The National Museum of World War II Aviation, located in east Colorado Springs, routinely flies its restored aircraft, especially during the warmer summer months. But when the museum’s latest addition took to the skies last week, it was the culmination of a decades-long journey from the bottom of a lake in the Pacific Northwest.
For Matt McCauley, who dove the wreck as a teen and raised it from the bottom of Lake Washington with his friend, Jeff Hummel, it was the realization of a 41-year dream.
“It was amazing to see,” said McCauley, who lives in the state of Washington. “To see the completion of something I had been dreaming about for all these years … it’s an indescribable feeling.”
The National Museum of World War II Aviation, located in east Colorado Springs, routinely flies its restored aircraft, especially during the warmer summer months. But when the museum’s latest addition took to the skies last week, it was the culmination of a decades-long journey from the bottom of a lake in the Pacific Northwest.
The rusted, burned-out husk of the recovered Helldiver, in Matt McCauley’s driveway in 1984.
For Matt McCauley, who dove the wreck as a teen and raised it from the bottom of Lake Washington with his friend, Jeff Hummel, it was the realization of a 41-year dream.
“It was amazing to see,” said McCauley, who lives in the state of Washington. “To see the completion of something I had been dreaming about for all these years … it’s an indescribable feeling.”
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