On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 15:07:54 GMT, "marc" wrote:

Strange story. Why would the Navy care about a plane that crashed and was
destroyed 60 years ago? If they really want it they should *reward* the guy
who dragged it out of a swamp for them and started restoring it, not sue
him! Unless there is more to the story not mentioned here (e.g. they tried
to buy it and the collector refused etc).

The Navy did the exact thing when a guy recovered a Corsair from Lake
Washington in the '80s. The US Government claims continued ownership of
its property, even when abandoned in place. The airplane did get restored
and is now sitting in Seattle's Museum of Flight. Don't recall how the
legal action went, but the Museum's web page describes the aircraft as
"...on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola,
Florida. "

http://www.museumofflight.org/collec...lay.html?ID=55

So it sounds like the guy who raised it from the lake didn't get ownership,
though I don't know if he had to pay damages or whether he was compensated
for his expenses.

The situation is probably analogous to finding a wrecked 172 in the
mountains. Somebody probably still holds the title, whether it's the
original owner, their estate, or the insurance company that paid the claim.

Ron Wanttaja