Plane wreckage at Bear Swamp Hill

lost soul

Scout
Mar 4, 2007
30
0
Pitman
Hey all I'm new to this forum and when saw this thread I was intriqued by the wreckage stories. So I went to Bear Swamp hill today with piney boy to look for the landing gear. With the GPS coordinates I felt confident we would find it easily, but we never did. We were in the swamp and must have been close. Can anyone tell me if the landing gear is still there?
thanks, Ken
 

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
1,279
236
61
Vicksburg, Michigan
Yeah, it's definitely there. Worth looking for, the swamp is a great place to explore. Better now than in chigger season. I got the worst bites ever looking for that site.
Be sure to look for the remains of the tower, and the bathrooms nearby! Weird ruin, it took me a minute to figure out what it was. :)
 

wolfspider05

Explorer
Nov 12, 2004
223
11
40
Riverside Nj
Has anyone seen the show dogfight show with Hunter Ellis on the History Channel about the F-105 Thunderchief? That was pretty cool watching that. I showed my grandpop some pictures of the landing gear, he said it brought back memories, he used to fly them.
 

Y-BUC-BILL

Explorer
Mar 9, 2007
129
26
The day of the wreck a few of us were working on our motor- cycle Curly Fern Enduro.Saw a lot of helicoters flying in the direction of Bear Swamp Hill.That nite we found out about the crash.There were 4 planes in the group,Navy out of Willow Grove.They started their bombing run on the range at Warren Grove.There was no indication of a problem.The plane that crashed,peeled off from the group ...no radio contact..hit the fire tower and continued thru the trees till there was nothing left of it at the bottom of the hill..We visited the site the following week-end.If you stand at the fire tower looking east,there is a cedar swamp at the bottom of the hill.We walked down the hill..wreckage all over the place...nothing big..half way down parts of the cockpit were found.I believe that is wher the pilot's body was found.Lots of live ammo ..I believe 50 cal.Near the bottom of the hill we found one of the landing gear.To the right of the impact area,looking at the cedar swamp,we could see where something big went into the swamp snapping off trees.We followed the trail into the swamp.There we found the other landing gear.Walking back to the primary impact area,we walked till the wreckage ended.There laid the jet engine.That nite I called Fort Dix and told them about the live ammo.Said we hid what we found so no one would pick it up.I was told not to worry as that ammo was fired electricly and the chances of it going off was remote.I had my doubts about that answer.I hope this answers some of your questions.
 

lost soul

Scout
Mar 4, 2007
30
0
Pitman
Thanks for sharing Y Buc Bill. It sound like there is a lot of wreckage out there, but it's so overgrown it's hard to find anthing.
 

Y-BUC-BILL

Explorer
Mar 9, 2007
129
26
lost soul-Bear Swamp Hill

There was a lot of wreckage.Most of it was small pieces.That landing gear as I mentioned that wound up in the Cedar Swamp is probably still there.
 
Oct 25, 2006
1,757
1
73
There was a lot of wreckage.Most of it was small pieces.That landing gear as I mentioned that wound up in the Cedar Swamp is probably still there.

:D It's still there,i was out there last saturday at 4:p.m.,on the way to and from the gear back to my car,i was scraped,raked,bloodied,and bruised,i can attest to that.I was also very soaked up to my ankles,the kid cleaned out my car the night before and took out my hip waders,i should have checked before i left home,did not tell me till i got home,what a surprise when i arrived at the parking spot,opened the trunk and no waders,oh well, i was there, so i went in anyway with sneakers on.That is also the only piece of the wreckage that remains.
 

lost soul

Scout
Mar 4, 2007
30
0
Pitman
I went out after work today and found the landing gear . Unfortunately I couldn't find the trail out again and had to bushwack west until I found the cross trail. I was very close on Saturday, probably within 60 yards.
 
Oct 25, 2006
1,757
1
73
I went out after work today and found the landing gear . Unfortunately I couldn't find the trail out again and had to bushwack west until I found the cross trail. I was very close on Saturday, probably within 60 yards.

Welcome to the site,i definitely after last saturday's outing am looking for a new gps handheld,my garmin e-trex is about to be retired.I am looking at the garmin venture cx,anyone have any comments on the unit?
 

lost soul

Scout
Mar 4, 2007
30
0
Pitman
I have the legend cx and like it very much. I've just never tried to pinpoint something that small in that heavy of cover. The distance to target reading was changing even when I was standing still.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,628
8,229
It is depressing how awful they work in dense woods.

Guy
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,953
3,104
Pestletown, N.J.
Welcome to the site,i definitely after last saturday's outing am looking for a new gps handheld,my garmin e-trex is about to be retired.I am looking at the garmin venture cx,anyone have any comments on the unit?

I just bought the Garmin 60CSX and a preloaded micro SD card with the topo for the Northeast US (region 7) and it is awesome. The mapping and color screen is worth the extra bucks.
It comes with a 64 meg blank micro SD card and you can put a 2 gig card in it.
My next purchase is the Bluechart micro SD for the Atlantic Ocean off NJ and D Bay.
Scott
 
Oct 25, 2006
1,757
1
73
It is depressing how awful they work in dense woods.

Guy

http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVenturecx/

This is the unit i am thinking of buying,any comments are welcome.I would really like to buy the unit that rednek just bought,but finances deter me at this time.When i was coming out of the woods saturday in sight of my car with no canopy overhead,my e-trex(yellow)wassaying accurate to 13 feet,it was a straight line to my car about 40 feet,the directional pointer instead of pointing straight ahead,was offset about 60 degrees.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,953
3,104
Pestletown, N.J.
http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVenturecx/

This is the unit i am thinking of buying,any comments are welcome.I would really like to buy the unit that rednek just bought,but finances deter me at this time.When i was coming out of the woods saturday in sight of my car with no canopy overhead,my e-trex(yellow)wassaying accurate to 13 feet,it was a straight line to my car about 40 feet,the directional pointer instead of pointing straight ahead,was offset about 60 degrees.

The 60CSX gets a fix in my living room through a window with the blinds closed.
I have used it geocaching the last 2 weekends in dense woods and it is dead nuts on.
I paid $369 for the 60CSX and the unit you are looking at is $199.00
The thing that I don't like about the Etrex is that the keys are on the side.
I didn't want to spend as much as I did but I am glad I did.
Your talking about another $170 that's only 8.5 cases of Yuengling.
I would save my pennies for a few more months.
 
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