Logo Norseman Crash Site - 5
My Fourth Visit to the Aircraft Crash Site
19 Feb 2018
All Text & Images:
Copyright (2018)

I made a 4th visit up to the crash site.   The following is a summary of what I had learned since my last visit:

(Note: All of the information I have gathered to date is either from locals who heard about the crash, or from folks that heard details from relatives or another party.   I have not come across anyone who personally witnessed or remembers the events well enough to provide details.   Several folks who may have been able to provide information have passed on in recent years.   There are conflicting details in the stories that I've heard, including date of the incident, aircraft ownership, potential casualties, etc.   To date, I still have found no written or online documentation of the airplane crash.   Thus, the following is just the "gist" of what may have happened...)

"Sometime in the early 1950s * , T.J. Crane, who lived off Bell Creek, heard an airplane crash up on the nearby mountain.   He told folks, but no one else had heard anything, and no action was taken.   Sometime later (days/weeks?), word arrived about a missing aircraft.   Two men were in town investigating; they were put in touch with Mr. Crane, who led them up the mountain, where they eventually located the crash.   The pilot was found dead in the aircraft * * .   Sometime later, R.L Anderson, a logger from nearby Shooting Creek (later of Scataway Rd), traveled up the mountain with horses and a logging sled to salvage the engine (and possibly other salvageable major components which are no longer at the crash site)."

* Two persons relating information thought the crash had occurred in the late '40s.   Another person, living off Bell Creek, was born in 1949, and stated that it happened when he was a young boy of about 7 (making it circa 1955-56).

* * I have heard three versions of the pilot's fate - 1) as stated above, the pilot was killed in the crash; 2) an alleged rumor that the pilot had ejected from the aircraft and survived; 3) per Dion Eller, Ed Berrong was told by the Andersons that two men had survived the crash and made their way down Bell Creek to safety.   This version of the story was essentially corroborated by Morris Phillips, who recalled the date as being in the late 1940s.   Morris remembers the salvaged engine being stored at the old Hiawassee High School.

Jimmy Davenport from Clay Co, NC, visited the site sometime after the crash in the late '50s or early '60s.   He said back then you could still drive part way up the mountain from the NC side.   At the time of his visit, the aircraft was only half burned, and much of the wood & fabric remained, although in deteriorating condition.   The salvage operation previously mentioned had already occurred.   He remembers some components salvaged from the wreckage being stored at an old service station on Old 64 in Shooting Creek.

In 2019, I reviewed copies of the weekly Towns County Herald, archived at the Towns Co. courthouse and Young Harris College.
I could find no references to this aircraft crash.


CC_cliffs
I passed some nice moss-covered cliffs on the way to the site...


Huge_vines
Continuing up, I hit the bottom of the cloud layer.
Lots of tangled vines here, the diameter of a person's leg!




This was my first non-sunny day at the site, so I took a few shots to show the fuselage without shadows.

Fuselage-bottom
Fuselage from the bottom


Fuselage-head-on
Head-on view, aircraft resting on starboard (right) side


Fuselage-top
View toward the top of the aircraft




Firex_bottle
Main fire extiguisher bottle


Illustration-Fire_suppression
Fire Suppresion system, from the Parts Manual


Bottle-stamping_L

Cylinder Bottle Stamping (above & below):
ICC-3A1800
K19664V   US GOVT
{H}   WK&CO
NONSHATTERABLE


Bottle-stamping_R



Bottle_date_4-44
Original firex bottle servicing date(?): April 1944


Bottle_date_10-55

Is this 10 55 another date (October 1955)?
Maybe the last firex bottle servicing date, or when it was due for servicing(?)
From most of what I've learned, this incident occurred prior to 1955.


Also, note valve number as specified in Manual below:


Firex_parts_listing





Unknown_housing
Unknown pump or motor housing?


Engine_Cntrl_countershaft_bracket
Engine control countershaft bracket   (broken)




Rocker_head

Several views of a damaged rocker assembly from an engine cylinder head
Thanks to Nick Wotherspoon for the ID on this assy!


Rocker_head



Rocker_head
Safety wiring is still present on two of the bolts


Engine_rear_view
Rocker assemblies can be seen at right side in this photo of a Norseman engine.


Engine
A similar modern engine, showing a clearer view of the two rocker assemblies on each cylinder head.




Unknown
Unknown component


Unknown
Unknown component


Dzus_receptacle
Melted component with receptacles for DZUS quarter-turn fasteners.
Possibly for securing engine cowling, or a removable door assy.



Instrument
Unknown instrument back


Instrument
Unknown instrument back, reverse


Round_cap
Round cap(?)


Unknown
Unknown component
Maybe a bell crank from one of the control surface assemblies,
since it has a wing tie rod plate bolted to one of the arms...



Unknown
Unknown (bell crank?) component, reverse

Continued on "Norseman Crash - 6" page.   {Link below}


You are viewing the "Norseman Crash - 5" page.
See additional pages covering the Norseman crash site:
Initial Discovery
Norseman Crash - 1 Norseman Crash - 2 Norseman Crash - 3 Norseman Crash - 4
Norseman Crash - 5 Norseman Crash - 6 Norseman Crash - 7



Norseman Index S. Nantahala Index
Hiawassee Index NE GA - NC Index