Posted on 08/19/2010 5:33:49 PM PDT by bd476
SAN DIEGO – Salvage divers gently cleared away silt and mud covering a WWII dive bomber buried in the bottom of the San Diego reservoir, carefully working Thursday to lift the rare plane from the water 65 years after it was ditched during a training run.
Bob Metz, 84, who watched the painstaking work, said he recalls his oldest brother, Sgt. Joseph Metz, telling about how he and the pilot — who have both since died — managed to swim ashore to safety, then hitchhiked back to the nearby military base.
"It's going to be interesting to see it," said Metz of Montebello, Calif. "I remember when he got a jeep and brought me up here and told me, 'You want to see where we ditched the plane?"
The aircraft was forgotten until Duane Johnson and his friend, who were searching for bass, spotted the outline of the plane on an electronic fish finder last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Read the rest of the story at the link. Hopefully they will be able to restore it and place it in the National Naval Aviation Museum.
ping
Homer, I thought you'd be interested in this. The World War II SB2C Helldiver also known as the "The Beast" crashed during a 1945 training run.
When divers recover it from the murky waters of Lower Otay Reservoir in San Diego, it's hoped that the Helldiver can be restored for later placement in the National Naval Aviation Museum.
Thanks for posting the photo.
Forget the mistakes and you might repeat them.
But whatever. My stepfather was lead mechanic on the team that built the first P-51 Mustang. I heard stories about design "issues", but they worked it out.
Thanks for the link, Plutarch.
The difficulty in handling the Helldiver is why they nicknamed it "The Beast."
It is helpful to remember design and engineering failures in hopes that similar errors won't be repeated in the future. Also it is good to track the the immense amount of trial and error projects which lead to eventual successes.
What a sad story. Thank you, though. Your point is made.
That was one hell of a dive, eh? Thanks bd476. Thanks decimon for posting that other one, nyah nyah, too slow. Oh, thanks for posting the link to this one when you mentioned it. (clears throat)
My decency runs wider than deep. ;-)
I heard that too, but hey, even having an Edsel is pretty cool
My late fried Bill K flew one of these plus several others according to his flight log that I read recently. Bill had the cushiest duties of WWII as he spent almost 30 months patrolling the waters around Oahu in various planes...
Bob Metz is my husband’s uncle as was Joe Metz, the passenger on the flight. Bob, my husband, and other family members spent the day at Otay Lake waiting to the plane to be brought up. Much to their disappointment, it didn’t happen today. I guess there’s truth to it being a “beast”
Tubebender, may your friend Bill K rest in peace and God Bless him for his service to our country.
From flying a beast of a difficult plane to a cushier assignment - sounds fair enough. :)
The Beast and its pilots reached a truce of sorts, and my Dad's Air Group (Air Group 15) posted a pretty spectacular record during their year in the Pacific.
WoW!!! God Bless you all...
That would be exciting to watch. I'd love to be there and hope that they are able to recover it safely and soon.
Recovery diving in murky water is risky. One report said that a diver was examined after he ran out of air. Later they reported the diver was okay.
Gloworm, thanks for the personal update. I found mention of your husband and his relatives in the updated and excerpted story below:
Mud delays efforts to extract WWII plane from lake
By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer – 39 mins ago
SAN DIEGO – Divers worked through the day Thursday to extract a rare World War II dive bomber from the bottom of a reservoir but were unable to finish removing thick silt and mud from the plane to enable it to be lifted out of the water...
< Snip >
...Relatives of the two-man crew had been waiting at the reservoir's edge to see the plane that crashed there in 1945 after the engine failed during a training exercise..."
Read the rest here:
Mud delays efforts to extract WWII plane from lake
my husband, Larry just got home. Talked about the long day. Had a good time though. Larry spent time talking to the man that should have been in the passenger seat. He gave the seat up so Uncle Joe could see some sights. Boy, did he ever. Also talked to the son of the pilot. He so wished that his dad was still alive to see his plane come to the surface.
Larry doesn’t know which diver was injured, but one of the divers is 88 years old.
Uncle Bob will be there tomorrow to see the plane, but Larry can’t be there.
Thanks for the ping to the update, bd476!
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