A SDB Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber recovered from Lake Michigan!

Isnt this great! I have always had and still posess a huge interest in WW2. In fact, its one of my favorite periods of the 20th Century. Its a time that truly express our American Values at its finest.

The Dauntless Dive Bomber is one of my favorite planes, next to the Mighty B-17. It excites me to read of this great news; another piece of history that will be restored for everyone to see and be reminded the sacrifices that this Generation made for our country and many others to have the freedom's they live in today. I salute ALL Allied Forces (American, British and Canadian) serviceman and women of World War 2 that made it happen.

Lets read on!

Chicago Breaking News Center:
__________________________________________________
A World War II naval dive bomber was recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan today, 65 years after it crashed on a training mission off Waukegan.
It's known that the pilot survived, but it's not clear which aircraft this is, because definitive identification numbers can't be found on the plane.

Nevertheless a marine salvage company in Illinios, A&T, working with a naval aviation museum, found the aircraft using sidescan sonar in 315 feet of water, 27 miles out from Waukegan.

The plane was lifted from the bottom Thursday using an airbag and towed underwater into Waukegan Harbor this morning, where the j ob was completed.

At 10:15 a.m. a Larsen marine crane began lifting the aircraft from the water and for the next half hour slowly raised it as brown water and black mud poured out of it. At 10:46 a.m., the crane operator and handlers with ropes set the plane down on a blue tarpaulin.

The aircraft was lost during training operations during World War II when naval pilots were being trained out of Chicago's Navy Pier for takeoffs and landings on aircraft carriers.

This plane was one of nearly 100 that were lost during those exercises. About 40 of them have been recovered.

This morning, as the plane was lifted out of the water and gently angled toward touchdown on dry land, A&T diving engineer Keith Pearson looked at the plane with satisfaction. "This thing crashed and has been under water [a long time]. I think it looks pretty darn good, doesn't it?"

~James Janega