US Wants Salvaged Brewster Back

The Navy wants it back -- a 60-year old Brewster F3A-1 Corsair salvaged by warbird enthusiast Lex Cralley. So the government is suing the Princeton (MN) aircraft mechanic, demanding he return the wreckage he salvaged in 1990.

"I'm just a little guy," said Cralley. "I have no wealth, work for a living, have four kids."

Cralley says he'll fight the lawsuit, but at this point, apparently has very little to go on. The government simply isn't talking about why it wants the wrecked fighter back.

"We're not going to provide anything more than what we'll be saying in court," said Justice Dept. spokesman Charles Miller.

Cralley's Brewster Corsair, salvaged from the swamps of eastern North Carolina, was one of 735 built during WWII. It appears to be the sole survivor of that line.

The 49-year old Cralley says he was first contacted by the government about the Brewster Corsair about five years ago, when officials suggested he "exchange" the aircraft with the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola (FL).

FMI: http://naval.aviation.museum