Warbird Restored - David Watmuff

In 1942, an American pilot flying a Kittyhawk aircraft was forced to make a belly landing on a beach in Vanuatu during World War Two. He survived, but the plane remained there on the beach, frozen in time for 47 years. In 1989, the weathered, dilapidated, forgotten Kittyhawk was rescued and taken to Australia. The Wigram Air Force Museum traded one of their planes for the Kittyhawk in 1996. Now, after 16 Years and thousands upon thousands of hours of work, the Kittyhawk is on on display at the Air Force Museum in Christchurch.