Amazing find in a barn: FM-2 Wildcat..and it can be yours for > $100K

[PropAddict]

No shit: I found* a sunken P-47 last week off the beach by my house. It's in 3 pieces and sitting in 20 feet of saltwater, but it's not too much rougher than this plane. I wonder if I can drag it home and make some $$. . .


*Found meaning there are plenty of rumors of people seeing it, but nobody knew exactly where it was.

 

[HackerF15E]

No shit: I found* a sunken P-47 last week off the beach by my house. It's in 3 pieces and sitting in 20 feet of saltwater, but it's not too much rougher than this plane. I wonder if I can drag it home and make some $$. . .
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*Found meaning there are plenty of rumors of people seeing it, but nobody knew exactly where it was.

Unfortunately, unless it has a clear chain of civilian ownership that allows it to be registered with the FAA, it's not worth anything.

 

[jmcquate]

No shit: I found* a sunken P-47 last week off the beach by my house. It's in 3 pieces and sitting in 20 feet of saltwater, but it's not too much rougher than this plane. I wonder if I can drag it home and make some $$. . .
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*Found meaning there are plenty of rumors of people seeing it, but nobody knew exactly where it was.

I believe that if the National Museum of the USAF wants it, it belongs to them.

 

[Gatordev]

No shit: I found* a sunken P-47 last week off the beach by my house. It's in 3 pieces and sitting in 20 feet of saltwater, but it's not too much rougher than this plane. I wonder if I can drag it home and make some $$. . .
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*Found meaning there are plenty of rumors of people seeing it, but nobody knew exactly where it was.

That's pretty sweet. Where did you find it? And why are you bringing this up now and not a month ago when I was on island?

 

[ryan1234]

I believe that if the National Museum of the USAF wants it, it belongs to them.

Navy yes, USAAF not necessarily

 

[PropAddict]

Where did you find it? And why are you bringing this up now and not a month ago when I was on island?

It's a half mile swim or paddle off Lanikai.

Next time you're here, let me know. I've gone back 3 times so far and taken new people there every time. We're slowly working the whole wardroom through. . .

 

[Gatordev]

Bah, I'd swim out to File Island (off the beach park) all the time as a nice little workout. Is it off of the beach where the houses are or off the beach park? Either way, pretty cool.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Unfortunately, unless it has a clear chain of civilian ownership that allows it to be registered with the FAA, it's not worth anything.

I'm completely ignorant of the process, but why can't someone just register it with the FAA now if they pulled it up?

 

[punx_clever]

Because it's till the property of the US Govt. Uncle Sam has various reasons for not pulling up an old bird... For example, in the case of the trainers pulled out of lake Michigan, if the student died in the incident they leave it at the bottom as a memorial.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Because it's till the property of the US Govt. Uncle Sam has various reasons for not pulling up an old bird... For example, in the case of the trainers pulled out of lake Michigan, if the student died in the incident they leave it at the bottom as a memorial.

I've heard that before, about not disturbing gravesites, etc. If the pilot survived the crash is there some regulation now that prevents Joe Civilian from recovering an aircraft and compensating Uncle Sam for the fair value of the aircraft?

 

[jmcquate]

I've heard that before, about not disturbing gravesites, etc. If the pilot survived the crash is there some regulation now that prevents Joe Civilian from recovering an aircraft and compensating Uncle Sam for the fair value of the aircraft?

The Air Force and Navy museum systems gets first crack at them.

 

[Flash]

I've heard that before, about not disturbing gravesites, etc. If the pilot survived the crash is there some regulation now that prevents Joe Civilian from recovering an aircraft and compensating Uncle Sam for the fair value of the aircraft?

Because the US government bought it and still owns it according to US law and that "shall not be extinguished by the passage of time, regardless of when the sunken military craft sank." The current US law:

http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org12-12a.htm

I am also pretty certain that international maritime law also applies to ships and aircraft owned by a state the concept of 'sovereign immunity' no matter how long the 'craft' has been in the water, as long as it was not abandoned willfully by the state (dumped overboard as trash, etc). The salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration is now being reminded of that because a treasure they found in the Atlantic may have come from the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, sunk in 1804. If the treasure is in fact from a Spanish Navy frigate the Spanish government could likely claim it all though the company is arguing otherwise.

 

[ryan1234]

There's a lot of misinformation here, some is true, some isn't. Museums don't automatically get first crack at AAF aircraft. It's complicated to explain here. But the Navy is significantly different from AF policy regarding ownership.

 

[PropAddict]

Bah, I'd swim out to File Island (off the beach park) all the time as a nice little workout. Is it off of the beach where the houses are or off the beach park? Either way, pretty cool.

Easiest to get to from the last access in where the houses are. If you swim to the Mokes, you know where to go.

Break, break.

So for this plane, according to what I've dug up on it (literally and figuratively), the plane was ditched after experiencing and engine failure right after rotation in 1943. Pilot put it in the water right off the end of the runway and swam back to shore. The plane was pulled up, stripped of its machine guns and salvageable parts, then pronounced a total loss and stricken. It was rolled off the end of the runway and discarded into the sea.

Fast forward 30 years, a hurricane rips through and pushes the hulk 1/2 mile out to sea, and rips the engine off. 20ish years later, wreck site is found again.

Can you really claim a stake in something you stuck from the inventory and scuttled intentionally?

 

[A4sForever]

....the plane was ditched after experiencing and engine failure right after rotation in 1943....

Out of Bellows ???

Must have been ... pix is from Bellows ramp/revetments @ 1943-44: