[Richard]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger

there's not one single part that is salvageable for restoration, sea water is the black death of aluminium.

The best they could do is thoroughly washing the wreck to stop corrosion, then covering the surface with a protecting agent.

There have been cases where the original paintwork resisted the elements, normally because the plane spent decades under the sand

(this is the P-40K recovered in front of Anzio years ago)


but restaurations of corroded/deformed airframes is really, really difficult.

Here's a Focke Wulf A3 that was recovered outside of Bergen, Norway in 2006.
It'll definitely never fly again (because of the seawater) but it looks pretty good nonetheless!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid/5723047833/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borslid...n/photostream/