WIX Archives

Re: F3F from sea water

Posted by SRS on Tue Jan 22, 2002 02:13:37 PM

In reply top Warbirds pickled in sea water posted by Ron Henry on Tue Jan 22, 2002 09:29:32 AM

The National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola has a beautiful Grumman F3F restoration of an original that was pulled from the Pacific, off the California coast. Looks good enought to fly now, but no telling how much of the original metal remains, or in what condition.
:
: Tony
:
: Your use of "fizz" has given me the word I've been looking
: for -
:
: Yrs ago, probably in 1978, I saw a wreck that had been hau
: led out of the ocean - it may have been on display at Pima
: County. It was a good, straight aircraft - single engined
: naval fighter, IIRC (Hellcat?) - that had been pulled out
: of the Pacific from some good depth not many yrs before I
: saw it. I think maybe the recoverers had ideas of restori
: ng it, but its condition had quickly deteriorated on expos
: ure to air: most of the metal in it reminded me of experim
: ents in the chemistry lab at school when metal was dipped
: into acid and started to fizz.
:
: Since then I just can't see the point of pouring large amo
: unts of cash into hauling aircaft out of the sea. In every
: (?!) case I can't see how they could even be fit for part
: s recovery. Even for static display, there's the prob of r
: emoving large amounts of hard marine growth from fragile (
: probably) metal....
:
: Ron
:
: PS I've made another small, negative (unfortunately), con
: tribution to the Balado Bridge thread.

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