Trip to Find the Unknown Jet

During the visit to the Deadman B-17 wreck site, the landowner pointed out a white spot on the ridge across the road to the west and told us that it was the crash site of a Navy jet. We couldn’t tell what it was thru binoculars but I could put a pencilled X on my topographical map. Checking the CAP crash list did not indicate anything in the vicinity being a jet wreck though a civilian plane had been down in the area sometime but the coordinates for that wreck were several miles away.

On 1 June 1996 I decided to go see what it was.

The property boundaries in the area are mostly private land though there was access to the ridgetop using public lands. I decided that since my mission was perfectly harmless that if I kept a very low profile and remained alert, I could probably go see this wrecksite and verify its existence. Then, I could contact the landowners and try to get the full story. (OK, not the best plan and not something to be proud of. But at least I wasn't armed and couldn't be accused of attempted poaching.)

1 June was a pleasant day. Not too hot, no rain, little wind and there was a blessed lack of ticks in the grass since it had not been warm very long. I climbed the public land to the ridgetop and set out to contour the ridge to the coordinates. After 4 hours of moving along enjoying the grassy meadows, warily crossing the little-used jeep roads I encountered, and seeing no one, I pulled out the GPS and began homing in on the unknown jet.

At last, I found it. Or them. What I’d found was a small trash dump at the end of a 4WD road. There were 2 dead refrigerators and a damaged pickup truck capper here. No airplane. Joke’s on me.

(Click on picture to get enlarged image)
Unknown Jet Parts - Kenmore? Maytag?
 picture of two dead refrigerators

(Click the image to get the full-sized picture.)

After resting for a little while and taking some pictures, I eased down the side of the hill and gained the road. From the point I reached the road, I hiked 3.5 miles back to the car (checked by odometer on the drive home). OK. I think I learned something here........ but it was a good day’s exercise.

Home Moggie!  

 

Last Modified: 1/1/2008