Flight 19 A/C (1 Viewer)

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What about the turrets and the propellers? Could those be rebuilt or would they have to be replaced along with the engines?
 
The answer to all of the above is "it depends", it depends on where they are, how deep, did they break up on impact with the water, what is the temperature of the water, on and on and on. So really no one knows. I am unaware of ANY aircraft salvaged from ocean water after 70 years that was in any way or shape restorable with the original equipment and fittings. Generally a lot of rebuilding and replacing is done. By the time the aircraft is restored to even static display the majority of what you see is not what was recovered. To restore to flight after that long underwater would be I think impossible. You might possibly salvage a data plate or two but it would be mostly a new aircraft.

Some aircraft have been salvaged from cold freshwater to static display with a lot of the original components etc, but salt water is very corrosive and depending on marine growth and temperature in the area can literally dissolve an engine block over time.
 
So the planes would not fly again?

What part of Post #10 didn't you get?

After 70 years in tropical waters the engines would be one large lump of corroded together metal the large parts of the airframe would have corroded away with any remaining parts so reduced in thickness or riddled with holes as to be worthless as a part for an airworthy plane.

try googling "Underwater airplane wreck"
 
In the Florida keys in 1972 a Cherokee from our flying club ditched in shallow water after an engine failure. No damage,no injuries, just wash and rinse to get the salt out, should be good to go, right? Nope! It was Friday afternoon and the feds up in Miami told us to put a guard on it 24/7, don't let anyone touch it, they'd be down sometime next week to take a look at it.
Long story short, after one weekend in the water it was a total write-off. Instruments shot, engine shot, airframe structure corroded everywhere chafing or fastener holes had penetrated the cladding.
Cheers,
Wes
 
See electrochemical series. The light metals used in aircraft construction are near the top. I'm not going to give a chemistry lesson here, but a gold plated aircraft would last a lot longer :)
Cheers
Steve
 

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