F8F-1 Bearcat found in Point Loma (San Diego, CA)

[beldridg]

After my previous thread about identifying what turned out to be a TBM, I thought people would be interested in the F8F-1 Bearcat that we found a couple weeks ago. It is nearly completely intact which is pretty amazing. We are working on identifying the specific airplane and we think we have a pretty good candidate but probably need another dive to confirm and find the ID plate or tail number. We are awaiting the accident report as well.

Here is a link to the post with all the details of how we found and identified it as a F8F-1Bearcat:

F8F-1 Bearcat (Point Loma, CA — 230 fsw)

Background We have located the wreck of a rare F8F-1 Bearcat airplane deep in the waters off of Point Loma, California. This post details the discovery of the wreck, identifying the type of airplan…

wreckedinmyrevo.com

Here is a screenshot of the 3D photogrammetry model I built:

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Enjoy!

- brett

 

[Snautzer01]

When will it fly again?

 

[Snautzer01]

I am not trying to be funny. Data plates will be there and that is all that is needed.

 

[beldridg]

I am not trying to be funny. Data plates will be there and that is all that is needed.

Yup. We just need to find time to go back and dive it again. It is 230 feet deep so bottom time is somewhat limited before you build up a ton of deco (it grows exponentially and not linearly).

- brett

 

[beldridg]

Quick interim update. I'm not sure when we will go back to dive it again since we have some other very viable new targets, BUT, we got the accident report and it validates our theory on the BuNo. Details are in the post referenced below:

F8F-1 Bearcat Update (Point Loma — 230 fsw)

Original post is here: F8F-1 Bearcat (Point Loma, CA — 230 fsw) When we first found the wreck and identified the airplane as a F8F-1, we started working to identify the specific aircraft. In …

wreckedinmyrevo.com

- brett

 

[BlackSheep]

Quick interim update. I'm not sure when we will go back to dive it again since we have some other very viable new targets, BUT, we got the accident report and it validates our theory on the BuNo. Details are in the post referenced below:

F8F-1 Bearcat Update (Point Loma — 230 fsw)

Original post is here: F8F-1 Bearcat (Point Loma, CA — 230 fsw) When we first found the wreck and identified the airplane as a F8F-1, we started working to identify the specific aircraft. In …

wreckedinmyrevo.com

- brett

Sorry not a pilot, unless you count a couple pounds worth of quarters playing Defender when I was a kid or a few hours of StarFox when my son was young, lol. So, when the plane is said to be at "full stall" does that mean it basically fell on the water, no power left?

 

[beldridg]

Sorry not a pilot, unless you count a couple pounds worth of quarters playing Defender when I was a kid or a few hours of StarFox when my son was young, lol. So, when the plane is said to be at "full stall" does that mean it basically fell on the water, no power left?

I wouldn't say that it "fell" -- rather that it had power (it somehow got over the water) and then lost power with some altitude above the water. When that happens, they can try to glide to a "soft" landing using your momentum and altitude.

From a wreck identification perspective, an airplane that stalled is usually more intact and the props aren't as bent vs. an airplane that had a mid-air collision or hit the water with the props turning. The later are much more violent and usually result in a debris field, detached engines, bent props, etc.

- brett