Malcolm Says:
Well yes, it will only create more inflamed passions, however I will ask it. If recovery seems to be a dead issue as far as TIGHAR is concerned then why bother with continuing the P38 and the TBD as TIGHAR projects. I am fully aware of the difficulties connected with recovering US Navy aircraft as the US Navy never relinquishes ownership, something which has stymied many efforts by people to recover the Lake Michigan aircraft. While the P38 was actually known about for quite a while so TIGHAR's involvement is moot at best given that recovery is now not a part of the business plan. Wouldn't be best simply to divert funding into the search for the Electra and as a second string to the bow keep looking for L'Oiseau Blanc which is a very important aviation artifact.
Malcolm.
Who said that recovery was a "dead issue"?
Who said that "recovery is now not part of the business plan"?
You did, not I.
You've either completely missed the point of my post, or you're intentionally misconstruing what I said.
What I said was "There certainly are plans to recover all of them, but it is hard to recover any of them without the right resources, and more importantly, the right plan to conserve, preserve, and house them as genuine historic artifacts..."
In my mind, until there is a qualified home for the artifacts, the right plan for conservation, and the right amount of funding to accomplish both, it would be criminal to simply yank the aircraft out of the salt water simply because we can.
Just because it is difficult to do it right doesn't mean we've abandoned those plans.
Andrew