B-25 to raised from South Carolina USA lake

Here is a great story fellow FlyPast Forum members you might like to read, comes from Columbia, South Carolina USA . where this weekend they are going to raise a rare B-25 Mitchell from a lake. During WWII many B-25 aircrews were based and trained in this state. I was present back about few years ago when they pulled a B-25 from a Lake in Greenwood, South Carolina USA. It crashed into Lake Greenwood on JUne 6th 1944…yep D-Day. The aircraft was still in excellent condition, one engine mount was torn off. The aircraft has been restored and now on display in Columbia, South Carolina. Reports were numerous B-25 are in this lake…maybe the first a few more.

Enjoy !
BlueNoser352!

B-25 WWII plane to be retrieved from depths of Lake Murray

(Editor’s Note: Photographs and fact sheet attached)

COLUMBIA, SC — Sixty-two years after plunging into Lake Murray, one of the last remaining Army Air Corps war planes will be rescued from 100 feet beneath the lake’s surface starting on Saturday, September 10.

According to the expedition’s leader, Robert S. Seigler, MD, the retrieval of the now-rare B-25C Bomber may take several days, particularly as the divers will be working on mixed gases, at depth, to attach special straps on the aircraft. The technical team will be led by internationally-known aviation salver, Gary Larkins, who expects the entire operation (which includes the spray-down and disassembly of the aircraft) to take about two weeks. Larkins disassembled, rigged, and raised a P-38 Lightning from beneath 270 feet of a Greenland ice cap several years ago. He is regarded as the premier salver of historic airplanes, with some 60 to his credit worldwide.

Seigler, who has written a history of the Lake Murray B-25s for Warbirds International (attached), has spent two decades researching, locating, videotaping, and securing sidescan radar images of the aircraft. Divers have been quietly examining and documenting the airplane for the past several years in preparation for the retrieval.

The final day of the airplane is well-known. After flying out of the Columbia Army Air Base on April 4, 1943, the B-25C crashed and sank in the man-made lake during a skip-bombing training mission. The military crew escaped the aircraft, which had lost power, and brought it to rest upright, with damage to only the right engine. The crew survived and was rescued. The U.S. Army Air Corps was unable to salvage the aircraft during WWII because of water depth. It was finally located in 1990, virtually intact, under silt.

During the past decade, Seigler, head of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Greenville Hospital System, and John Adams Hodge, an aviation and environmental attorney at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. in Columbia, have dedicated time, energy, and resources to the effort. William (“Bill”) Vartorella, Ph.D., of Camden has helped guide the project. His firm, Craig and Vartorella, Inc, has been involved in exotic projects worldwide in the fields of archaeology, motor sports, and history, to name a few.

The team has continuously sought support in South Carolina and the region from philanthropic foundations, state legislators, museum and airport officials, and corporations as they searched for a permanent site to house the vintage plane. However, no SC venues were prepared to preserve such an aircraft in an indoor setting that met the need for painstaking restoration and ongoing public interpretation.

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B-25C to be retrieved from Lake Murray
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Page 2

With a commitment to keeping the airplane in the South, Seigler’s nonprofit, Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project (501-c-3), has found an appropriate home for the airplane at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama. There, the plane will be restored, conserved, and displayed in its public museum. Hodge, an attorney, registered geologist and airline pilot, and Seigler and Vartorella have collaborated with South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, the U.S. military, historians and numerous others to prepare for the final stages of this quest.

The upcoming retrieval has not been announced previously due to curiosity-seekers who might disturb the plane’s safe resting area. The skill of the pilot and crew prevented the aircraft’s loss of life. One of the crewmen who escaped is still alive and lives on the West Coast. Due to his health, he may not be able to attend; however, his nephew will attend to represent the family.

Hodge said, “This is about preserving our history and heritage. The aircraft is WWII authentic as it has only been seen by a handful of people since it sank more than 60 years ago. It is in incredibly good shape. Dr. Seigler has expended countless hours and dollars to preserve our history and I hope that South Carolinians will assist him in this noble project.”

According to Vartorella, donations and in-kind contributions to help defray the estimated retrieval costs of $150,000 are appreciated. “We’ve had some excellent past support from the Arcadia Foundation and companies such as Boozer Lumber have stepped up recently, as well as anonymous individual donors,” he said. “This project is likely to get global coverage and this is an excellent opportunity for companies and individuals to let the world know that South Carolina is committed to its heritage and, frankly, is a great place to live and do business.”

For additional information, contact the Lake Murray B-25 Rescue Project, 106 Highland Drive, Greenville, SC 29605. The media can contact Bill Vartorella at (803) 432-4353.

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