The U.S. Navy used the Great Lakes as a safe place to conduct training during the height of World War II. One of the most challenging aspects of being a pilot was landing a fighter plane on the deck of the smaller aircraft carriers used for training on Lake Michigan. Inevitably, dozens of planes plunged into the lake including a FM2 Wildcat brought back from the deep more than a decade ago.
A spiritual successor to the more famous Grumman F4F-4, the FM2 saw action across multiple fronts but became legendary taking on Japanese Zeros in the Pacific. Finding the wreckage of an FM2 in Lake Michigan immediately brought to mind the question of how to restore such a storied fighter.
Ten years ago, the FM2 was carefully brought to Kalamazoo’s Air Zoo where a restoration process that would take ten years began in earnest.
Thousands of hours by hundreds of volunteers were thoughtfully and lovingly poured into the plane. Recently, the beautifully restored Wildcat was officially unveiled at the Air Zoo. Volunteers and staff gathered to marvel at the nearly pristine fighter plane.
While the FM2 only looks airworthy, its legacy and amazing story is bound to lift the imaginations of aviation and history fans for years to come.
