AVG P-40 to be raised from lake in China.....

[Phantomfixer]

BEIJING – Engineers and divers will use high-tech ocean searching and mapping gear to lift an American fighter jet that crashed into a southwestern Chinese lake during World War II, organizers said Monday.

The P-40 fighter, from the legendary American "Flying Tigers" squadron, crashed into Lake Dian near the city of Kunming, one of China's wartime capitals, during a training mission in April 1942. The cause of the crash is unknown.

The pilot, John Blackburn of Amarillo, Texas, was killed in the crash. His body was recovered but the plane has remained in the lake for six decades.

Yan Jiangzheng, president of the China Expedition Association, said Monday the plane is buried in mud and silt under about 16 feet of water, and his group hopes to raise it by the end of the year.

"We need about 30 to 45 days to clean mud from around the plane," Yan said at a news conference. "Then we can begin to raise it from the water."

"The body of the plane should still be intact and can possibly be fully restored to flying condition," he added.

The plane will be sent to the United States for repair and will eventually return to China.

The Tigers were sent by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to fight on behalf of China against Japan before the United States entered World War II. The group existed for only nine months, but is famous for its success in battle.

 

[KilroyCD]

I looked for the original story online and found that this story is from August 2003. http://www.aero-news.net/ANNTicker.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=f05b121f-6808-413d-b3c7-b95358da1735
Does anyone know if the P-40 was ever recovered?

 

[Stanley Doble]

I should think it would be easier to build one from scratch than restore one that laid on the bottom of a lake for 70 years.

 

[Story]

An effort was made in September 2005 to raise the aircraft, but the recovery was plagued with difficulties and it remains deep under the lake bottom. Since the aircraft was complete and relatively undamaged when John Blackburn's body was removed from it in 1942, it is hoped that the aircraft will be in good condition and capable of being restored, possibly to flying condition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers

 

[Treetopflyer]

I should think it would be easier to build one from scratch than restore one that laid on the bottom of a lake for 70 years.

I concur, and more than likely that is what would have happened. It seems that often times these recovered aircraft that are “restored” are more new fabricated parts than the original.

 

[Aristaeus]

I concur, and more than likely that is what would have happened. It seems that often times these recovered aircraft that are “restored” are more new fabricated parts than the original.

The whole point of raising the plane is that you will have an original combat veteran P-40 that served with the AVG.

 

[Treetopflyer]

The whole point of raising the plane is that you will have an original combat veteran P-40 that served with the AVG.

I get that part of it. My point is, how much of an original combat veteran P-40 would you have after the restoration? If they wanted to put it in a museum I am sure they could clean up the aircraft and make it look pretty using a majority of the original parts and pieces, but making it an operational flying aircraft is a whole different ball game.

 

[Stearmen]

Here is a display of a recovered Flying Tigers P-40.

 

[Aerojoe]

Here is a display of a recovered Flying Tigers P-40.

I think it can be fixed

 

[Phantomfixer]

The Reading Mid Atlantic Air Museum is restoring a P-61 Black Widow...very cool and noble
http://www.maam.org/p61.html very cool resto pics on this site....
But how much is original , and not knocking the Folks at MAAM, they are doing a excellent job.

 

[Captain Nemo]

I do hope they are eventually successful in raising the plane. It is a shame that we are scrambling about hunting wrecks in the farthest reaches of nowhere when so many planes were turned into scrap at the end of the war.