Museum Battles U.S. Navy for Possession of Panther 'Recon' Fighter Jet

Over the last two decades, representatives for the Navy have made their position on the subject of salvaged warplanes abundantly clear. Claim ownership of any plane ever owned by the Navy and the offending citizen, organization or museum will likely face charges, often with the Navy utilizing the full force and power of the U.S. Department of Justice to protect their interests.

Quartzsite, AZ September 12, 2004 -- Over the last two decades, representatives for the Navy have made their position on the subject of salvaged warplanes abundantly clear. Claim ownership of any plane ever owned by the Navy and the offending citizen, organization or museum will likely face charges, often with the Navy utilizing the full force and power of the U.S. Department of Justice to protect their interests.

Minnesotan Lex Cralley, who salvaged an abandoned Corsair from a swamp in North Carolina, has gained national media attention while enduring various attacks from Navy officials over possession of his recovered plane, forcing him to defend himself in court. All for having tried, according to Cralley, to preserve a tiny piece of the history and heritage of aviation in the United States.

The Corsair, having crashed into the swamp December 19, 1944, had been stripped and abandoned by Navy officials at that time.

Congressman Walter B. Jones has aligned himself with Cralley and is working to see the plane relinquished to the mechanic -- a father of four who had to mortgage his house to defend himself against the Navys allegations.

Beyond the accusations surrounding those planes which have been crashed and abandoned, any aircraft formerly owned by the Navy and potentially salvageable by any means brings with it the threat of actual seizure by Navy personnel -- along with possible criminal charges, costly legal battles and public embarrassment.

But is the Navy, the one branch of the military that seems to take such a forceful approach toward apparently well-meaning collectors and restorers, really able to prove ownership of these aging relics -- especially those which are abandoned and literally rotting away?

The W.A.S.P. Museums salvaged plane was headed for the crusher in 1993 when Oldham learned of its plight. At a publicly sanctioned and properly advertised legal auction, the Panther was won by Richard Oldham, the curator of the W.A.S.P. Museum in Quartzsite, Arizona via sealed bid, a process the Navy now challenges.

According the Oldham, the plane was scheduled to be destroyed.

Hes put the entire story, along with all pertinent documentation, online at the W.A.S.P. Museums website, inviting people to evaluate the paper trail for themselves. [Online at www.waspmuseum.com]

I purchased the plane, and when I would not give it to the Navy upon demand, representatives from the U.S.S. Hornet Museum offered to complete the restoration for our museum. Once the plane was moved from our site to the U.S.S. Hornet under a signed agreement to return the plane in five years, I was advised by the Admiral on the U.S.S. Hornet that the plane would never leave their museum, Oldham stated.

But Oldhams lawyers, Glen G. Gimbut of Yuma, had, prior to allowing the plane to be transferred to the U.S.S. Hornet, prepared a contract concerning the transfer of the plane which the Navy promptly signed, demanding 750,000.00 should the plane fail to be returned as per the agreement, following the five year lease. In March of 2005, that contract is due -- and the Panther is to return to the W.A.S.P. Museum or the $750,000 paid to the museum to provide the funds for the purchase of another plane.

Today, plaques accompanying the aircraft document its use as a special photographic model of Panther aircraft, used to fly reconnaissance missions. It is the only remaining one of its type and kind, rendering it virtually priceless.

Key West attorney David Paul Horan, a veteran of salvage and recovery operations throughout the world, including the Titanic and the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, has battled the Navy over a TBD-1 Devastator which crashed in the waters off Floridas coast in the forties. That plane, too, is believed to be the last TBD-1 in existence, rendering it, too, virtually priceless.

Much to the shock of those watching the case, the Navy demanded possession of the plane from those rallying to salvage it -- only to leave the plane considered to be the Holy Grail of U.S. aviation rotting at the bottom of the ocean.

What possible reason can they offer for declaring ownership of this rare and extremely valuable piece of American history, only to leave it to dissolve on an ocean floor? Horan asks.

Another consideration: As the W.A.S.P.s case for ownership of the Panther advances, other museums, themselves holding Navy planes, watch anxiously.

Throughout the country, many of the displays of planes in museums both public and private contain planes once owned by the Navy. If Oldhams case fails, these planes are certainly at risk of confiscation.

A twice elected President of the Arizona Historical Society, Oldham painstakingly documented every aspect of the acquisition of the Panther and holds every pertinent piece of official documentation that was available -- documentation the Navy has repeatedly requested, received and reviewed.

It proved, as well, the legal and proper acquisition of the Panther by the City of Mesa, via a transaction authorized and provided for by members of Congress in an official act of Congress in 1959 under Congressional Declaration 10 USC 2572.

Further, Senator Bob Stump, having taken the matter before Congress in 2002, established the plane should be relinquished to the W.A.S.P. Museum requiring only that they neither fly nor transfer the Panther to any entity not approved by Navy officials. But when the documentation arrived, the Navy had added many stipulations -- among them, that the Panther would remain at the U.S.S. Hornet Museum in Alameda, California.

The W.A.S.P. Museum officials have agreed to the original stipulations concerning transfer of title and agreement not to fly the Panther. They want the plane returned to the W.A.S.P. facility or another plane, equally significant, as the centerpiece for the museum.

Contact Information:
Museum Curator Richard Oldham
W.A.S.P. Museum
731 Quartzsite Boulevard
Quartzsite, Arizona 85346
Phone: 1.888.831.4365 OR 928.927.5555
E-Mail: e-mail protected from spam bots
WEBSITE: www.waspmuseum.com

ATTORNEY STEPHEN P. SHADLE
WESTOVER, SHADLE AND WALSMA, P.L.C.
2260 SOUTH FOURTH AVENUE, SUITE 2000
YUMA, ARIZONA 85364
PHONE: 928.783.8321 OR FAX: 928.782.2310
E-MAIL: e-mail protected from spam bots

ATTORNEY GLENN J. GIMBUT
LAW OFFICES OF GLENN J. GIMBUT, P.L.L.C.
152 SOUTH FIRST AVENUE
YUMA, ARIZONA 85364
PHONE: 928.627.2027 OR FAX: 928.627.3879
E-MAIL: e-mail protected from spam bots

DOUG CHAMPLIN, FORMER CURATOR
240 HANSEN LANE
GARDNERVILLE, NEVADA 89460
PHONE: 775.265.7996 OR FAX: 775.265.7871

DAVID PAUL HORAN, ESQ.
HORAN, HORAN AND WALLACE, LLP
608 WHITEHEAD STREET
KEW WEST, FLORIDA 33040-6540
305.293.4585
305.294.3488 OR FAX: 305.294.7822
E-MAIL: e-mail protected from spam bots
WEBSITE: WWW.HORAN-WALLACE.COM


HONORABLE GORDON R. ENGLAND
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON D.C. 20350-1000

ALBERTO J. MORA
GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
1000 NAVY PENTAGON
WASHINGTON D.C. 20350-1000

DEBORAH G. SCIASCIA, ASST. COUNSEL
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL
COUNCIL FOR THE INVENTORY
700 ROBBINS AVENUE
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19111-5098

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