This is simply an amazing find… This particular news video does not really go into detail of the a/c it self but this is a very rare -1a birdcage Corsair.
If I heard correctly around the warbird circuit, this is one of the only surviving F4U-1a around… Gotta love cold water lakes[Y]
Eventually they will be restoring her back to her ol glory but IMHO, I’d leave her as is… Can’t get any more original than that…
Aint it though!!! As I mentioned this is simply amazing and kind of like winning the lottery but better!! And your welcome…
Howdy Manni,
Too funny… Wonder if that pilot was flying around Detroit look for Japanese a/c? lol Seriously though, you’d be amazed to how many Naval aviators got there carrier experience up here in the Great Lakes region…
This particular ship was practicing approaches when the pilot went off the deck while aboard the USS Wolverine…
Hopefully they can recover the aft section as well…
Awesome. Didn’t they recently pull a F6F out of one of the Great Lakes as well? IIRC it was sometime last year, but can’t remember if it was Lake Michigan, Huron or Erie
According to the report, they set the front section down on the shore beside the aft section they had recovered earlier. I found that link to be a real pain, so a quick googling got me to here:
Speaking of the Canadians; there is a B17 H (yes H), later designated SB17 that was discovered in a Canadian lake and there has been an ongoing legal battle in the Canadian Courts trying to get permission to “repatriate” it. Any one know the status of this “recovery” of a very rare warbird (Aproximately 130 converted B17 Gs). Also it is my understanding that the “Great Lakes” Navy training facility is one of its largest. Anyone know what happened to the “Fresh Water Carriers” that were used for the traing of carrier pilots in WWII?