WWII P-38 Fighter Discovered in Wales

[J. M. Stovall]

65 Years After Crash-Landing, Forgotten WWII 'Lightning' Fighter Found on Beach in Wales

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3865512

 

[luvthatlulu]

Fascinating read.

Thanks for posting it.

--Not the Lulu

 

[carter]

Amazing.

What a wonderful story this is. It's astounding that this plane has resurfaced after being buried beneath sand and sea for decades. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Wow... and triple WOW!

The shape is so identifiable.

 

[The Wingnut]

Fascinating story and one hell of a picture!

 

[Ecuador Jim]

I wonder if it's restorable?

 

[Forgotten Man]

That would be one heck of a restoration! Knowing how long it took and how much money it took to restore the ONE p-38 that was rescued from the ice years back... I mean, it is worth it... I like to hope that plane would make it back into the air some day... such an amazing thing to think of... a plane lost for 65 years then, is found, restored and flown again! Can make a grown man tear up like a baby.... ya know?

 

[Sarge]

Interesting story.

Along the same lines and I don't know how many are aware of this but there are approximately 200 World War II era aircraft at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Including Grumman F-4F Wildcat fighters, Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, F-4U1 Corsairs and F-6F3 Hellcats. The planes were lost due to navy and marine pilots having to ditch their aircraft while participating in carrier qualifications on the Great Lakes or having a mechanical difficulty while approaching the Great Lakes Naval Air Station during the war.

"Many of the planes raised from Lake Michigan were in near-pristine condition because of the cold, fresh water. Some had fuel in their tanks, propellers that spin, inflated tires and 12-volt batteries still able to accept a charge."

"A few were even restored to air-worthy status. A Grumman F-4F3 Wildcat discovered in Lake Michigan in 1992 is the only one still flying out of 2,000 produced."

Here's an article: http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/training_on_the_lake2.htm

 

[MrBern]

Wails of Wales

Gotta love the quip about the brigadoon analogy.

"It's sort of like `Brigadoon,' the mythical Scottish village that appears and disappears," he said. "Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."

 

[Josephine]

Although the Welsh aren't too happy about that analogy — they have some famous legends of their own."

Well, you know what they say-- "If it's not Scottish, it's..." well, you know what they say.

Thanks for the article, very interesting reading.

 

[Alan Eardley]

I hope that TIGHAR succeeds in keeping the location secret. There are parts of England near where I live that used to be littered with WW2 aircraft wrecks (including a V1 that didn't explode and a B-29) until the 1960s, when increased use of cars to get to remote areas led to souvenir hunters and scrap dealers taking away anything they could. Well-meaning historians published guides to where to find the wrecks, which was probably not a good idea. Even worse, some of them were 'war graves'.

Alan

 

[Micawber]

I hope that TIGHAR succeeds in keeping the location secret. There are parts of England near where I live that used to be littered with WW2 aircraft wrecks (including a V1 that didn't explode and a B-29) until the 1960s, when increased use of cars to get to remote areas led to souvenir hunters and scrap dealers taking away anything they could. Well-meaning historians published guides to where to find the wrecks, which was probably not a good idea. Even worse, some of them were 'war graves'.

Alan

Absolutely. I dislike seeing trinkets made out of recovered bits of wreckage being hawked for sale at airshows and alike. Some things are best left undisturbed.

 

[Spitfire]

Thanks for sharing this truely amazing story. let's hope somebody will give this great bird wind beneath its wings again.

 

[Smithy]

Magnificent photo and great story. Always great to hear when an aviation gem like this turns up.

 

[Twitch]

With restoration so prohibitively expensive- The Galcier Girl under the Greenland ice took over $7 million- it might be interesting to simply preserve it "as is" for the ghostly aesthetic it would provide.

 

[Hondo]

Being a B17 man, I still love these discoveries, I don't think they will restore the plane but only for British museum, thanks for posting this

 

[Story]

Interesting story.

Along the same lines and I don't know how many are aware of this but there are approximately 200 World War II era aircraft at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Including Grumman F-4F Wildcat fighters, Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, F-4U1 Corsairs and F-6F3 Hellcats. The planes were lost due to navy and marine pilots having to ditch their aircraft while participating in carrier qualifications on the Great Lakes or having a mechanical difficulty while approaching the Great Lakes Naval Air Station during the war.

Taras Lyssenko of Chicago signals the crane operator during the recovery of a World War II Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber being pulled from the water at Larsen Marine in Waukegan, Ill., April 24, 2009. The plane was salvaged from about 315 feet feet of water, 25 miles from shore in Lake Michigan.

(AP) A dive bomber that had ditched in Lake Michigan on a training run in 1944 was brought to land Friday for restoration in Florida for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

The Douglas SBD Dauntless lifted from the water Friday to a pier in Waukegan, Ill., is among 130 to 300 or more planes estimated to have sunk in the lake during training late in World War II.
*
The Dauntless is the 35th airplane plucked from the waters since the National Naval Aviation Museum began a recovery and restoration program in 1990, Ellis said.

Plus video
http://blogs.suntimes.com/shinyobje...wwii-bomber-is-pulled-from-lake-michigan.html

 

[Story]

'I remember it like it was yesterday': WWII fighter pilot's Hellcat is pulled out of Lake Michigan 65 years after he crash landed

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...igan-65-years-crash-landed.html#ixzz0YSDvcBLi

also
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7146023

 

[m_lamb99]

I wonder

I wonder how many more of these wonderful old planes are still sitting out there waiting to be discovered. My father was in the ARmy aircorp durring WWII and while doing his solo flight accidently dove through a squadron of P-38's. They never found out who done it.

 

[Story]

65 Years After Crash-Landing, Forgotten WWII 'Lightning' Fighter Found on Beach in Wales

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=3865512

Stumbled on this

This undated photo provided by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, known as TIGHAR, shows historic aircraft specialists inspecting a World War II fighter plane recently found on the Welsh coast. The American P-38 aircraft had made an emergency landing in 1942 after it ran out of gas, and was buried under water and sand for 65 years until revealed by beach erosion in July. Experts hope to recover the plane for a British military museum. The photo was taken from a kite-suspended camera.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/C...el/071115/pb_071115_plane_jb.photoblog900.jpg