Trabuco Outdoors Blog

Trash in the canyon?

Although it looks like another case of someone dumping trash in the canyon, this is actually a portion of the remains of a Corsair fighter plane which crashed in Trabuco Canyon in 1944  or 1945. A 500+ acre area of  Plano Trabuco was a practice bombing range from 1944 through 1956, and a number of military aircraft were lost to accidents in and around present-day Rancho Santa Margarita.

Because there are a number of unexploded practice bombs (spotting charges) in RSM/Trabuco,the US Army Corps of Engineers monitors the area and removes any unexploded bombs when necessary. They even have a web site dedicated to the bombing range

As for the Corsair, tragically a U.S. airman lost his life in this crash according to aircraft historian Pat Macca.

Wreckfinding in the Santa Ana Mountains - Part 1

 On my web page about exploring Yaeger Mesa, I asked that anyone with any details of the PT-19 wreckage email me, and I'd pass any information on to aircraft archeologist Pat Macha and his team of aircraft wreck finders. About two months ago, I received an email from Bob Pargee of San Clemente which included some personal memoirs including a hike he did in 1950 where he and his friends came across the wreckage the PT-19. Although badly damaged,  the aircraft's condition seemed to suggest it was a survivable crash. Apparently the PT-19 landed on the short mesa and came to an abrupt stop as it careened between two large trees which sheered off its wings and unleashed its engine from its mounts. The latest entry in a logbook found on the aircraft was 1949. Bob was also able to shed some light on why no engine was found in the wreckage remaining today.

I passed the information on to Pat Macha who appreciated Bob's help in pinning down the likely time of the crash to 1949 or 1950. Happily, Bob's account also confirmed Pat's belief that this was probably a nonfatal crash.In all likelihood, this was a war-surplus aircraft. While this information proved valuable to Pat's efforts to document the air crashes in the Santa Ana Mountains, it was another of Bob's memoirs which motivated Pat to mobilze his team of wreckfinders to search out a different and long sought-after crash site...

Wreckfinding in the Santa Ana Mountains - Part 2

Bob Pargee's second memoir mentions an aircraft wreck he and his buddies came across around 1950 or 1951. Large pieces of the aircraft, which he correctly believed was a Grumman F7F Tigercat, were located near a ridge line in a manzanita chaparral-covered area of the Santa Ana Mountains within the Cleveland National Forest. Based on Bob's description of the crash site location and description of the wreckage, Pat Macha believed this was the crash that killed World War II ace Capt. Wilbur J. "Gus" Thomas and Master Sgt. Morgan Hopwood in 1947. They were on a routine flight from San Diego to El Toro in bad weather when the aircraft appeared to hit less than 100 feet below the ridge line. Pat Macha had searched the vicinity for over two decades but was not able to locate the crash site until Bob described the location and pinpointed it on a Google Earth photo.

Last Sunday, Bob and I joined Pat Macha and his aircraft archeology team to search the area for confirmation that this was the same aircraft. Pat's son Patrick, also an experienced wreckfinder, had hiked up a couple of weeks earlier and found evidence of the crash. We managed to reach the trailhead about the time Sunday's storm reached its peak. Perhaps it was fitting that we arrived at the crash site during a storm with high winds, hail and rain; probably similar to the weather on the night of the crash. Pat and his crew found parts of the aircraft stamped with serial numbers confirming that it was Captain Thomas's aircraft. After years of searching, Pat finally located the crash site which claimed the lives of two brave Marines including a true American hero.

Here is the link to the article on the search from the Orange County Register.