Yes, I didn’t mean to sound disparaging; the team responsible for the recovery and restoration are, of course, best placed to decide the most appropriate way to proceed and they do deserve our congratulations and encouragement.
It is easy to imagine that because the airframe looks (relatively) complete and intact underwater that it will remain so during recovery and restoration. The gradual process of corrosion could have left the major internal load-bearing structural components paper thin and incapable of supporting the airframe out of water.
My understanding is that this is basically what happened. The tail had been damaged, probably when the aircraft came to rest on its narrow ‘shelf’, and there wasn’t much holding it on.
I suppose for myself the most important aspect of this recovery is to properly measure and document the airframe as it is dismantled for restoration; once exact dimensions and material specifications are recorded this aircraft type, instead of being lost forever, is (hopefully), ‘preserved’ forever.
I’m certain this is being done. The team at Bodo are hunting not just for parts but for knowledge. Their interest in the type is phenomenal. I honestly can’t say enough in their favour, but then I am biased! The other thing to note is that this sort of work is hideously expensive. The search vessel MV Gunnerus is usually loaned by the university that runs it on the basis that the students benefit from using the sonar and ROVs as well as all the equipment for bringing objects up from the bottom. Its availability is usually limited to the times it’s not on university or commercial business, so the museum has to work around that.
But there has been an immense amount learned from this aircraft. For me, one of the most interesting things about this Skua was that its raising proved that some FAA aircraft at the time had been mistakenly painted with Sky Blue undersides (or as near an approximation as the maintainers could get on an aircraft carrier on ops in the North Sea) due to a misinterpretation of instructions from the Admiralty and Air Ministry. I’m only sorry Ian D. Huntley died before the aircraft was raised, as it would have been the final piece in the jigsaw of his very extensive work on Skua colours.
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