drube

Was doing a google search for Hellcat coloroptions and came across this. If this was posted before sorry, just wanted to share.
www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/navy_hellcat_recovery_113009w/

bigtim

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I also read they pulled a Dauntless out of there as well there's another possible 130 planes spread out under the lake that could be recovered all it takes is time and money

Chad Veich

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The Hellcat has been moved to Pensacola for restoration which is probably well progressed past the point of the photos below.




The Dauntless mentioned by bigtim was in amazing condition and only those areas needing attention were addressed. It is now finished and still has most of its original paint work!

aerofalcon

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It will be incredibly difficult to duplicate THAT kind of weathering...

scale only 4 me

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Ha ha

A place I like to searching for schemes is here http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/576

drube

Wow, why so many planes under water in that area? Aerofalcon LOL!

drube

Thanks for the link SO4M. That's a big help! Thanks for the pics and info chad!

Mk23socom

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The Navy had two training carriers on Lake Michigan during WW2. Something like 14,000-16,000 pilots trained there and training crashes are the explanation to that question..

drube

That makes sense knowing that now, Thanks

mmorg1

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But as I understand the navy does not write off airframes. So all salvaged navy planes belong to the navy.

Bruno Stachel

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I recall a Wildcat that was pulled out of Lake Michigan a few years ago. It was remarkably preserved in the lake water. One of the tires still had air pressure, and lights from the instrument panel still worked. I think it was refurbished as Butch O'Hare's plane.

I understand that the Navy still considers any planes resting in Lake Michigan it's property.

scale only 4 me

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I'm sure they (the Navy) will sell those wrecks cheap, Good free advertising once restored

drube

What kind of money would it take to restore that Hellcat? Just in case my money tree sprouts up in my back yard. lol

bigtim

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the article stated that it took 250,000 just to get it out of the water because it was so deep they had ROV's do the work at that depth, not sure what it takes but those planes have to be worth over a Million when there restored,there was a huge number of Hellcats built but most are scrap metal now

drube

Are there companies out there that do total restoration on warbirds onlyand sell themor does the owner hire private guys to do the resto?
Would have been really cool if the Navy offered the surviving planes to the pilots who flew them when they stopped using them, like a buy out option or something..lol

All Day Dan

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drube, Here are a few. Dan


Aerocrafters, Inc., Santa Rosa, California, USA. Warbird restoration, maintenance and sales.
Aero Trader, Chino, California, USA. Warbird restorations and maintenance.
Air Capitol Warbirds, Wichita, Kansas, USA. Warbird restorations, sales and training.
Air Heritage, Inc., Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, USA. Warbird restorations, from B-17s to L-21s. Also maintains an active museum.
Air Repair, Inc., Cleveland, Mississippi, USA. Stearman and L-19 restorations and engine overhauls.
Aircraft Restoration Company, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK. Restoration, maintenance, marketing and miscellaneous vintage aircraft services.
Airframe Assemblies, UK Sandown, Isle of Wight, UK. One of Britain's leading aircraft restoration businesses.
Airmech, Inc., Temecula, California, USA. Aircraft restoration and repair.
Airpower Unlimited, Jerome, Idaho, USA. Award-winning warbird restorations and maintenance.
American Aero Services, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA. Restoration, maintenance, inspections, import/export, etc.
Avspecs Ltd., Ardmore, South Auckland, New Zealand. Warbird restorations and a full range of related services.
Barnstormer's Workshop, Williamson (Atlanta), Georgia, USA.
Classic Aero Engineering, Andover, Hampshire, UK. Vintage aircraft restorations.
Connecticut Corsair, Chester, Connecticut, USA. An organization restoring an F4U Corsair, the state aircraft of Connecticut.
Emery Air, Rockford, Illinois, USA. Warbird restorations, inspections and service.
Ezell Aviation, Inc., Breckenridge, Texas, USA. Award-winning warbird restorations.
Fighter Factory at Tidewater Tech, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Repairs, inspections, parts, ferry service, etc.
Gosshawk Unlimited, Inc., Mesa, Arizona, USA. 30 years of vintage and warbird aircraft restoration experience.
Hawker Restorations Ltd., Ipswich, Suffolk, UK. One of the world's foremost restorers of Hawker Hurricanes.
Hawkins and Powers Aviation, Inc., Greybull, Wyoming, USA. Specializes in restorations of vintage transport aircraft.
Henderson Aviation, Felton, Delaware, USA. Piper J-3 / L-4 aircraft restorations.
Heritage Aero, Inc., Rockford, Illinois, USA. "Quality warbird and civilian aircraft maintenance services."
Historic Aircraft Collection (HAC), Rye, E. Sussex, UK Warbird restorations including Spitfires, Hurricanes and more.
Jet Centre, North Weald, Essex, UK. Restorations of jet warbird aircraft.
Legends of Aces Aviation, Brighton, Michigan. Warbird restoration, maintenance, construction, and recovery.
MD Aero (E-Mail link], Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania, USA. Expert restorers of Fairchild PT-series aircraft and more.
Midwest Aero Restorations, Danville, Illinois, USA Award-winning restorations, including P-51s.
Mike's Hangar, Columbus, Indiana, USA Restorations, paint/fabric, custom metal-forming, etc. for antique and classic aircraft.
Navy N3N Parts and Restoration, Bill Hirzel, Toldeo, Ohio, USA.
Pemberton and Sons, Spokane, Washington, USA Restoration of vintage and antique airplanes.
Personal Plane Services, Wycombe Air Park, Buckinghamshire, UK The UK's Original Antique Aircraft Company. Aircraft restorations, maintenance, flight testing, fight training, film/TV work, and more.
Pioneer Aero Restorations, Auckland, New Zealand Restoration of P-40s and other warbirds.
Pride Aircraft, Rockford, Illinois, USA Award-winning restorations and maintenance of L-39s, T-28s and many other warbird types.
Reeds Restoration, Inc., Goshen, Ohio, USA Show-quality Stearman restorations.
Sandy Air Corp., Innsbruck, Austria Warbird restoration and sales.
Sierra Industries, Uvalde, Texas, USA Warbird restoration.
Sky Harbour Aircraft, Goderich, Ontario, Canada Warbird painting.
Skysport Engineering, Ltd., UK Vintage aircraft restoration and specialty services.
Square One Aviation, Chino, California, USA. Specializes in first-rate restorations of fighter aircraft.
Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft, Kissimmee, Florida, USA.
Tri-State Aviation, Whapeton, North Dakota, USA
Trudeau Warbird Enterprises, Inc., Punta Gorda, Florida, USA. Repairs, parts and inspection services for T-28s and other warbird types.
Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd., North Saanich, BC, Canada. Total repair, overhaul, and major maintenance services.
Vintage Aeroplane Company, Inc., Sweden Stearman repair and restoration. Also has rejuvenated Stearmans for sale in Europe and the USA.
Vintage Wings and Wheels, Hollister, California, USA. Wood/fabric/metal work, engine maintenance, and restoration & maintenance of Stearman PT-17 Aircraft, T-6 Texans and Vultee BT-13s.
Vulture's Row Aviation, Cameron Park, California, USA. Specializing in restoration, maintenance, and flying of U.S. Navy tailhook aircraft.
Wichita Air Services, Inc. [E-Mail link], Newton, Kansas, USA. Award-winning restorations.

drube

WOW Thanks

All Day Dan

My Feedback: (5)

All you need now is the money and lots of it. Dan.

drube

Been doing more digging and found this F6F Hellcat Training Video.

www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com/wvx/F6F150.wvx

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

The navy is pretty anal about recovered planes and retains title to all planes.. Back in the 60-70's the army/airforce wrote off all lost planes so they are up for grabs as salvage. The navy will fight in court and as set some interesting precedents for retaining ownership of crashes.. The museum has only traded off a couple of planes for something they thought was better. One of the hellcats recovered from lake michigan was traded off.. It was on ebay a year or so ago but I don't know what happened to it..

Back in the day they would dump planes of the deck in an instant- My dad was a maintenance officer for 6 or 7 different navy fighter squadrons over the years. Lots of times back in the day any plane that landed with a fire or a hung store would get pushed off the deck as a safety precaution. Or whole flights of fighers would ditch alongside the ship because the deck was fouled with a crash and they ran out of fuel. There are hundreds out there but if you pull one out the navy is right there ready to prosecute you if you don't turn it over..

Mk23socom

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I would expect someone from Walla Walla to know about the times where guys tried to salvage Wildcats out of Lake Washington. The Navy was "johnny-on-the-spot" to start nailing people to walls over it. Perhaps you have some more, (i.e. BETTER) info??

scale only 4 me

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Must be more to the story of how this salvage & the Navy works,,, why would anyone spent 250k just to have the navy take the plane,, makes no sense

Oberst

So true.


I'm glad they are salvaging the classic warbirds from both sides of the War. I guess it was a few years ago they pulled a Focke Wulf 190 out of the channel?


Pete

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

The navy retains all ownership of the planes, no matter where they are. I do believe, that once a wreck is found an a recovery is decided to be done, they have to ask the navy for permission to recover it. Sometimes the navy is willing to give basically a transfer of ownership, and sometimes they assist/fund the recovery in order for the wreck to be recovered and donated to a museum. I was once told, the main reason for their "johnny on the spot" response to these circumstances, is that a sailor "could possibly" have died during the accident and remains could remain inside the wreck. If this proves to be the case, they do NOT want the wreck moved b/c it is considered a war grave and (if my memory is correct) it is a federal felony to tamper with a crime frame.

drube

I would hope a transfer of ownership would be the more common especially for 250k.