WIX Archives
Re: Corsair 88382
Posted by Rob Mears on Wed Jan 14, 2004 07:06:22 PM
In reply top Corsair 88382 posted by andy saunders on Wed Jan 14, 2004 03:52:13 PM
That was one of two Stateside Corsair recoveries seen through to completion by the US Navy. They still have the world's oldest known Corsair survivor (F4U-1) basting in the depths of Lake Michigan - BEGGING for the US Navy to get on with somr type of salvage!
Gary Larkins and one of his compadres originally discovered the 1st Lake Washington Corsair back in the late 1970s. By 1983 after looking for a way to instigate the recovery of the plane, Larkins managed to find a willing home for it at the Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. Representing the museum, Larkins worked side by side with fellow enthusiast Maj. Herb Valantine of the USMC to approach the US Navy and gain permission to recover the plane for the museum. The Navy honored the men's request and the museum became the proud new sponsor of a very complete, albeit mud packed FG-1D. The museum itself worked on the plane sporadically for about four years before hiring John Lane to work his magic.
A second FG-1D Corsair (BuNo.88368) was retrieved by aquatic recovery specialist Bob Mester two years later from the same lake. It was retrieved, restored, and trucked to South Carolina for static display aboard the USS Yorktown.
It just goes to show that if you have an intact wreck and a qualified museum willing to ante up for the recovery & resoration, the US Navy will actually relax its iron grip on these planes enough to let one come to the surface every once and a while. It's still a sin that they are unwilling to allow private funds and entities to recover what otherwise is a vast amount of aircraft and material that is otherwise doomed to idle destruction. Anyone want the intact rear fuselage from Lt. Cunningham's VF-17 "Jolly Rogers" F4U-1A? It's still sitting in the jungle on Ballale Island in the Solomons, complete with vivid original paint still intact. The US Navy doens't seem to have any special regard for this unique touchstone of US Naval history. VF-17 is only the highest scoring Navy fighter squadron of all time thanks to Cunningham, Blackburn, Kepford, and the other pilots who took part in their 1943 deployment.
...and about that Lake Michigan F4U-1Al, any serious museum who would like to bear the privelege of recovering, restoring, and displaying the world's oldest known intact Corsair survivor (birdcage canopy and all), please drop me a line and I'll put you in contact with the folks who can help you make it happen! :)