Dear Dave et al,
I came across your thread just recently but feel my information on the subject is still valid and of maybe of interest to you all.
As it has been a while since the article was published in FLUGZEUG (3/99) I would like to lay some groundwork for better understanding:
Attachment 1866,
Attachment 1867
The article shows a Side Scan Sonar(SSS) scan of an Aircraft. To illustrate my case more dramatically I oriented the picture in the fashion the SSS fish would look at the target:
Attachment 1861
The target shows a faint but unmistakable unique shadow against the bottom. I knew I saw this shadow before somewhere and found it here in a scan that was passed around in other forums as an unidentified aircraft found in the North Sea. If you had to make a guess you would probably think it was a PB4Y Privateer with a distorted aspect ratio. But please note the shadow and engine configuration....
Attachment 1862
This scan here is the same aircraft as all of the above, taken with a Marine Sonic SSS, revealing beyond any doubt the identity of a PB4Y2.
Attachment 1863
Here is a close up scan of it just for the fun of it:
Attachment 1864
Hmmmm...how does a Privateer get to the bottom of Lake Constance you wonder? Before you run off to the Bodensee I have to tell you the rest of the story.
The aircraft sits in Lake Washington, Seattle, USA and became a fave practice target for a number of SSS manufacturers. It just so happend, that WESMAR built the system model 700 in the mid 90's and used the "He177"picture in the sales literature of the day. It was quite common for the less expensive systems, lacking the capability to correct for speed, to produce distorted pictures but never the less intriguing.....
Now that I have you scratching your heads I might as well burst the bubble of the COGNAC-BOMBER: The highly unusual story of the schnapps laden kite that ditched in the lake originated in the small circle of dedicated SCUBA pioneers, diving the murky depth of the lake in the early 70's. The rumour of Cognac bottles from a Luftwaffe bomber was picked up by the local authorities in Constance and a public outcrie to protect and bring home the fallen Luftwaffe personnell (the skelletons were still holding on to the controlcollum...!) evolved. An official investigation by the Swiss authorities yielded nothing of substance however. It was simply a hoax......
How do I know all of this? Well,... I was there.
Not to give up all hope, especially you Dave, as there are still at least three documented but undiscovered "targets" of WW2 aircraft in the lake. Martin Schaffner, the notorious Swiss entrepreneur that rescued at least 11 (eleven) wrecks during the 50's from the lake, did not find them all.....
I have to save something for later and need to close for now my friends.
Cheers,
Maestro