Everybody scrambled out of the cabin and up on the wing, grinning in excitement. The anchor was thrown out and the GOOSE tethered to it. I used one of the ten foot poles to probe for the bottom, the water was 7 1/2 feet deep. Pushing the pole into the mud bottom, there was a fair amount of resistance for about a foot, then the "bottom" just disappeared. My heart jumped up in my throat! What if the P-38 had settled below the lake bottom into the bottomless mud? The Side Scan Sonar wouldn't paint a submerged object! There needed to be something protruding above the bottom to "see" it. I drove the thought from my mind, it was time to get to work.

We all started unpacking the gear, Crayton and James laid out the raft on the top of the left wing. An air bottle was carried top side, the raft was inflated and ready to launch in less than 20 minutes after landing. We lowered it over the leading edge of the wing into the water and tied it to the left bow side. Mark was in the forward bow compartment and handed out the outboard motor. Crayton takes the motor from Mark and mounts it on the raft. Next the fuel was handed out and added. (we had to drain the fuel from the outboard for the air freight shipment) Crayton gave her the old one pull start test and NOTHING.

After numerous tugs, the outboard came to life, but would not run for more than a couple seconds. Suspecting the fuel tank was not venting, the fuel cap was removed--still wouldn't run. Crayton, tiring of pulling on the starter rope, got out of the raft and Mark took over. Crayton, James, Bob, and I huddled to discuss plan "B" if the outboard would not run. Could we rig the towed Sonar "fish" over the side of the GOOSE and use it as the raft? The optimum scanning speed is 2 1/2 knots, could we row the raft with oars? We had a couple hundred feet of line, could we rig up a tow from shore? Could a man swimming in a dry suit pull the raft? After about 30 minutes of frustration, the outboard purred to life and ran perfectly the rest of the day. The HONDA 110 AC generator that powers the Side Scan Sonar was bolted down and ran perfectly. The raft was repositioned along side the GOOSE at the right side cabin hatch, the Side Scan Sonar and printer were loaded and hooked up. The Sonar tow fish was rigged, the system functionally tested and at 1:45pm, Crayton and James pushed off in the raft and began the Side Scan Sonar search.

Now, the wind had come up, blowing pretty stiff out of the southeast. To maintain a constant track, the raft had to "crab" across the surface and the tow fish was not tracking straight through the water, giving a poor image. Crayton and James returned to the GOOSE and re-rig the tow fish. Back out on the water they went, re-scanning what they covered the first pass. Bob, Mark, and I stood on the cabin top watching intently, anticipating the first clue of the P- 38 resting on the lake bottom. The anticipation and excitement grew with each passing moment.

Figuring there would be a little time to kill, Mark assembled his fly rod and tried a bit of fishing as there were fish jumping all about the GOOSE. In short order, he hooked a fish but lost it. Casting his line again, he hooked another but lost it. Returning from the 2nd pass, Crayton asked for markers to set in the water for visual reference. Also, he asked that I get aboard the raft with the maps sent by Frank, Jim, and Oscar. At 2:50pm I boarded the raft and we reviewed the sketches, got lined up on what we figured was the most likely place for the airplane to be and started the Side Scan search again.

As we approached the rock and about 50 yards west of it, the side scan started printing out two scarf marks on the lake bottom that angled off towards a point about 200 yards from us in the one o'clock position. At first it didn't register, but after a brief discussion we agreed that they were man made tracks on the lake bottom. A few small "events" began to appear on the sonar image. We all started looking towards the shore where the scarf marks were heading. An eerie silence fell upon us, we stared at one another with blank questioning eyes. As we passed adjacent to the point, now at the three o'clock position, I spotted debris that was laying on the beach. Crayton stopped the raft, shut down the sonar and pulled the tow fish out of the water, then headed for the beach.

As we got into shallow water, we began to see pieces of an airplane scattered about the lake bottom. We had found Franks P-38. The time was 3:05pm. Beaching the raft, Crayton, James, and I walked over to the biggest piece we saw on the lake shore, a part of the front spar cap from the center section and a portion of an outboard wing front spar cap. Not a whole lot was said as we continued to walk the beach, where small pieces of the airplane were laying on the shore, up on the bank and in the shallow water. The reality of what we were seeing began to sink in as we stared at one another in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Bob and Mark were standing atop the GOOSE, anchored in the lake about three eighths a mile away, not knowing what we were doing on the shore. Bob later told me he could hear me cussing as I exited the raft onto the shore, and could hear a few comments about finding parts of an airplane. Our worst fear had come to pass. I told Crayton and James to take the raft back to the GOOSE, off load the Side Scan Sonar and suit up in the diving gear to see what they could find off shore.

As they head back to the GOOSE, I climbed up on the bluff overlooking the beach to see if I could get an idea of what lays in the shallow water off shore. I felt a great emptiness come over me; elation and heartbreak, happiness and sorrow, success and failure--all at the same time. I asked myself, why is this happening to us after all the effort we've put into the project and the obstacles that we have been faced with since arriving in Alaska six days earlier? No immediate answer came to mind, just an emptiness, like someone had taken a knife and cut a big chunk out of me. Nothing big was evident in the water, I spotted a main gear leg and the remains of a fuel bladder. The visibility into the water was not very good with the wind putting a ripple on it and the light fairly flat.

Walking about on the tundra up on the bluff, I stepped on some tin objects and dug them out of 10 to 12 inches of vegetation. Pieces of farings that probably fit along the wing to engine nacelles emerged, all showing evidence of an explosion. Continuing my search, I stumbled over a small wooden box, almost buried in the vegetation. It consisted of four sides and a bottom but came apart as I tried to lift it out of the growth that had enveloped it. There were no visible markings on it, but it had dove tail corners and faded white paint on the outside. An old explosive ordinance box. Climbing back down to the beach, I tripped over pieces of old cable, overgrown with vegetation. It all began to fit together.

Apparently, fearing that the Japanese might over run the American positions in a successful counter offensive, a detachment may have been sent to "de-militarize the P-38". A tracked vehicle was most likely brought onto the island, a cable attached to a tail boom and the airplane drug from its resting place on the lake bottom over to the shore in shallow water. There, it was loaded with ordinance and blown apart to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy.

By now, Crayton and James were headed back to the beach in the raft, suited up in their diving gear. Bob and Mark were also aboard. We had a short discussion of what we needed to look at. While Crayton and James began to do their water survey, Bob, Mark, and I set out to search the beaches and land to look for any big pieces of debris. Off shore, Crayton and James began finding pieces of the P-38, both ALLISON V-1710 engines, two oil coolers, the remaining main gear leg, a main tire and wheel assembly. They surfaced with hand full of 50 caliber rounds and 20 mm cannon shells. Crayton found a fully loaded munitions canister and a blower assembly of some sort. James spotted an exhaust driven turbo charger on the lake bottom, the turbine wheel spun freely with a push on the exhaust blades. Crayton surfaced with a 50 caliber machine gun, found laying on the lake bottom imbedded in the mud. He brought it ashore, then went back out and found a second 50 caliber gun. They located a piece of the nose armament pod about six feet in length with a 50 caliber gun and the 20 mm cannon still in it. The pod was setting upright in about a foot of mud, two 50 caliber ammo bins and the stainless feed trays are still intact. James surfaced with the last 50 caliber gun and brought it to shore. Next they found the leading edge of a flap, another stainless steel ammo feed tray, numerous small parts and components.

Meanwhile, up on the shore, Bob has stepped on something solid under the tundra. Mark, Bob, and I began pulling away the vegetation to dig it out. We found pieces of more farings, panels, and the remaining turbo charger assembly. It had been blown apart, the compressor section heavily damaged. Next we uncovered the turbine section, the casing pretty beet up but not a bent blade on the turbine wheel. Walking along the bluff, we spotted an outline in the water offshore, away from the area that Crayton and James were working. Bob shouted down to James and asked him to go out and take a look at it. James swam over, worked around for a bit and finally got it free of the bottom--a piece of the center section about, the size of a small pick-up truck. The panel was very torn from the ordinance going off and had an 1/8 inch of marine growth and mud covering it. Cleaning off an undamaged potion of the panel, the paint was in good shape, the flap bay and trailing edge were straight and showed no signs of corrosion. Our theory of preservation held up: had the airplane been found in one piece, the aluminum structure would be well preserved.

By now it was getting late, the wind was blowing harder and the fog rolling in and out constantly. Not wanting to get stuck in the lake, Mark said it was time to get going. Crayton and James stashed the three 50 caliber machine guns in the water. They will be better preserved when we return with a salvage permit. Gathering up a couple pieces that positively identify the airplane as a P-38 and a hand full of 50 caliber shells and 20mm rounds for souvenirs, we boarded the raft and started for the GOOSE floating at anchor about 3/8 of a mile away.