Fri, Jun 05, 2009
Plane To Be Recovered From Lake Michigan
A WWII era Dauntless Dive Bomber (file photo, below) will be
recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan June 19th, and
eventually restored for display at the Pacific Aviation Museum on
Ford Island in Hawaii, its original home.
According to multiple media reports, the SBD Dauntless, piloted
by John Lendo, experienced carburetor ice on a training flight in
1944 and ditched in the Lake. Lendo survived, but the airplane sank
in 500 feet of water. Ken DeHoff, the museum's executive director,
said "This one was apparently covered with a lot of fishing nets,
which really helped to keep the mussels off of it, so it's really
supposedly in pristine condition."
More than 17,000 pilots trained for carrier operations at Lake
Michigan, using paddlewheel steamers converted to makeshift
training carriers. The location made them safe from German U-Boat
attacks. The Chicago Tribune reports that as many as 300 aircraft
found their way to the bottom of Lake Michigan during the war. Many
had been involved in training accidents. 39 have been recovered so
far.
The recovery and restoration, which is expected to cost
$300,000, is being finance by former McDonalds Chairman and CEO
Fred Turner. McDonalds Corporation will also contribute to
the effort.
The Dauntless, which was developed in the 1930's, was a mainstay
of the Navy's front-line combat fleet during WWII, playing a vital
role in the Battle of Midway. The airplane to be recovered later
this month flew off the USS Enterprise stationed in Honolulu before
becoming a training aircraft in Chicago. But it's only one of the
historic planes the Pacific Aviation Museum hopes to recover from
Lake Michigan. "We know that there are combat-experienced (F6F)
Hellcat and (F4U) Corsair aircraft that have historic value that
are on the floor of Lake Michigan, and we hope we can continue to
go through this process," DeHoff said.
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