The Hellcats of Mount Baldy
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2022
- Back in March of 1949, during a formation exercise two Grumman F6F-5 Hellcats crashed into each other hurdling tons of debris and wreckage into the gulch below. Unfortunately, both pilots lost their life in the crash. My buddy Gio and I found many major remnants including a massive Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, majority of a tail section w/ stab and propeller hub. Glad we got to get out on such a beautiful hike and find 70+ year old wreckage from two Marine aircraft. Hope you enjoy this one!
10:55 There were two fatalities, both pilots, in the crashes. Flying out of El Toro on March 2nd, 1949. The Marine pilots were Sergeant Charles D. Castles and Sergeant John J. Harrington, both 28 years old. The bodies were recovered on March 8th.
They would be 103 if still alive. This era was just before the jet age I guess so they were radial engines presumably?
The part you found at 7:50 was the remnants of a Bendix carburetor. It bolted to the accessory section on the rear of the engine where all the gears were. It matched up with the three holes on top of the accessory section. The blades for the supercharger were right inside where you had your hand.
At the 12:00 min mark "HARD" is armor plating and all the black rubber looking stuff is the fuel cell liner. The rubber liners were the self sealing feature of those fuel tanks!
one of the seats is way out on the ridge over looking the village. There is a cool little camp out there and someone took the seat out there about ten years back, the point where you drop down to the rock garden, instead of dropping, go out to the point there and stay high
Your photgraphy is excellent, you've captured a tragic moment back in time, in a very respectful manner, please make your videos longer,as so fascinating, they end too quickly, be safe !
12:26 is the armor backing plate that the pilots seat backrest would of connected to, also connecting the seat to the fuselage, the blue painted part would be above and behind his head, the space in front of it would have been where the pilot sat + the sliding cockpit wouldve open and closed
I was hiking down this side of the mountain and randomly came across this wreckage. It was very cool!
From the military records: Two USMC Reserve Grumman F6F-5N Hellcats, BuNo. 94202 (c/n A-11954, WF 9) and BuNo. 94182 (WF 14) out of MCAS El Toro, crashed at the 9,500-foot level of the south slope of Mt. Baldy, California. The wreckage was discovered on 6 March.
14:00 is most likely a oil cooler. The R-2800 Double Wasp was a air cool engine.
I used to love hiking around Mt Baldy, Icehouse Canyon or anyone along the Angeles Crest Highway. I also loved hiking around Mt San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino Mountains. This was back in the 1970's and until 1986 when I got away was the smog that was so bad that you were lucky to see any mountains, except the day after a big winter storm or during the Santa Ana Winds! It was incredible to see blue skies when visiting the mountains.
Smog was horrendous in the 1960's. In order to convey the experience to friends up here in the Pacific Northwest, where I moved with my parents in 1967, I've likened the experience of descending into San Bernardino Valley from Cajon Pass during that era as akin to driving into a pool of asphalt.
The part that said hard looks like it is a vertical cross section of the fuselage. Possibly behind the cockpit. That part that says hard looks almost like armor plating
If you're ever in the pacific northwest I highly recommend the tubal cain hike, it has mines and a crashed b-17 bomber at the end.
This whole thing was great, really great.
Wow! Thanks for hiking up there to share this will us. It is amazing what is left after all these years.
WOW what a field trip, great country side too.
Yeah, that's a Prat & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp alright, you'll like the R-4360-35 Wasp Major, it had 4 rows of radials, two turbos AND a super charger, they used them in the B-29 superfortress.
was that turbocharger the same as used on the P47?i have one id like to sell
Enjoyed the video, really liked the stills though! I'm way too old to do that myself so thanks for bringing me along with you.
That was cool! My dad flew Hellcats in WW II.
Obviously it's not worth the work in scrappin, otherwise it'd be long gone. Nice tour guys! Thanks!
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The second piece was interesting view of the armor plate behind the pilot I believe the first was a 2 speed blower housing I think if someone didn’t mention it already . Thank you guys for the effort !
Awesome find. Keep trekkin guys. Thanks.
Another awesome video, thanks for sharing.
Lot of country to search ! Great find for all your hard work !
The engines are what i try to locate , a prop I’ve never found !
The engines make the find worth it to me !
I remember a B-17 wreck I located 3 engines were close together but it took several trips to locate the 4th engine !
Such a beautiful place and how exciting to find these things up there!
It really is, can't believe it's taken me this long to explore this part of the range. Thanks for watching Michal!
Another great explore Jerith! There are many aircraft wreck chasers sites, but you have documented this one wonderfully. I was thinking to myself while watching the video "he hasn't found the propellors" and there you go and find the hub! Great job! Finding the almost complete engine was great!
Very interesting video once again, Thanks man !!!
Beautiful scenery as usual. Thanks for sharing this.
Very cool. Thanks for the video.
I just found your channel, I was introduced by the algorithm after watching Serro Gordo videos and I'm so happy I've found you! First time i could sit through a whole youtube video intently watching every second. I would so love to do these sort of adventures myself, but alas my back won't allow it, so I'm glad I get to come along through your videos. I love to see our countries beautiful landscape!
Also so happy you got to enjoy Mt. Baldy, I've lived my entire life looking to them everyday and enjoying them myself. Never knew about this crash though, very interesting.
A good friend of mine recovered 4 .50 caliber machine guns from a crashed P-51 on Mt. Olympus and took them home. Later the feds confiscated them. They were very eat up from the crash and would probably never work again but they took them anyway.
Yeah I’m pretty sure the government generally isn’t very fond of anybody taking their weapons whether they’re defunct or not lol still pretty sad though I wonder how they found out he even had them in the first place, also a shame he didn’t lose one in a boating accident if yk what I mean
Cool. Thanks for no music! :)
Outstanding video it was just amazing how the plane was scattered everywhere and looking at all the parts and how they were fabricated. Keep up the great work 👍 👏
Good Video! Its to bad about the accident. The area is just beautidul. Thanks for your hard work Buddy!
Regards from Ody Slim
Ahh yes, Mt Baldy brings back memories of endless switchbacks heading the kellys camp
Just found your channel and it is awesome.
You may have already identified it when you came across the nearly complete engine, but the part at 7:50 is the supercharger housing for the engine, or what is left of it. The aircraft that it was in must have hit HARD! That supercharger is mounted on the rear of the engine.
I don't think that you have ever mentioned what you are doing in the Navy. You used some terminology, and identified some things that even average aviation enthusiasts wouldn't know about.
You must be working on a aviation rate. 🙂
9:02 The stencil "24S-T" is an aluminum alloy designation equivalent to modern 2024. Pretty common Aluminum-Copper alloy even today in Aircraft.
I was told if and when a plane is down the military 1st retrieve the crew dead or alive then any gun's that were mounted would be removed the force of the crash keeps plowing forward .🙏thank you for the adventure and discovery that we all tagged along with you 🛩️🙏🇺🇸🤔
They would remove the crew and any type of CCI/sensitive items from the crash followed by any ordinance/weapons.
I have hiked to the summit of Baldly several times, but didn't know that this wreckage was nearby. It looks to be above what I call the traverse on the way to Baldy proper and the final ascent. Makes me want to see if I can find it next time. Thanks for the video!
That's a neat site, lots of stuff to see. I've found several F104's and an F105 out by Randsburg but there aren't any really big pieces left anymore. Still neat to see though.
That is a beautiful place. Really sad about the crash but really cool to see what remains
Great..
Million thanks for sharing..
Wow, thanks for the tour! The name caught my attention because there is a Mount Baldy in Alberta (where I’m from).
Beautiful!
👍👍👍👊😎
Cool finds..
Thanks Ralph!
I skied Mt Baldy and hiked all over Ice House canyon; that trail goes overs over the mountain to Rancho Cucamonga and a popular campsite, Third Stream Crossing, where My son had an accident in the snow and had to be rescued with a broken ankle and a broken femur in wee hours of the am after we slept on a talas pile until the rescuers arrived. Small world, from Seattle.
The part of the plane at 11:49 is part of the cockpit canopy I think that the pilots seat would be attached to the wooden backplate with the lever sticking out. After all those years sitting out there in the elements it’s still mostly intact after the crash amazing.
The rubber pieces were probably part of the self-sealing fuel tank. The part that said hard was probably armor plate
The large piece with the number 4 is a side of the fuselage just behind the cockpit.
Your mystery plate labeled hard may be an armour plate located in area of pilot cabin..if i remember correct those grummans and a few other fighters of that vintage had heavy armor plating for pilots..great videos!
rusty plate is the back of the cockpit armor plate to protect the pilot
Hello from Denmark
Hello from Cali, från en Malmöit 😄
Thanks for watching from Denmark!
4:58 Better watch out for Mr. Snaaaaaake
Interesting. Never knew there were some military air crashes on Baldy.
No 50 cals. what a bummer
Incrível!
7:53 looks to be part of the Supercharger.
wow how you find this
I wonder if that cooler was an intercooler for the supercharger.
The Hellcat was air cooled but had oil coolers to boot.
Cool
Definitely aircraft frame.
these planes got pulled down by venturi over the top, and by rotor down the back, that is how they augered in downhill.
What kind of camera are you using?
The cast aluminum round piece is part of the turbocharger
At 15:00 you have the flattened engine cowling and cowl flaps.
Didn’t you leave for the Navy?
🎸🎸
I'm surprised they didn't make some Pvts police call the entire Mountain range to pick up the debris.
wooow
👏👏🏆🏆👍👍👊👊👊👊🙏🙏
Supercharger ? That big chunk of aluminum . Kinda looks like my PAXTON NOVI 2000 .
hillside is a scree slope.
did this plane get torn apart this bad when it crashed or did they just blow it to piceses so that nobody could get the parts
Two planes collide midair - you better believe thats tears some bits and pieces off.
What falls down hits the ground with yet still a considerable forward momentum in addition to downward motion - not much left intact.
Where can I find information on where to start the hike? Also are there any other crash sites in SoCal that you know of?
Learn how to use Google.
@@haywoodyoudome wow so kind and helpful, thank you! I did look online and I couldn’t find any trail name, that’s why I’m asking here. Also there may be other crash sites that are only known by word of mouth that aren’t online. Learn to be nicer to people, every comment you have posted on this channel is pretty rude
@@NatedoGP Start at the Manker Flats trailhead at 6200 ft, follow the service road up past the waterfall toward the Notch for 1/3 mile, then branch left onto the steep Baldy Bowl/Ski Hut trail that will take you to the summit, follow the trail for about 3 miles past the Ski Hut, past the rock garden and up the side of the Bowl, turn right onto the summit ridge, climb the ridge and around the 9000 ft mark (1/2 mile from summit) leave the trail to your left and explore the hillside. Make sure you have GPS and know how to find the trail again. If you get lost up there you're in big trouble.
@@xchindit okay thank you so much! Sounds like an intimidating hike, I’ll definitely have to do a lot more planning and research before I think about going there. I appreciate the insight!
@@NatedoGPtheres a gal who hiked to a crash.her site is called wonderhussy check her out for that crash somewhere in so cal mountains
part of the supercharger
Im a angel cat !
Climbing at 9,000 feet without huffing and puffing..must be used to elevation
Incredibly dangerous area to hike.
Cha Cha Cha Cha chia
I think I actually saw this crash in a 1950's science fiction film. It happened so fast, I had to go back to see it. I can't think of the film, possibly Them! or Earth vs The Flying Saucers but I'm not sure. There was quite the fireball on impact but at the time I thought WOW! Anyone know?
I wish I did know more about this crash - I am going to try some investigation.
I believe I know the sequence that you likely viewed--it has shown up in movies and documentaries both. However, the one I am thinking of featured P-51 Mustang if I remember correctly.
@@willong1000 Hollywood had /has a nasty habit of using footage of genuine plane crashes for spectacle - there's an old, 1940's film about a family involved in early aviation which uses the crash of a GeeBee racer during a record attempt, for example. (Can't recall the name of it) Similarly Hell's Angels, Wings and a number of other old films use unscripted and fatal crashes for effect. (The big Sikorsky transport / Gotha crash scene in Hell's Angels killed a technician trapped in the plane, for example.)
you in cali
Why do you say national insignia do you mean airforce logo?
Because "logo" is the same as "brand" for a product and the Air Force isn't a product.
Where were the snakes you were low enough to get bit. They like to hide under the sheet metal.
Be nice if the insurance company went out and cleaned that up, should be mandatory!
Just because you crashed and died doesn't mean it shouldn't be cleaned up!
sure but some bean counter likely figured out the cost of removing all the pieces, hauling torches and cutting equipment to chop it all up to make it easier to extract off the mountain side, and environmental impact of the operation was much greater than just letting nature take care of business
Does the military carry insurance? Lol ..or they ARE the insurance..? 🤔 Anyways, I kind of like it, like this. It's not so much littering as it is history, really.
Fusilige? How about a long A in that word
Fusiliga?
Fasilige?
Fusalige?
you fly? i am a pilot
I assume the rubbery looking black cloth are the remains of the self sealing fuel tank bladders
Just put that double wasp in your backpack!