Tuskegee Airmen history uncovered in Lake Huron

A Bell Airacobra P-39 at Selfridge, 1941.

A P-39 in flight. Courtesy Wayne Lusardi, State of Michigan Maritime Archaeologist.

Thomas Fosdick, a maritime archaeology student at East Carolina University, giant strides into Lake Huron for a dive on a Bell P-39 Aircobra near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Landing gear are seen on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, examines the engine of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, and Wayne Lusardi, Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, look at an artifact recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, relaxes after diving on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

The engine of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

The starboard wing of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Landing gear are seen on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

The flap on a wing section is seen on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Landing gear with an intact tire are seen on the wing of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Archeologists pound a spike into the clay bottom near the engine of a Bell P-39 Aircobra, to be used for measurements, in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, and Wayne Lusardi, left. Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, looks over a flap motor recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

A Flap motor sits on the deck of a boat recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Hand painted numbers are painted on material recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Wayne Lusardi, Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, looks at an artifact recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Gobies hang around the port wing, with paint and navigation light intact, are seen on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, examines the engine of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

A flap motor, at left, lies next to landing gear with an intact tire are seen on the wing of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, examines the engine of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Wayne Lusardi, Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, holds a drawing he did of the wreck site of a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Wayne Lusardi, Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, draws a map in poor visibility, of a wing section on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Wayne Lusardi, left. Michigan State Maritime Archaeologist, Dominic Fagnoli, a maritime archaeology student at East Carolina University, and Brian Smith, CEO and President of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit, talk over their dive plan on a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Dominic Fagnoli, a maritime archaeology student at East Carolina University, left, and Carrie Sowden, Archaeological Director at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, use fins to cover an artifact with water from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Wayne Lusardi, Dominic Fargnoli, and Thomas Fosdick load a flap motor from a Bell P-39 Aircobra onto their boat in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

East Carolina University student Dominic Fargnoli washes down a flap motor recovers from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron near Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Carrie Sowden, Wayne Lusardi and Thomas Fosdick move a flap motor from a MDNR boat onto a cart in Lexington, Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The piece recovered from a Bell P-39 Aircobra in Lake Huron was transported to the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum in Detroit The crash killed Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody during a training mission in 1944.(Andy Morrison, The Detroit News)

Isis Gillespie, conservator technician at the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, cleans a .50 caliber machine gun in a hangar at City Airport, Friday, August, 11, 2023. The gun was recovered from the wreckage of the P-39 of Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody in Lake Huron. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News

Brian Smith, President and CEO at the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, and Isis Gillespie, conservator technician at the msueum, clean a .50 caliber machine gun and in a hangar at City Airport, Friday, August, 11, 2023. The gun was recovered from the wreckage of the P-39 of Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody in Lake Huron. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News

The empennage, or tail section of the P-39 of 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, sits in the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum hangar at City Airport, Friday, August, 11, 2023. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News

Isis Gillespie, conservator technician at the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, and Brian Smith, the museumÕs President and CEO, pull a propeller from an electrolysis bath in a hangar at City Airport, Friday, August, 11, 2023. The prop was recovered from the wreckage of the P-39 of Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody in Lake Huron. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News

Isis Gillespie, conservator technician at the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, shows an entrance bullet hole in a propeller recovered from the wreckage of the P-39 of Tuskegee Airman 2nd Lt. Frank Moody in Lake Huron, at City Airport, Friday, August, 11, 2023. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News