Aircraft wreck in Princess Charlotte Bay
Thread Starter
Sadly the article would be of little interest to the NT news, we were sober the entire time.
Mango3 whilst we did walk past the position you quoted, we were not looking for it (as sadly I did not know it if). I think the tide was coming in when we were about that position too, so it would have been submerged.
The wing I am querying about is same lat, but long 28 mins. (so around 5miles due west, on the western beaches.
Last edited by compressor stall; 7th Aug 2002 at 19:44.
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Recovering Wrecks
I am curious as to the legality of recovering wrecks for restoration. That is: who still owns them, if anybody and how would you go about getting permission to remove them for restoration. I'm not talking about souvenier hunters or the such like but genuine restorers. It seems as though we have a huge amount of history just rusting away when we could look at them, even if not in full flying ability, somewhere such as the War Memorial.
I'm not about to go out and grab these by myself (would if i had the money tho'
) and I know that the cost would be enormous, but like i said - what is the law behind acts like this? 
Cheers all
Twin
PS - Mango3 any chance of getting a link to that site??
I'm not about to go out and grab these by myself (would if i had the money tho'
) and I know that the cost would be enormous, but like i said - what is the law behind acts like this? Cheers all
Twin
PS - Mango3 any chance of getting a link to that site??
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Torres,
I also heard the story, and read it in an Air NG in flight magazine, but I didn't think they got round the top of Cape York; none reached PNG. They all put down under power near to the east coast and a couple on the beach.
One was recovered many years ago by an eccentric aviation enthusiast (doesn't that describe most of us?) named Sid Beck of Townsville and restored to non flying condition. I saw it, and sat in it, on his property outside TSV about 20 years ago.
I understand he's moved now, but can't remember to where - maybe outside Cairns.
I also heard the story, and read it in an Air NG in flight magazine, but I didn't think they got round the top of Cape York; none reached PNG. They all put down under power near to the east coast and a couple on the beach.
One was recovered many years ago by an eccentric aviation enthusiast (doesn't that describe most of us?) named Sid Beck of Townsville and restored to non flying condition. I saw it, and sat in it, on his property outside TSV about 20 years ago.
I understand he's moved now, but can't remember to where - maybe outside Cairns.
Last edited by KaptinZZ; 8th Aug 2002 at 06:13.
Interesting range of comments! Regarding the P-39's, I stand corrected: There are P-39 wrecks all around the top of the Cape.
KaptinZZ. Sid still has his P-39 and it came from the flight that never reached PNG. His aircraft are now displayed at his museum at Mareeba - and well worth a visit.
Blue Hauler. All that is left of that P-39 (on the northern side of Bamaga airstrip, virtually opposite the "passenger terminal") is a few pieces of rusted steel. However, a few hundred yards further along the same track is a remarkably near complete but somewhat dismantled Beaufort!
TwinNDB. Forget it. All war time wrecks are the property of the Commonwealth. And besides, in the hundreds of world war two wrecks I've seen in PNG and Australia, very few, if any now could in any way be restored to even static display. Most no longer even resemble an aircraft after the ravishes of impact forces, bush fires, corrosion, souvenir hunters, or in many cases being destroyed post impact by our military. The good ones have long since gone.
Edited by Torres to highlight the inverted commas around the words "passenger terminal" at Bamaga - I use the term very losely. Those that have been there will understand.
KaptinZZ. Sid still has his P-39 and it came from the flight that never reached PNG. His aircraft are now displayed at his museum at Mareeba - and well worth a visit.
Blue Hauler. All that is left of that P-39 (on the northern side of Bamaga airstrip, virtually opposite the "passenger terminal") is a few pieces of rusted steel. However, a few hundred yards further along the same track is a remarkably near complete but somewhat dismantled Beaufort!
TwinNDB. Forget it. All war time wrecks are the property of the Commonwealth. And besides, in the hundreds of world war two wrecks I've seen in PNG and Australia, very few, if any now could in any way be restored to even static display. Most no longer even resemble an aircraft after the ravishes of impact forces, bush fires, corrosion, souvenir hunters, or in many cases being destroyed post impact by our military. The good ones have long since gone.
Edited by Torres to highlight the inverted commas around the words "passenger terminal" at Bamaga - I use the term very losely. Those that have been there will understand.
Last edited by Torres; 8th Aug 2002 at 06:30.
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Wrecks
TwinNDB I'm not too flash with computers so I don't know how to post the link here. I used Google, typed in 'Pacific aircraft wrecks', and up came loads of sites, one of the initial ones being dedicated soley to Australian WW2 prangs.
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Mango 3,
Likewise I'm not too competent with confusers, but I did lthe same search.
There were a dozen P39s lost on 26th April 1942, and another 6 on 1st May 1942. No details on how they were lost though.
Without going any furthr, that would have to cover those we are talking about here.
Likewise I'm not too competent with confusers, but I did lthe same search.
There were a dozen P39s lost on 26th April 1942, and another 6 on 1st May 1942. No details on how they were lost though.
Without going any furthr, that would have to cover those we are talking about here.
Thread Starter
Seems pprune now hides emails to stop those naughty webbots trawling for addresses, and cannot send attachemnts via the pprune system, so here is a link to my photo. It's a about 400k photo, so it may take about a minute to download
Cape Melville, Bathurst Bay wreck
Cape Melville, Bathurst Bay wreck
Last edited by compressor stall; 8th Aug 2002 at 10:15.
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Agree TwinNDB . I know a fellow who is an expert at restoring WW2 wrecks. Mainly Japanese tanks and rifles. His work is nothing short of excellent. Aircraft are a different matter it seems. It's perhaps another topic, and I don't wish to twist this thread, but I've seen so much damage done by folk seeking bit's and pieces from places that if left alone, would allow tourists to view some fascinating history. I refer here to Bunkers, Pillboxes, graves etc... Had the privilage once of flying some former WW2 Marines around a rather nasty war site during it's 50th anniversary. They told me later that some of the graves had been moved to accommodate new buildings. Maybe I'm showing my age, but personally some things should be simply left alone.
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Gidday Stallie
I saw an Airacobra wreck on a bit further north at Cape Granville in the early eighties. It was in about the same position on the beach as the wreck in your pic.
Someone told me there was a strip built at Cape Grenville once, but I did not see any visual evidence of one having been there.
Someone told me there was a strip built at Cape Grenville once, but I did not see any visual evidence of one having been there.
Thread Starter
Hey Sprocket
How's things up the road?
I have heard about that wreck, one of the pilots who do the 206 cray run to Margret bay has told me about it. Its details are on the website linked to on the preceding page. I'll try and find it on my next HID/BAM run.
I have heard about that wreck, one of the pilots who do the 206 cray run to Margret bay has told me about it. Its details are on the website linked to on the preceding page. I'll try and find it on my next HID/BAM run.
