Message
I bet Michael Callahan will have some comments on
this, considering his line of
work.
Is Mike still on the list? I really
don't want to fill the list with this off-topic stuff but thought that some of
you may be a little interested. If Mike is on the list and can help me find info
from the numbers on that metal band, I'd sure like to hear from
him.
I'm not sure how the laws are in Canada, but in
the US, the government recently tried to take a recovered plane
from someone, though they eventually gave
up.
It's my understanding that if a
recovered plane was still US government property at the time of it's loss, then
the gov't can and will seize it as there is no time limitation on it's
ownership, however this one was sold to a private company and IIRC there is a
time limit on salvage rights. There is a small lake a little ways south of town,
that has a US bomber in it. Story goes that it was on it's way to Alaska when
for some reason it was forced to make an emergency landing on the ice, but as it
was late in the season they weren't able to get in and repair it before the ice
melted and it sank into the lake. I remember quite a few years back when local
divers found it and reported it to be in very good condition, so there were many
plans in the works to raise it, but the US gov't made it clear that it was still
their property and all plans were abandoned.
It might even turn
out that there's real financial value in your find. It seems like
folks are "restoring" planes with little more than an original data
plate.
I'm really not interested in any
monetary value of any of this wreckage, but rather would simply like to preserve
a unique piece of history and raise it to a more accessible location so that
others can see it.
Rusty (now go fly your
plane)
I'm trying!
Todd