Nov 30, 2009 6:19 pm US/Central
World War II-Era Plane Lifted From Lake Michigan
Pilot Recalls Mishap That Sent His Hellcat Fighter To The Bottom Of The Water
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (CBS) ―
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A World War II-era fighter plane has been pulled from Lake Michigan, more than 60 years after crashing during a training exercise.
CBS
After 65 years at the bottom of Lake Michigan, a World War II Hellcat fighter was lifted onto dry land Monday.
It's a relic of an almost-forgotten chapter of local history when two aircraft carriers were based at Navy Pier, CBS 2's Mike Flannery reports.
Thousands of pilots were trained here for combat missions against the Nazis and Imperial Japan.
Amazingly enough, the U.S. Navy pilot who was at the controls the day it crashed and sank is still alive.
Walter Elcock is now 89. He was too frail to travel to Waukegan Harbor to watch as his old fighter was fished from the lake today. But he remembers the crash that sent his plane 250 feet to the bottom as vividly as if it had happened today. His grandson's heard the story many times.
As the historic Hellcat fighter sat drying on a dock at Waukegan Harbor, Hunter Brawley became the first man to sit in the cockpit since his grandfather nearly 65 years ago.
"I definitely got emotional," he said. "I just thought about what he did and how he served his country and the bravery he must have had to fly one of those machines many times, here and across the Pacific."
Brawley's grandfather was 24 years old on Jan. 5, 1945 -- one of thousands of young Navy pilots preparing for combat by practicing landings on the U.S.S. Sable and U.S.S. Wolverine.
Lt.j.g.'s Elcock's squadron was attempting to land on The Sable.
"The tailhook caught on a piece of wire on the deck," he recalled in a telephone interview from his Atlanta home. "So, I was suspended in mid-air, vertically, looking down at Lake Michigan."
"Something broke," he added. "I assume it was the cable on the deck. And I fell the rest of the way into the water."
He was in the water for four or five minutes.
"I was glad to get on board and get a bottle of whiskey in me," Elcock said.
Also on hand Monday as the plane was fished from the lake was David Grumman. His late father, Leroy, helped to design and build the Hellcat, which was by far the most successful fighter plane of World War Two.
"It's quite a thrill because I know that this was the plane that really did the trick in World War II in the Pacific," he said.
Nancy Van Heule recalled praying for its pilots. She said the nuns at St. Mary's School would stop class when the fighters flew overhead and led students in prayer for the pilots.
More than 12,000 Hellcats were made. The fighter's unsurpassed record in World War II included 19 kills for every plane lost.
The plane pulled up Monday will eventually be displayed at a museum.
Another aircraft from the same era, a Douglas SBD Dauntless U.S. Navy plane, was pulled from Lake Michigan in April.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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