Last night on the UK diving episode there was about a 10 second video shot when one of the teams when back to retrieve an air compressor that showed an airplane wreck sitting on its gear. Based on its stance, it looked like either an ME109 or possibly a Spit. What was it?

-- Bob Bates (rdbates1@home.com), February 13, 2001

Answers

i know what your thinking... it looks like a me-190 prop, but i saw a red cub in there as well. i think someone was just messing around with it. could you imagin a vintage ww2 frighter plane just sitting in a scrap yard. what a find.

-- ajaxx (ackmann@hotmail.com), February 14, 2001.

I have read about airplanes like that popping up in the strangest places, often a result of an uninformed heir of an estate.

-- Bob Bates (rdbates1@home.com), February 14, 2001.

I will have to try to pay more attention to see what aircraft type that is. In the US at least, aircraft salvage yards buy almost all the wreaked aircraft in auctions for that purpose. That is, if the owner doesnt want the aircraft any more, and no one else buys it at the auction with the intent of rebuilding. At the salvage yard, first, the most valuable items are stripped such as the engines and the entire instrument panels with avionics. RDF most likely bought an aircraft in this stage and placed it into the yard. At the salvage yards, generally they next strip off any usable parts such as control surfaces, seats, etc. Finally they melt down the aluminum fuselages and wings to sell to the recycling companies. You probably didnt want to know all that...

-- Ted Smith (schlockish@yahoo.com), February 17, 2001.