Salvor Wanted for Freshwater Sites

[FLauthor]

I know during Hurricane Season, many Salvagers call it quits until January 1st. If a salvager has a trailerable boat with a Side Scan Sonar. I have some freshwater sites that hold a sunken barge of Italian Marble and a 1930's Prohibition Truck that might still have its liquor cargo; a WW2 - P-39 Airacobra; a hangar contents from a World War 2 PBY base, all sunk in soft mud. A Side Scan Sonar, GPS and knowledge of a detailed grid search are a part of the resume'.
No Wannebe's or Con men, I'm a treasure hunter too and I'll know if you are real or a fake. Plus I'll check you out with some Professional TH'ers that I know.
The finds won't be the Holy Grail but it'll answer a lot of questions in Central Florida History.

 

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[allen_idaho]

A P-39 in freshwater would be a great find. Especially if it is still intact. The marble might turn out to be a worthwhile recovery. The alcohol and the hangar are questionable though.

 

[deepsix47]

Well, finding them is one thing but salvage is another. Getting EPA and State permits necessary to salvage, in a fresh water lake, is another. You'll jump through hoops for at least 3/5 years and still will probably be denied. Is a piece of fairly recent Florida history worth the effort, time and expense involved??

On top of that, while you're waiting for those permits, your exact location has been part of the public record. Every pirate in 5 states now knows exactly where your target is. I know of two WWII aircraft that were stripped bare while permits were applied for.

In the early 90's we found 3 ancient dugout canoes, partially submerged in the mud bottom of a lake (very simple salvage with minimal disturbance to the lake bottom). Permits never were granted. One year the lake almost dried up and the canoes were suddenly on dry land. We dug one of them out along with a truck load of other artifacts (the lake was on private land and we had the owners permission and it looked like a whole village site had existed there). When we went back three days later for the other two, they had been removed and the clown had used a front end loader to strip the entire area. That pirate eventually got busted using his bobcat on Indian mounds but after serving his time he moved out West and today is still striping Mounds and other sites.

If you do decide to go on with your project, I wish you the very best.

Deepsix

 

[ScubaFinder]

I see some real potential for the P-39 myself, you say you know where it is...how well? If you can locate and photograph it, I can point you in a positive direction that will nullify the EPA guys in Florida. Contact the Commemorative Air Force in Midland Texas, show them the pics, and cut your deal. They have great relationships with the armed forces, and have done exactly this sort of thing before. If you want to raise the aircraft and sell it on Ebay, sure your looking at trouble....but if you team up with a museum who restores military aircraft and can get you backing from the U.S. Military a lot of the barriers experienced by the average Joe disappear. The EPA might beinterested to hear how much fuel and oil she had onboard when she crashed.

I have a side scan and could certainly find a P-39 in a lake, but I'm a little occupied at the moment. Talk to Robert Gecy and see if maybe Humminbird would throw some money at the project for putting their technology as the "finder". Hundreds of different ways to spin the thing, but going in blindly to Tallahassee and requesting permission to raise a military aircraft would not be a wise move as I'm sure you already know. The CAF in Midland can get the permits, restore the aircraft and display or even fly it, and will pay good money for the location. I have already tested this theory..though my project never got off the ground (pun intended).

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Jason

 

[deepsix47]

As usual, Jason has some great info there.

Deepsix

 

[G.I.B.]

I listened to a story about 25 years ago about a WWII TBM and possibly a P-51 buried in the silt in a central Florida lake. I still have the general location, and the aircraft are believed to still be there.

The cost of the salvage operation was something akin to double the value of the aircraft, so, there they sit...

The sediment on the lake bottom is considered toxic due to 50's and 60's manufacturing plants upstream of the lake. To seal off, and deal with the toxic sediment...

Good luck with your quest!

 

[FLauthor]

No, I don't know the exact location. Dallas Toehill found the P-39 and according to my notes, it had augered in and wasn't worth the cost of salvage. But I have other sites that I'll be working with a Salvor. If anything is found, I'll produce a photo.

 

[ScubaFinder]

Looking forward to it, and best of luck. Yeah, if the P-39 augered in there wouldn't be much interest, but it would still be a cool find, even cooler if you could get the serial number or tail number off of it and learn its story. There are more aircraft in freshwater lakes in Florida than anywhere i think...mostly due to the large number of training bases there in WWII. Good luck, and if you want to do an aircraft someday, think St. Johns River. I always wanted to run the whole thing with my Sonar SeaDoo, I think I counted 19 aircraft in that one river at one point. I know the salvor you are working with, he's got the goods on aircraft in Florida.

Good luck to you guys, and definitely send pics if you find something.