AP: WWII warplane raised from California reservoir

[Omaha Steve]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SALVAGING_HISTORY?SITE=WYCHE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

By CHRIS CARLSON
Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A rare World War II dive bomber was lifted 90 feet from the bottom of a San Diego reservoir Friday and hoisted to dry land for the first time in 65 years.

The SB2C Helldiver aircraft was brought to the surface after days of work to free it from several feet of mud and debris on the dark floor of Lower Otay Reservoir, where it was spotted last year by two men using a fish finder.

Divers from A&T Recovery in Chicago said the tail of the plane was sticking out of the silt, but the engine was completely buried.


Folks gather around a SB2C Helldiver after it was recovered from 91 feet down and under six or seven feet of organic silt in a San Diego reservoir, Friday, Aug. 20, 2010. Salvage divers, working with the National Naval Aviation Museum, removed the a rare World War II dive bomber that crashed after its engine failed during a training exercise on May 28, 1945. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)


A crowd watched Friday as the mud-caked, single-engine plane, with both wings attached, broke through the surface of the water then officially touched shore at 3:50 p.m. PDT.

Its propellor was mangled, but splotches of blue showed through the corrosion and mud elsewhere on the aircraft.

The plane will now be dried out, disassembled and trucked to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla., for restoration and display, said Taras Lyssenko, A&T general manager.

FULL story at link.

[RandomThoughts]

1. pfffffttt Yoda did same thing, but without a winch.

Just humor :)

[Parche]

2. the beast

what they called it back then

the SBD Dauntless was the main plane before the Helldiver...

:hi:

[Angry Dragon]

3. It is a resurrection ........... A MIRACLE

[Dennis Donovan]

4. Rec'd. I love stories like this!

FWIW, they had a Curtiss Helldiver at the Geneseo (NY) Airshow this year:


Hopefully, they'll get the resevoir Helldiver just as shiny someday...;-)

[david13]

5. Reminds me of the AT6 trainers they have around here. There are

quite a few of them. And also the Mustangs, the P51's.
dc