New life for sunken B-17

SEATTLE (UPI) -- A wealthy Georgia man is preparing to raise a long-sunken U.S. bomber from the bottom of a remote Canadian lake and get it airborne again.

Don Brooks of Douglas, Ga., owns a group of NAPA auto parts stores and is the son of a man who served as a tail gunner on a B-17 during World War II, the Tacoma (Wash.) Tribune reported Monday.

"I think it's a worthwhile project to preserve the heritage of our country's aviation history," he said.

On Sunday, a group of experts finished examining a restored B-17 in Seattle as they prepared to lift the sunken one from 50 feet down in Labrador's Dyke Lake.

The aircraft, also known as a Flying Fortress, crash-landed on Dec. 24, 1947, on the frozen lake. None of its seven-member crew was hurt, and two days later they were rescued from shore. The following spring, though, the ice melted and the aircraft sank to the lake bottom.