I went out in the field looking for arrowheads and look what I found...

[kfields]

Sorry for the poor condition of the photos! I didn't have much to work with regards to the 70 year old image and my 2013 picture taking is less than optimum. Doesn't this look like the same location? I am standing right at the spot where I found all the plane debris. Stepping it off, I am about 150 - 250 yards to the front door of my house.

My son is going to clean up these photos for me and I will repost soon.

 

I brought my metal detector out in the field today with me but the batteries were dead!!

I'll try again in a week or two if the weather permits. One never know this time of year when the snow will arrive in which case I will probably have to wait till the spring melt.

 

Kim

[MattS]

Nice photo comparison! It looks like the barn was centered in the original photo just for reference, you should take another one on Tuesday for the 70th Anniversary.

[kfields]

We had about 4 inches of rain about a week ago which really cleaned the top surface of the field across the road. I gave it a week to dry out and then went out in the field this weekend. I had a good haul by just scouting the surface area.

Again I found all the items her in the same 200 x 200 foot square area, give or take.

Two of the items I found are the largest I found to date. Also interesting is some sort of glass deflector. The metal pieces are all aluminum except for the rusted pieced of some sort of wrench. Not sure if that is from the aircraft or a tool that fell off a tractor.

AND I found an Indian knife point at the exact same location as the other stuff!

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kfields]

Update - the farmer across the road planted soybeans in the screen and harvested them about a month ago. His harvesting method left little remaining in the field except for a little bit of stubble, great for a metal detector! This fall, I've added to my collection about 40 more found pieces. Here are a few snapshots of those:

 

[kfields]

The plane debris I have found so far is pretty much in a 100 x 100 feet square. I found this bottom part of a shoe smack dab in the middle which I assume belong to the pilot. Made of rubber, it is now turned very hard and would easily break if I flexed it. Comparing it to my foot, it comes out to about a size 10.

[kfields]

I found this temp gauge dial this past Sunday morning. It is marked "A.F. U.S.Army" and "Type B-7".

[kfields]

Here is a photo of the pilot and the December 3, 1943 article from the Dayton Daily News telling about the crash. He arrived locally on a Tuesday and died on Thursday. Very sad.

[kfields]

I almost forgot. Here is a piece I found with a part number on it. People more knowledgeable than me says that number points to it being a P-38 aircraft part.

Kim

[MattS]

Amazing what is still turning up 70 years later.