due to Justin Taylans decision to destabilise a perfectly legal and valid contract. How does this guy sleep at night?

Many would say that Justin Taylan has done a wonderful job PRESERVING history through the discovery and documentation of the instruments that upheld freedom across the globe.

Anyone else wondering who this Jungle Rose is and what his/her involvement was in this situation? I am not a fan of anonymity as I feel it is a gateway for cowardly smearing like the above. Was it not the local gov't that prohibited shipment for so long?

I talked to Justin before and he didn't seem to have a problem with it being recovered.

[RMAllnutt]

Thanks for the low down

So, does Hagen still own it?

As for Justin's views versus others views.... How could anyone not want the aircraft in the air again? He has done alot for MIA's and wreck locating no doubt. I'd like to hear what he has to say. If there is any plausible argument for not putting these remote tropical location wrecks back in the air again.....Then I'm open ears. I just don't see it...

Neely

There are plenty of good reasons for not putting wrecks like Swamp Ghost back in the air... you'd end up throwing out 70 to 90% of the original airframe. What's the point of going to all that trouble, when a static restoration would retain far, far more originality, and be just as good to look at. My views on significantly deteriorated wrecks are different though... static or airworthy restorations are great, unless they are unique survivors, where it might be better to preserve what you have, rather than toss it all out for a replica. We've discussed this to death so many times though that it really isn't necessary to go into further detail.

Cheers,
Richard

PS. I do believe Mr.Hagen still owns Swamp Ghost, and have seen nothing yet to lead me to believe otherwise. Things like this change rapidly though... so who's to say. It really doesn't matter, so long as the Ghost is preserved.

[DaveM2]

I talked to Justin before and he didn't seem to have a problem with it being recovered.

you best take a look at his web site for his thoughts on the recovery of SG and how it was a travesty to PNG and its people

[warbird1]

I talked to Justin before and he didn't seem to have a problem with it being recovered.

I met and talked to Justin at the Chino Airshow a few years ago and had a good conversation with him until he started talking about the "Swamp Ghost". He struck me as a very passionate person who wanted to honor and remember the Veterans and all of their sacrifices. He told me that he was "very vehemently" opposed to recovering the Swamp Ghost and 99% of all war relics. I asked him why be believed that and he told me that Swamp Ghost was unique in that it was one of the few wrecks that any person could go to to see it exactly as it last flew over 60 years ago, "untouched by time" (his words). I asked him how people 50 years in the future would be able to see it in person after it became a corroded pile of aluminum oxide dust. He didn't have a good answer for that one. I walked away from that conversation with a mixed perspective of Justin. I really appreciated the work he put into his website, and remembering the Veterans and MIA's, but knew at that time that he could become a strong voice of opposition to any recoveries in the future. Apparently that has happened twice now.

[Jungle Rose]

When Taylan was arrested in the Solomons his boat was found loaded with "looted" Japanese aircraft parts secreted away throughout the boat. He escaped being charged by writing a formal apology to the Minister and changing his plea to the immigration offence from Not Guilty to Guilty.

At the moment Rob Greinert is writing a book and magaine articles on the Swamp Ghost recovery and he showed me the documents the other day. So for Justin it would appear that temptation and the promise of big bucks from Jaanese collectors proved too much.

Rob has emailed Justin for his input on the material but he is not willing to respond.

[hang the expense]

I believe this justin guy has an interest,or had an interest,in an air tours concern in PNG.That may explain his reluctance in seeing SG leave PNG.That coupled with the Japanese war relics issue cast doubt,in my mind,on this justin guy.

[Nathan]

I talked to Justin before and he didn't seem to have a problem with it being recovered.

you best take a look at his web site for his thoughts on the recovery of SG and how it was a travesty to PNG and its people

Well at one point he did anyway. It's been awhile since that conversation. He also wanted me to go a long with him. I am sure he has mixed views. But it's hard for me to beleive that the man is totally agains't recovery when his website discloses wreck locations and information on how to get there and also reports when wrecks have been discovered.

[Earls]

As suspected...no good reason to leave them in jungles to rot.


put them in museums or put them in the air.

Last edited by Earls on Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[PinecastleAAF]

To say there are a lot of hard feelings associated with this aircraft is obvious. In some ways it is the most famous warbird I suppose. It is like a gigantic pie that everyone wants a slice out of. Sadly it laid in the swamp for much to long and if it flys again or even has a static restoration a lot of stuff will get replaced. I am glad it is out of there, it would have eventually corroded to a barely recognizable pile of scrap and what would be the point in that, except for DVD sales? There are already enough of those places.