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Re: Hi Karen,

Posted by Karen Gilmore on Mon Dec 31, 2001 10:12:55 AM

In reply top Hi Karen, posted by Tony on Mon Dec 31, 2001 08:04:33 AM

Hi Guys!

I gather from what has been written that this is a male dominated message board?! :) I hope you all don't mind the intrusion! If it helps, I think I was a man in a past life!:)

My journey in all this began, this past July, when the wreckage of my Uncle's plane, was discovered in Lake Louisa. I had grown up knowing about Uncle Dean, his plane, and the crash. Sadly, he died 15 years before I was born. I often wondered what happened to the plane, but was totally shocked when a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, contacted me, July 3, 2001, by e-mail, asking if I was related to Dean. Apparently, a three year drought caused the water level to drop so low that the propeller was visible above the water.

At first, the authority's were scrambling to figure out what type of a plane it was. Mr. Wisler was the one to positively identify it as a Mustang. Knowing what I know now, it is almost comical, the speculation that surrounded its discovery. It was thought to be a P-40, which shows you how much the folks in charge knew, it had a 4 bladed prop.

Still visible on the battery are the red plus, and the grey minus sign. When they turned the prop, after 57 years in the water, it still spun, and leaked a huge puddle of oil on to the concrete. On the back of the rudder pedal, I have, is a small rubber connector. When I put my finger on it I still get oil from it, and I can still smell it.

I have grown up around planes, my Dad worked at the Piper Aircraft Corp., here in Lock Haven, PA, for 35 years, and he is also a WW II veteran. I have been to countless Airshows, over the years, and I could always recognize most of the classic warplanes, but my love for the Mustang has intensified, over the past six months.

Kermit Weeks did a flyover at the Memorial Service, at the Lake, and I can still hear the beautiful sweet sound of that engine! Just as he was finishing his 5th pass, an American Bald Eagle appeared, circled, and landed on the sandbar where the plane was recovered.

I thank you for welcoming me, I was hesitant about posting because I am a female, and because I have so much to learn about Mustangs! However, this seems like a great place to learn!

If anyone would like to see pictures, of the wreckage, e-mail me, and I will send you an invitation to my Dean Gilmore web page.
Thanks again guys!
Karen

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