OOPS!! forgot to admit I got to see the Boomer going through its paces today at the Airfield…..what a sight 🙂 and WOW love that whistle 😀

Another flight this afternoon saw me head to the airfield quickly 🙂 This time she was up with the Wirraway and Mustang doing formation flights.

What can I say but WOW!!!! 😀

oops did I forget to post it here 😮

In my experience, the submerged airframe has a few variables such as whether a)canopy is open/closed b) holes in fuselage and wings c:) contents of fuel tanks , high or low wing etc. Once an aircraft has been submerged for a period of time, the void spaces that would initially create a possible neutral or positive bouyancy are replaced with water/sand and mud so a 2 tonne Aircraft COULD weigh 5 , 6 or even more. Very similar to the lift/drag/thrust/weight on an airworthy aircraft. In terms of movement of said aircraft… in theory …we are not talking aerodynamic force on an underwater aircraft…although the forces involved are the same! A low wing aircraft with a constant current (water) acting directly onto the normal airfoil section would create negligable lift as it would induce theoretically a stall as there is little or no pressure acting underneath the airfoil surface. So you would find the aircraft is most likely very close by your original location (or smashed into little bits). However a high wing aircraft would be buffeted along as the current can act the same as airflow in flight therefore the aircraft would be further afield than where you originally found it….but once again if weight/suction etc is higher…you’d probably find that the wings would be ripped off and aircraft destroyed, but it would be scattered in original general position

In recovering said aircraft normally a device like a vacuum cleaner is used to suck the sand from around strategic areas on the airframe and lifting slings are attached to plastic drums or lifting bags that are then slowly filled with compressed air to achieve a neutral bouyancy..once that has been achieved the drums are filled with more air to achieve a positive bouyancy which will start the aircraft back to the surface…..fun to watch 🙂

Anyhow, in terms of restoration….theres a couple good websites out there that explain the processes…two are listed below

http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/collections/maritime/march/fallenangels/degrigny/fockewulf.html

http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/collections/maritime/march/fallenangels/bv222.html

Hope some of this helps!!

Cheers,
Chris

The Aussies had a version of the RF-51 🙂 had a different camera port on the side though!

Cheers,
Chris