Sunken Airplane at Lake RawlingsThere is a new attraction at the Lake Rawlings SCUBA park. Be sure to check out their monthly newsletter for announcements of other service improvements coming soon. Photographer, Robert Minnick, documented the entire process. |
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Lake Rawlings is proud to announce their newest attraction, a Nomad 22 twin-engine airplane sunk at a depth of 60’. The plane was mounted on a wooden framed pedestal standing 6’ off the bottom of the lake. Staff and volunteers sank it on Saturday and Sunday, March 1-2, 2008. “We are proud to display it as our prized trophy for the lake”, said Errol Duplessis, President and CEO of Lake Rawlings. “When in operation, the airplane supported two 400 HP engines, and it was used to transport 8-10 passengers amongst the islands in the South Pacific.” Duplessis said the airplane was built in Australia, and it is 50’ long with a wingspan of 55’. It was eventually brought to the United States and used in service to carry passengers amongst the islands of the Florida Keys. The plane was purchased from Dave Waechter of Capitol Divers in Raleigh, NC, who purchased it to sink in Fantasy Lake; it never made that lake. The plane was re-named the “Miss Laurie” to honor the wife of the crew chief who built the pedestal, and who designed the technique to pull the plane into deep water, prior to transporting it to the final resting place. Due to depth and colder water requiring a 7mm wetsuit or drysuit, plus a hood, the certification level recommended for this dive is advanced diver. Getting the airplane into the water was a most formidable task. First, the plane had to be thoroughly cleaned, with all the wiring, doors, most windows and joystick removed for diver safety. Next, the plane was pulled to the waters edge by using a rope wrapped around a heavy bolder and tied onto the nose wheel of the plane. A pedestal was designed by civil engineer Jim Rohrmoser, and constructed by George Langford and his crew (Captain George is a curator and prop designer for the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC). The wings were pushed into the small west cove, and rested at a depth of 48’. These tasks were completed prior to the weekend of the sinking. We next arranged for several teams of divers to come back to the lake on Saturday, March 1, 2008 in order to pull the plane to a depth of 15’, using the same technique discussed above, and to sink the pedestal. The L-shaped dock was moved out of the way for a clear passage to move the plane and the pedestal. The pedestal was sunk Saturday afternoon, and the plane was prepped for moving on Sunday morning. On Sunday, March 2, 2008, it was a thrilling sight to see the plane move from the waters edge to deeper water; it was amazing to watch. At first, the plane floated. Then the wind turned it 180 degrees, so that the nose pointed to the north. Then the plane sank, slowly, and landed on all three wheels. Next, liftbags were put in place for transporting the plane to the mouth of the small cove between the west wall and “Wayne” the small bus. The plane moved, and was then lowered to a depth of 30’, to make ready for the final descent using one 2000 pound liftbag, and two smaller 500 pound liftbag. Divers led by Keven Young, Scott Kane, Chief George Langford and others slowly released the air from the 2000 pound liftbag; the 500 pound liftbags remained inflated. In spite of this gallant effort, the plane slowly nose-dived to the bottom of the lake without stopping, with no damage to the plane. All of this activity was documented in digital motion and still images. The wings will be moved next to the airplane and attached at a later date. Volunteers who are certified as advanced diver or higher shall be designated as honorary crew members of the final flight club upon completion of this task. Crew members of the Last Flight Club, who participated on the final flight of the “Miss Laurie”, were the following divers:
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