Post by manta on Sept 10, 2005 8:27:09 GMT -5
this link will only be active for a while, so I"ll post all the text here
www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/12608298.htm
By TIM FLACH
Staff Writer
A longtime quest to retrieve a World War II bomber at the bottom of Lake Murray is set to begin today.
The delicate task of raising the largely intact B-25C bomber, sitting 150 feet deep in lake bed mud, could take several days, organizers say.
The bomber, which crashed 62 years ago about two miles west of the dam, has long fascinated shoreline residents and local historians. It was one of six planes that crashed there during World War II training runs.
Its raising is welcome news.
“The history of Lake Murray comes alive anew,” said Ed Fetnerof Chapin, a chronicler of lake lore.
The plane, one of the oldest remaining B-25s, will be heading for restoration and display at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Ala., where it will be the centerpiece of a new wing.
“In some ways,” said Jim Griffin, the museum’s incoming director, “it’s like the Titanic, lost and rediscovered.”
Recovering the plane and finding a home for it has been the 16-year quest of Robert Seigler, a Greenville pediatrician and amateur historian.
Seigler said he became intrigued with tales of crashed bombers left in the lake and decided to see whether any could be found.
His hunt, relying on records, led to underwater searches by divers. They found the bomber in 1994 intact, except for a missing right engine.
If lifted undamaged, it will be the third-oldest of 130 B-25 bombers remaining among the 9,800 produced during the war, Seigler said.
“That’s why this one is significant.”
The aircraft sank in the lake after the crew landed it on the water when an engine lost power during training in April 1943. Its crew escaped unharmed.
Finding a new home for the bomber delayed its recovery, Seigler said.Efforts to keep it in South Carolina failed because of the estimated $300,000 restoration price and because Seigler insisted it be displayed indoors and it never flown.
It is costing the nonprofit group that Seigler organized, the Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project, about $150,000 to recover the bomber. It’s an amount he concedes the group doesn’t have.
But it’s vital to get the airplane out of the water, now that the Alabama museum agreed to accept it, he said.
The effort is much more than recovering a piece of military artillery to show off, Seigler said.
It is a tribute to those who built and flew the bomber, he said: “The aircraft represents that.”
Once restored, the bomber will be part of a museum display that includes stories of the crew, its recovery and the role B-25 bombers played in World War II.
Griffin calls restoration a new challenge for the Birmingham facility, home to nearly 100 aircraft.
The bomber will be taken apart and its parts logged for transport to Alabama. Many parts will be hauled in barrels with lake water to avoid immediate deterioration when they are removed from the lake’s cold depths, he said.
“What you’re really dealing with is marine archeology,” Griffin said. “It’s a very different thing for us.”
Acquiring the aircraft is a coup, Griffin said, because it is “literally a time capsule from a bygone era.”
Seigler describes his pursuit of the airplane’s salvage as “really just a hobby, not a passion. I like to see things through to the end.”
What’s important is that the bomber will provide a picture of the past when displayed, he said.
“This airplane belongs in a museum, not at the bottom of a lake.”
www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/12608298.htm
By TIM FLACH
Staff Writer
A longtime quest to retrieve a World War II bomber at the bottom of Lake Murray is set to begin today.
The delicate task of raising the largely intact B-25C bomber, sitting 150 feet deep in lake bed mud, could take several days, organizers say.
The bomber, which crashed 62 years ago about two miles west of the dam, has long fascinated shoreline residents and local historians. It was one of six planes that crashed there during World War II training runs.
Its raising is welcome news.
“The history of Lake Murray comes alive anew,” said Ed Fetnerof Chapin, a chronicler of lake lore.
The plane, one of the oldest remaining B-25s, will be heading for restoration and display at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Ala., where it will be the centerpiece of a new wing.
“In some ways,” said Jim Griffin, the museum’s incoming director, “it’s like the Titanic, lost and rediscovered.”
Recovering the plane and finding a home for it has been the 16-year quest of Robert Seigler, a Greenville pediatrician and amateur historian.
Seigler said he became intrigued with tales of crashed bombers left in the lake and decided to see whether any could be found.
His hunt, relying on records, led to underwater searches by divers. They found the bomber in 1994 intact, except for a missing right engine.
If lifted undamaged, it will be the third-oldest of 130 B-25 bombers remaining among the 9,800 produced during the war, Seigler said.
“That’s why this one is significant.”
The aircraft sank in the lake after the crew landed it on the water when an engine lost power during training in April 1943. Its crew escaped unharmed.
Finding a new home for the bomber delayed its recovery, Seigler said.Efforts to keep it in South Carolina failed because of the estimated $300,000 restoration price and because Seigler insisted it be displayed indoors and it never flown.
It is costing the nonprofit group that Seigler organized, the Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project, about $150,000 to recover the bomber. It’s an amount he concedes the group doesn’t have.
But it’s vital to get the airplane out of the water, now that the Alabama museum agreed to accept it, he said.
The effort is much more than recovering a piece of military artillery to show off, Seigler said.
It is a tribute to those who built and flew the bomber, he said: “The aircraft represents that.”
Once restored, the bomber will be part of a museum display that includes stories of the crew, its recovery and the role B-25 bombers played in World War II.
Griffin calls restoration a new challenge for the Birmingham facility, home to nearly 100 aircraft.
The bomber will be taken apart and its parts logged for transport to Alabama. Many parts will be hauled in barrels with lake water to avoid immediate deterioration when they are removed from the lake’s cold depths, he said.
“What you’re really dealing with is marine archeology,” Griffin said. “It’s a very different thing for us.”
Acquiring the aircraft is a coup, Griffin said, because it is “literally a time capsule from a bygone era.”
Seigler describes his pursuit of the airplane’s salvage as “really just a hobby, not a passion. I like to see things through to the end.”
What’s important is that the bomber will provide a picture of the past when displayed, he said.
“This airplane belongs in a museum, not at the bottom of a lake.”
Another good wreck dive taken from under our noses !! 
