He has figures to back it up, "This airplane weighed about 20,000 pounds empty and when the crane lifted it, it was like 40,000 pounds, so it's about 20, 000 pounds of mud in it."
Siegler says that he gets a feeling of what it was like to man the plane, "Yes, the first time I went in the cockpit, the thing that impressed me the most was how small it was. These men were packed in there tightly and my initial impression is these were very brave men."
Siegler describes the plane, "In the cockpit you can see the control center and virtually a complete set of instruments on the dashboard."
He continues, "If you've been aft and look backwards you can see the radio compartment. A lot of wires, radios and tubes and all the kinds of things that made up the plane."
They've found quite a bit of old equipment including five radios and an old parachute. Dr. Seigler says that they made some surprising discoveries on that plane, "When they pulled it out of the the water, it still had coffee in the thermos. I wouldn't want to drink it."
The hundreds of people who come to see the plane-turned-time capsule say it's a once in a lifetime experience. They may not have been here when it went down, but they'll never forget the day they saw it after it was brought back up.
The plane will be restored, a task that will take years. There is still a propeller somewhere on the bottom of Lake Murray, along with an engine. The plane will be loaded on a flatbed. Once restored, it will be showcased in a museum in Alabama. Right now, Dr. Siegler couldn't be prouder. "Never say it can't be done".
Two B-25's are on a routine training run practicing dropping bombs in a local drop zone. It is 89 degrees on a peaceful Sunday morning. The plane is cruising at 120 knots airspeed. Suddenly they lose power in one of the wing engines. A lively discussion transpires in the cockpit, do they try and make it back to the base or ditch the plane in water? The decision is made, they pull up the landing wheels and set the plane down on Lake Murray.
A young man on shore sees a huge splash. He quickly runs to the waters edge to see a plane nose down, with only the tail section sticking up. He runs to find a boat but has no luck. The bottom is 150 feet down, with next to zero visibility. That was 1943.
Its now 2005. The 19 year old young man who saw the plane go down is now an old man. "I was a good runner back then. I ran all over that side of the lake looking for a boat", said Mr. Lever. "I spent several years regretting I didn't get the chance to rescue the crew". Another thing that haunted Mr. Lever for years, he didn't know for decades whether or not the crew on board the airplane made it out alive, "Of course, they didn't have TV back then."
So Lever went, "at least 30 years or more" never knowing the five crew members on board got out okay. The man who saw the plane go down over 60 years ago is here to watch as the plane comes back up.
"We're finding a lot of original equipment, some things we think are one of a kind in the world," says Dr. Siegler. And the crew still isn't satisfied. Divers want to go back in the lake to try to find a propeller that fell off the plane.
A look into the cockpit, one can imagine the scene that transpired on that faithful Sunday morning. The old flight instruments are still legible. The wind direction the day the plane crashed is still recorded, says Dr. Siegler, "his heading was 89 degrees and the airspeed 120 knotts."
On a calm Sept morning, the plane makes its first appearance in 62 years. A history buff at heart, B-25 expedition leader Dr. Bob Siegler is all smiles. Its been a major task, one taking years, thousands of dollars in private donations, but the B-52 is finally on dry land. Dr. Siegler has become almost as big of an attraction as the bomber itself. Onlookers were yelling from the sidelines, asking him to smile and take off his glasses for pictures.
Divers worked day and night securing the project. A huge barge was in place to drag the plane to shore where a crane lifts it onto a boat ramp. Its been a project in the making for decades. Some said it couldn't be done, but not Dr. Siegler.
It the morning light, on the outside of the plane, women's names, "Betty," "Janine," "Irene," all etched in the metal can be seen. Dr. Siegler reads the graffiti, "Right here is "193," what appears to be a seven, probably somebody's graduating class."
Since the B-25 bomber was pulled up, crews have found five machine guns and a World War II bomber jacket. Muddy water rushes from the cockpit. The recovery crew say the plane was so banged up during the crash landing half a century ago, it lost an engine. Dr. Bob Siegler says, "The right engine came off when it hit the water 62 years ago. That is somewhere in Lake Murray. Where, we don't know."
According to local lore, as many as 22 of the planes crashed into Lake Murray. Siegler says the number is more like five, "Of the five B-25 crashes, three involved deaths, two involved no injuries at all."
The plane the team currently managed to retrieve was one that crashed with no fatalities, "We know the name, ranks and serial numbers of all five who survived the crash. One of those men is still alive."
Seeing the plane sitting on dry land has been Sielger's dream for over a decade, and like many men who go down in history, he listened to the people who told him it couldn't be done and did it anyway, "A lot of people are interested. A lot of people have been coming up to say thank you. It makes you feel good." Dr. Bob Siegler took time out to talk to some vets, "It's interesting to talk to the people who flew these planes, lived here during that time. They can tell you exactly what it was like. You don't have to read it in a book." "
The media and onlookers continue to flock to Dr. Seigler. The attention is funny to him, considering his less than coiffed appearance, "We've been inside with fire hoses cleaning all of the mud, there's an incredible amount of mud in the plane."
