This very historical aircraft was pulled off the bottom of a lake just outside Kapuscasing, Ontario. Even though now, a road goes up to Kap, it is still about 6 to 8 hours drive Nor-West from Ottawa. Gold mining country. Mosquito country. Shanai Twain country. The kind of country people think of when they think of Canada....trees, brush, pickup trucks with canoe's on them. 
From the front you can still see the clean lines...the holes are for the landing light and an access panel to the cockpit instruments.
Even some original paint still on there!
Still pretty broken up though. The workmanship was top notch, and the damage has the unintentional benefit of opening up the airframe so that you can see see it!
In back is the re-built version of this airplane. It is actually three Curtiss HS-2l's married up with new canvas and dope. Not a bad looking airplane....more boat than bird though. 
Placque on the exhibit.
A closeup of the HS-2L as re-built by the air museum. This was three HS-2Ls which where badly damaged, they took a boat hull from one, wings from a second, and an engine which might never have been installed on an airplane, but was in storage, ready to be installed. It looks awfully good. Can you imagine sitting in the front turret of this plane, putting into a dock in some obscure fly in fishing camp up in the tree line, tossing a mooring line to a chequed shirted Algonquin?
1 comment:
That was one sweet looking boat!
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