The National Museum of World War II Aviation, located in east Colorado Springs, routinely flies its restored aircraft, especially during the warmer summer months. But when the museum's latest addition took to the skies last week, it was the culmination of a decades-long journey from the bottom of a lake in the Pacific Northwest.
For Matt McCauley, who dove the wreck as a teen and raised it from the bottom of Lake Washington with his friend, Jeff Hummel, it was the realization of a 41-year dream.
"It was amazing to see," said McCauley, who lives in the state of Washington. "To see the completion of something I had been dreaming about for all these years ... it's an indescribable feeling."
The plane was an SB2C Helldiver, a relatively obscure warplane that, after a problematic early history, proved to be an effective dive bomber against Japanese ships and ground installations.
Last Saturday, the aviation museum gave a presentation on the Helldiver's history, titled "From Zero to Hero." The presentation chronicled the initial development and production issues that led to the plane's negative reputation, its multiple design changes and its eventual emergence as one of the U.S. Navy's primary dive bombers.
"A lot has been said about the Helldiver, and not all of it has been positive," said Bill Klaers, the museum's president and CEO. "It's been called a bad airplane, but that's an oversimplification."
Following the presentation, which drew more than 600 people, McCauley spoke about the recovery of the plane, a subsequent legal battle with the Navy and the plane's long road to Colorado Springs.
It all started in 1984, with a couple of curious teenagers.
McCauley and Hummel, both 19, were exploring the depths of Lake Washington, a rumored treasure trove of wrecked planes, when they found the remnants of the World War II era plane and used lift bags to bring it to the surface.
"To say it was in rough condition would be an understatement," McCauley told The Gazette.
According to McCauley, who tracked the plane's history through naval records, the Helldiver had been damaged in a rough landing in 1945 and deemed not worth repairing.
"It was stricken from service, kind of like an insurance adjuster declares a car to be totaled," he said.
The Navy also used the plane as a fire training aid, routinely setting it ablaze for fire drills, before eventually stripping it and scuttling it in 150 feet of water.
What McCauley and Hummel raised from the depths of Lake Washington barely resembled an aircraft, McCauley said.
"It has been stripped of most of its usable components," he said. "Most of the tail area was gone. The landing gear was gone. So were the seats and most of the interior. Still, we were excited to have found this discarded hulk."
Not long after the teens raised the plane, they encountered an unexpected obstacle. The Navy claimed that it still owned the plane, sparking a lawsuit that McCauley and Hummel eventually won.
After spending some time in McCauley's driveway, the plane was sent to a private restorer in Minnesota, but the reclamation project proved to be too much for one person. The plane was then sent to a restoration shop in California. Eventually, Klaers and Jim Slattery, the World War II Aviation Museum's board chairman, heard about the Helldiver and decided to take over the project.
A Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornet departed the Jet Centers of Colorado on a very special flight Wednesday. When it returned roughly 30 minutes later, its passenger was left wide-eyed and nearly speechless.
Underwritten by Jim Slattery and the Slattery Family Foundation, Westpac Restorations began the task of acquiring the necessary parts and restoring the Helldiver.
"Bill Klaers might be the most knowledgeable guy on the topic of World War II-era warbird restoration in the whole country," McCauley said. "And I can't say enough nice things about Jim Slattery and his foundation."
In November 2023, McCauley visited Colorado Springs to see how the project was going, and he was amazed at what he saw.
"The plane was mostly assembled by then," he recalled. "It didn't have all the details yet, and it hadn't been painted the Navy blue color. But it was amazing to see, and a little shocking."
Following Saturday's presentation, pilot Charlie Hainline entered the restored cockpit and took the SB2C Helldiver on its first public flight.
McCauley, who still remembers when the plane was a burned-out, rusted wreck in his driveway, said he felt fortunate to be able to see the completed project.
"They have performed a miracle," he said. "It's just incredible to see what they've done."
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