JULY 2, 2016
After a hectic stop and go day yesterday on Saturday we were able to get 2 boats and 5 divers out on the Halifax HR871 site from 2 to 6 pm. Sweden time.
While 2 divers did recon on the fringes of the grid area checking out leads and objects in and under the sand the other 3 of our Swedish Coast and Sea Center divers went back to the area where the wing section was found previous and began to push and shift the sand from around the wing section. It was found to be about 12 feet by 4 feet and was the section of wing near where the fuselage and wing intersect.
It is obvious that HR871 hit the water hard while coming down and this is not good for finding major sections all bolted together. That is the bad news.
The good news is that when these parts have been uncovered from the sand the condition of the metal, both aluminium and steel, is very good with hardly any corrosion. In fact, from my previous NA337 recovery experience, these parts look like they have been in a freshwater lake for 50 years, instead of the Baltic Sea for 72 years. It appears that the salt content (8 parts per million) in the water here has negligible effect of the aluminium and steel parts! (full strength seawater is 35 parts per million salt)
I should point out that many of the parts used in the Halifax NA337 rebuild came from components and sections of the Halifax LW682 recovered from the swamp in Belgium. So even if a person was thinking HR871 is badly damaged just think of what can be done with all these components and bones as we work on our main spar and center-section we already have started rebuilding (have a look on the REBUILDSHOP page on Facebook to see what we have already accomplished).
The next work, the end of Phase 1, will be uncovering all the rest of the airframe as it is only about 1 foot (20 centimeters) under the sand.
So, progress in stop and go fashion this week, no thanks to the weather but I am pleased with the people and tools and teamwork to git er done!
Jim Blondeau and I will return to Canada tomorrow on Monday but we will be back later this month in July as our Swedish guys continue the project while we are raising more support back in Canada.
So hang on to your hats and keep the support coming by sharing with the world as we save this great history from our worlds largest fresh water lake – ok, ok Baltic, but you could have fooled me when I saw the condition of the Halifax metal.
We Leave No Halifax Behind, Cheers, Karl Kj.