Navy Sues Civilian for Return of Wrecked World War II Plane He Salvaged From Swamp

Associated Press ^ | 03/27/2004 | Associated Press

[tomball]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The federal government has filed a lawsuit against an airplane collector demanding the return of the wreckage of a World War II Corsair fighter that the Navy abandoned after it crashed in a North Carolina swamp in 1944.
Historical airplane enthusiasts say the plane Lex Cralley dug out of the swamp near the North Carolina coast is the only one of its kind known to still exist.

Cralley, an airplane mechanic with a passion for preserving World War II aviation history, salvaged the pieces of the single-engine plane in 1990, registered it as a "non-airworthy model" with the Federal Aviation Administration and began the painstaking work of restoration, which remains far from completion.

The Justice Department sued Cralley on behalf of the Navy on Wednesday, seeking the plane, the cost of returning it and compensation for any damage since Cralley recovered it.

Cralley said Friday he will defend himself, but acknowledged that the suit has rattled him.

"I'm just a little guy," said Cralley, 49, of Princeton, north of Minneapolis. "I have no wealth, work for a living, have four kids."

The lawsuit doesn't say why the plane is important to the Navy. "We're not going to provide anything more than what we'll be saying in court," said Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department's civil division in Washington.

Cralley said the government contacted him about five years ago to see about getting the plane back, and suggested an exchange with the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla. He declined to elaborate Saturday, citing the lawsuit.

Airplane buffs say Cralley's plane is the only known survivor of one particular model of Corsair, a "Brewster F3A-1," built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corp. of Long Island City, N.Y. Brewster turned out 735, compared to more than 12,000 F4U Corsairs built by the Chance Vought Aircraft Corp. of Stratford, Conn. Neither company exists today.

Dick Phillips, a retired Northwest Airlines executive from suburban Burnsville who writes about World War II aircraft, said he knows of only about two dozen Corsairs of any model still flying. "I don't know of any airworthy Corsair that sold in the last five years for less than $1 million," he said.

The Corsair, designed to land on aircraft carriers, is one of the most recognizable World War II fighters, with its long fuselage, huge radial piston engine with a large propeller and a unique inverted "gull wing" design.

AP-ES-03-27-04 1810EST

 

[Bogey78O]

If the gov't abandons property why should they come back 50 yrs later and cite a claim on it?

[eddie willers]

If the gov't abandons property why should they come back 50 yrs later and cite a claim on it?

Helluva good question.

[cynicom]

Mr. Ashcroft is charge of that dept, on the ball as usual.

[Lockbar]

This is not the first time this has happened. Some guys got into the same bind with the Navy/Feds 10-15 years ago when they raised a couple of Wildcats and Dauntless dive bombers from Lake Michigan off Chicago that sunk during practice carried landings in WW2. The Feds will only allow you to own their stuff if they let you.

[Doomonyou]

This kind of crap really pisses me off. I'm surprised they didn't let him restore it first before they sued him.

[Rebelbase]

"If the gov't abandons property why should they come back 50 yrs later and cite a claim on it?"

If they do have a claim then the owner of the swamp ought to charge them a $20/day storage fee for 50 years.

[RS]

"If the gov't abandons property why should they come back 50 yrs later and cite a claim on it?"

Does the government fill out an "abandoned property" form ? I think not... I would bet that they just gave up the search for it.

BTW - I do think he should get to keep it - unless he completely destroys it they will get it eventually as his decendants will decide it's better to donate it then deal with the taxes...

[WSGilcrest]

[Viking2002]

Another case of pencil-pushers with more power than brains, looking for a way to justify their paycheck......

[monkeywrench]

But, that might "damage" it, I guess. Note--

"seeking the plane, the cost of returning it and compensation for any damage since Cralley recovered it."

[Fresh Wind]

As I understand it, Brewster was the only US aircraft company to go out of business during WW-II.

[Doomonyou]

If they don't steal it back, "the terrorists will have won."

[Moose4]

And if I'm not mistaken, after the government sued and got those Wildcats back...they took the wreckage and scrapped it. It wouldn't surprise me to see them scrap and destroy that F3A-1 if they get their hands on it.

The goobermint needs to back off and let this guy try and find a way to restore that Corsair. We've got fewer and fewer of those old pieces of history left (we lost another Corsair, an F4U-4, in a crash here in Columbia less than a year and a half ago).

}:-)4

[KriegerGeist]

Da gubmint is full of lawyers, lawyers sue for everything and anything (like vultures eat carcasses) and there are judges and juries out there that will give them anything the sue for...and make you pay them for the trouble of doing it.

There are ship wrecks at the bottom of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie with zillions of dollars worth of perfectly good stuff, perfectly preserved by the cold fresh water. Nobody will invest the time or money to salvage any of it because ther are vultures waiting to take away from them whatever they salvage or bring up.

Foor instance, there are ship-loads of (now antique) autos from the factory that went down on lake freighters on their way from the factories. Those autos only need to be dried out, the rubber, leather and fluids replaced and start them up and take a ride. The same goes for other new equipment from the factories that went down on lake freighters in storms on Lake Huron. What a shame.

[mikenola]

So let's see, the guy salvages it 13 years ago and now the government wants it? After he's restored it?

Looks like the govt is going to get a free airplane restoration job.

[x1stcav]

Corsair???

Isn't this the Brewster "Buffalo"?

As I recall, this was an obsolete POS even before the war broke out and most of them were shot down by the Nips early on.

If memory serves me correctly, though, I think the Dutch bought some of these and did quite well with them.

[KarlInOhio]

Terrorists - guy salvaging airplane - terrorists - guy salvaging airplane.

It was a tough call, but the DoJ and the Navy decided to go after the guy salvaging the airplane. Maybe if this guy gives up quickly, the government will still have time to go after the terrorists again.

[nothingnew]

The Justice Department sued Cralley on behalf of the Navy on Wednesday, seeking the plane, the cost of returning it and compensation for any damage since Cralley recovered it.

Your tax dollars at werk for a stupid and crass lawsuit. What a pantload.

FMCDH

[blackdog]

Maybe they thought he was going to restore it into a giant radial powered bong, hence the Ashcroft treatment.

The man is a model of hard working grit. He's everything an American should be, which sadly these days includes being the recipient of government harassment.