WWII plane restored to its former glory after 68 years underwater at bottom of Lake Michigan
- This WWII FM-2 Wildcat sunk in Lake Michigan in 1944
- Art Zoo restoration workers fished it out in 2012
- Twelve years later, the plane has been restored to its original state
Published on Dec 06, 2024 at 8:36 PM (UTC+4)
by Jack Marsh
Last updated on Dec 09, 2024 at 8:36 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Alessandro Renesis
After 68 years of playing home to Lake Michigan’s fish and underwater fiends, this WWII plane has been restored to its former glory.
Once used at a training base in the heights of WWII, a FM-2 Wildcat carrier was involved in an accident which saw it get cut in half during a mission gone wrong.
The aircraft has been sat in the bottom of the lake for a stunning 68 years, but after getting rescued over a decade ago, its ten-year glow up is finally complete.
80 years after sinking, this WWII plane has been restored to its full former glory.
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WWII plane restored to its prime after 68 years underwater
Sunken Wildcat fighter planes are not uncommon, but to find one in the US is rather indifferent, given the areas of conflict.
Nonetheless, back in 1944, an FM-2 Wildcat split in half during a training exercise, and while the pilot was reported to be safe, the WWII sunk to the bottom of Lake Michigan where it would spend its next 68 years.
But, on December 7, 2012, the plane was fished out and restoration began.
Twelve years, 50,000 hours of work, 1,200 volunteers’ help, and $700,000 later, this war capsule is now back to its finest form.
Air Zoo restoration workers have unveiled the FM-2 Wildcat which is currently housed in Kalamazoo. While not every part is exactly as it would have been, the blueprints and imagery available have led the team to restore it to within an inch of its original state.
It now resides in the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts.
Air Zoo stunned by its own efforts to restore sunken WWII Wildcat
Given the plane’s original state, the President of Air Zoo was stunned that the team could even contemplate this restoration project back in 2012, never mind executing it to be revealed 12 years later.
Air Zoo President and CEO Troy Thrash said: “When I first saw this aircraft in Kenosha, Wisconsin, they rolled open this hanger door and I looked at that thing and my first response was I wanted to turn around and run the other way.”
“I thought to myself, ‘This will never look like a plane again.’ But our team of restorers, they were like, ‘Dude, chill. We got this.’ And sure enough, we brought the project on and it’s just unbelievable now for me to look at this.”
The Air Zoo has a massive collection of restoration projects under its belt, although maybe a trip to Arizona might be needed to swoop down to the biggest plane graveyard in the country and see if there are any feint heartbeats there.
