|
On
13 June 2005, one of the most historic surviving American aircraft of
WWII was recovered from the Traunsee in Austria by Sandy Air Corp.
The P47
was known about for sixty years and was often discussed at 405FG reunions. The
loss had even been covered in a book on the 405FG in 1986 but it had
still taken nearly sixteen years for someone to initialize a possible
salvage.
Finally, in April 2005, nearly sixty years to the day since she was
lost, ‘29150 was finally located by sonar and the next day the pictures
were finally seen from the ROV.
‘29150 had been located a third of the way up the lake and about 600
feet out from the Eastern shore. Her depth was 210 feet and she was
lying upside down in the silt of the lake bottom. Having been protected
by the depth, cold and silt, ‘29150 still looked in very good condition,
although some damage to the lower fuselage was quite visible.
Trojan Aircraft Services
funded the search and recovery and was invited to accompany Sandy
Air Corp as guests and advisers during its recovery.
|
