Category: Aviation Archaeology

Posted on by

New Book Takes Readers on International Exploration of Aircraft Graveyards

Coming later this year from Pen & Sword and author Lorraine Evans is Boneyards of Steel: Exploring the World’s Aircraft Graveyards, which unearths the remains of aircraft in some of the planets most inhospitable regions.

The study of aviation graveyards is a much maligned area of death research. The final resting place of sizeable non-organic beasts is routinely overlooked, yet it is still, in every respect, a graveyard and deserves to be recognised as such. From an extensive desert necropoli to a war-torn underwater mausoleum, very little of the world remains untouched by the boneyard phenomenon, and less has been written about these remarkable cemeteries. With a significant percentage still languishing in ‘Top Secret’ facilities, hidden behind barbed wire-fences and gated perimeters, it is hardly surprising. Nonetheless, advancements in technology has enabled those with an adventurous spirit, armchair or otherwise, to peel back these layers of secrecy and take a sneaky peak at the skeletal remains of once aeronautic marvels, the findings of which are truly astonishing.

The 224 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release set for September 30.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

National Museum of WW2 Aviation Offering P-47 Artifact Lamp From Famous 348th FG

Please Note: This is an archived post. The information presented here may not be current and the associated listing may no longer be active.

The National Museum of World War II Aviation is currently offering “a very historical artifact” in the form of a lamp incorporating a “a turbo charger fan from an actual P-47 Razorback.” The listing states (in part):

The base of this lamp is a turbo charger fan from an actual P-47 Razorback, from the 348th Fighter Group that flew in the WWII. Led by “Medal Of Honor” recipient Col. Neel Kearby. This Group was the most successful P-47 group in the Pacific. The group scored 396 kills; over half of all the kills credited to Fifth Air Force P-47s. The group had 20 aces, including Kearby who was credited with 22 kills. With the conclusion of the war the aircraft had little value; given that factory fresh aircraft were available stateside. These combat veteran aircraft had their engines removed and were unceremoniously bulldozed into a pit. Some 55 years later, in the year 2000, Col. Neel Kearby’s plane and two others were excavated from Papua New Guinea. This turbocharger fan was excavated with those planes.

The artifact reportedly comes with a certificate of authenticity and is currently available for bidding. Click here to check out the complete listing on eBay.

Please Note: This post contains an eBay affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Recently Recovered Spitfire PR.IV AA810 to be Restored to Airworthy Condition

A Spitfire recovered in July 2018 will be restored to airworthy condition, according to a recent announcement.

On March 5, 1942 Spitfire PR.IV AA810, flown by Alastair “Sandy” Gunn of 1 PRU RAF, departed RAF Wick in Scotland for a photo reconnaissance mission to Trondheim, Norway. During the flight, Gunn was forced to bail out after the Spitfire was shot down by two Messerschmitts of Jagdgruppe Losigkeit near Surnadal. Gunn became a POW and took part in The Great Escape in 1944, but sadly was recaptured and executed.

The remains of the Spitfire were recovered in July, with “some 70% of the aircraft” remaining intact. It is now receiving a full restoration to airworthy status and will reportedly incorporate a significant amount of original material. Plans also call for a few unsuitable elements of the aircraft to be used in various memorials.

The first flight is currently planned for 2023/24 and it is hoped that the machine will attend airshows “far and wide.”

(via Spitfire AA810 – Restoring Sandy’s Spitfire and Spitfire AA810 Additional Information via Aviation Safety Network Photo: RAF via Wikimedia Commons Thanks, Pascal!)

Posted on by

Fundraising Campaign Launched to Recover Remains of Last Dambusters Lancaster

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to recover the remains of Avro Lancaster NF920 “Easy Elsie” from the site where it crash landed during WW2.

The aircraft came to rest in a swamp near Projus, Sweden on October 29, 1944 after being struck by anti-aircraft fire while attempting to bomb the battleship Tirpitz as part of “Operation Obviate.” The crew escaped without serious injury and the machine’s remains were abandoned, remaining at the site until the present day.

The aircraft is said to be the last remaining example of the type from the famous Dambusters 617 Squadron, and the wreck is in jeopardy after being “ravaged by war, time, vandals and souvenir hunters.” Continue reading Fundraising Campaign Launched to Recover Remains of Last Dambusters Lancaster

Posted on by

Lost Squadron P-38 “Echo” Discovered in Greenland, Recovery Planned for 2019

An ongoing effort led by Jim Salazar and Ken McBride of Arctic Hot Point Solutions and the Fallen American MIA Repatriation Foundation has resulted in the discovery of another P-38 Lightning of the “Lost Squadron.”

The flight, which took place on July 15, 1942, was part of the Allied buildup in Europe known as “Operation Bolero” and consisted of six P-38s and two B-17s. The route toward England would include stops in Labrador, Greenland and Iceland to refuel, however, along the way, the aircraft encountered severe weather conditions and were forced to land on a glacier on Greenland’s hazardous east coast. While the crews were rescued by the Coast Guard, the aircraft would remain, eventually being entombed by hundreds of feet of ice. Continue reading Lost Squadron P-38 “Echo” Discovered in Greenland, Recovery Planned for 2019

Posted on by

Recently Unearthed Spitfire Wreck To Be Displayed For First Time In Ireland

The remains of a Spitfire unearthed last year in County Monaghan, Ireland will reportedly be displayed for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the Monaghan Museum.

As previously reported, the aircraft (Mk Ia R6992) had served in the Battle of Britain before being reassigned to a weather-monitoring squadron at RAF Aldergrove in Antrim. On November 20, 1942 it suffered an in-flight engine failure, prompting pilot Gordon Hayter Proctor to bail out before it crashed in a meadow in Figullar, Emyvale. Although much of the wreckage was removed by the Irish Army shortly thereafter, 21st century ground surveys revealed that additional artifacts were still present about four meters underground, prompting the 2017 excavation that unearthed components such as the aircraft’s Rolls Royce engine and cockpit door.

R6992 is the only Spitfire ever found in Ireland that had been involved in the Battle of Britain, and the new exhibition will be built around its remains. Titled “The Monaghan Spitfire: Life on the Border with a World at War,” The exhibition is described as exploring “the deadly experience of a county, which existed on the border between two worlds, one tearing itself apart and another, trying desperately to stay out of a global conflict which had almost engulfed it.”

The exhibition is set to open on June 28th and will reportedly run for one year.

(via Monaghan County Museum and thejournal.ie)

Posted on by

Yankee Air Museum Welcomes Lake Michigan Dauntless, New Display Underway

Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport in Belleville, Michigan has welcomed a new addition to its collection in the form of a Dauntless dive bomber.

Few details have been released, although the aircraft was reportedly salvaged from Lake Michigan in the 1990s and will become the centerpiece of a new exhibit that will see it displayed in the condition in which it was found.

Access to the Dauntless is said to be closed off to the public while the new exhibit is under construction. It is currently expected to open in October 2018.

Click below to check out photos of the aircraft following its arrival.

Continue reading Yankee Air Museum Welcomes Lake Michigan Dauntless, New Display Underway

Posted on by

Group Planning Another Search for Pittsburgh’s Legendary “Ghost Bomber”

The B-25 Recovery Group believes it has narrowed down the possible location of Pittsburgh’s famous “ghost bomber” and are reportedly considering another search.

The aircraft, TB-25N S/N 44-29125 (similar to the type seen above), was on a training flight from Nevada to Harrisburg when it ran out of fuel and ditched in Monongahela River near Homestead, Pennsylvania on January 31, 1956. While four crew members managed to make it to shore, two tragically perished in the freezing waters.

Subsequent searches for the aircraft were fruitless, and its whereabouts have become one of the area’s most enduring mysteries. Since 1995, the B-25 Recovery Group has been conducting research and mapping the riverbed with sonar in search of the missing bomber. Their investigation suggests that the machine came to rest in a submerged gravel pit and was eventually buried by silt. The team is focusing on a 50 x 200′ location off the Glenwood Bridge and may return this October to conduct another search.

After obtaining permits, the group hopes to drill in a grid-like pattern every 7.5′ – a method that they believe will locate the aircraft no matter what condition it may be in.

(via TribLIVE Additional Information via B-25 Recovery Group)

Posted on by

Possible B-24 Liberator Wreck Discovered in Himalayas

A team of locals searching for aircraft wrecks in northeastern India may have discovered the remains of a US WW2 aircraft.

India’s NorthEast Today magazine reports that the types and locations of the parts suggest that it is was used in WW2 and went down while attempting to cross over the Himalayan range of Arunachal Pradesh, referred to as the “hump” by US airmen.

A lack of equipment prevented a thorough examination of the site, although it has been marked for future exploration. As for the newly discovered parts, positive identification is still needed, but based on the examination of photos, experts at HistoryNet believe it’s possible that they came from a B-24 Liberator or a C-87 Liberator Express.

A team from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency had previously conducted search and rescue operations in the area, locating the remains of airmen lost in the crash of a B-24J in 1944.

(NorthEast Today via AirForceTimes via Fox News)