P-MAN XII Progress Report #14 - Butterflies and aircraft parts in the jungle
05 March 2010

Today was the second best kind of day to have been in the jungle. We found aircraft parts. The best day to be in the jungle is when we identify whose plane it is. Tomorrow we go back in to do just that.

And now let’s talk about The Butterfly Effect.

We have been looking for a Marine Corsair for the past four years. We have done previous searches and have never found a rivet. Today, we split into two teams to work this problem. Our helo team (Flip, Derek, and Warren) took a helicopter ride with our great friend Matt Harris of Palau Helicopters -- not to search for an airplane, but to put our aviator mindset into the problem and look at the way Ngatpang Bay (also called Ngeremeduu Bay) and the ridge lines intersect. This was done to try to determine if this airplane could be closer to the bay than where we were looking. There is a road that goes up over the hills of Ngatpang. After four years of searching on the far side of the road, some of us wanted to look on the near side of the road (closer to Ngatpang Bay.)

Derek, Flip and Warren.

Derek hamming for the camera.

Aerial view of Neco Marine.

The Corsair’s mission profile: 150 feet.

The area we really did not want to go into:
part of the hill that had AA guns that
might have bagged the Corsair.

Our ground team, lead by Paul and guided by Joe, was going back to the area that Paul identified as needing to be searched. He laid out an area north of our previous search areas. We’ve covered a significant portion of that area and the team was going back in to do more. However....

Usually, we park the van up the road a bit as it is a shorter hike to our target area. On this day, though, we parked the van at the side of the ball field in the little village just off the main road. This was going to be where the helo dropped us off. Joe would then come down and get us to join the search. But, there was no reason to drop the van at the ball field. The ground team could have put in from the normal spot, Joe could have lead us back from the ball field no matter where they started into the jungle from. So.....

As the ground team started in, they traversed an area we had searched in 2007. Joe stubbed his toe against a piece of wood. When he looked down to see what he had hit, he saw metal. Aircraft metal. Needless to say, they did not proceed to the target area. By the time the helo team flew over them to let them know we were done with our mission, they had found two pieces of aircraft aluminum with a couple of hydraulic fittings and lines.

The first part that was found.

Another part, showing a change from nuts and bolts to rivets.

A another piece with curved portion.

Back to The Butterfly Effect. So, if we hadn’t wanted to take an aviator view of this problem, we wouldn’t have gotten a helo ride. Without the helo ride, the van would not have been parked at the ball field. If the van hadn’t been parked at the ball field, the team would have put in from elsewhere. If they had been elsewhere, Joe would not have stubbed his toe, looked down, and spotted aircraft debris.

We flew over the team and spotted Mikey jumping up and down with a piece of something in his hands. We could not be dropped off in the elephant ferns (looks like a cleared section in the jungle but when you get close, you realize it’s not short grass) as the grass is six feet high and the helo did not want to set down there. And I personally did not want to jump.

So we went to the ball field, Joe came and got us and we helped find two more pieces. By the end of the day, we had found a total of four small pieces. We don’t have a debris field yet, we just have some debris. Tomorrow, we will bring a metal detector, some help from the CAT team and a couple of brooms and we hope to find more of the airplane.

The happy team out of the jungle at The Butterfly Effect Van. Photo by Pat Scannon.

We were scheduled to be on the water tomorrow, but this takes precedence. We still have two more water days scheduled and if we need to, we could add one more. SSS data is important, but working this new site is more so. Sorry, Rick.

Out to the Palau Pacific Resort (PPR) for sunset and dinner. I am happy to report that the food has really improved out there. Tonight was the seafood buffet including lobsters. Yum.

Paul and Joe, two Happy Campers.

Sunset at the PPR.

So now we’re resting, looking at Corsair pictures and dreaming of being out there tomorrow. But we wanted to let you know we found something today!

- Flip
 

Return to Progress Reports Index