| Site Type: | Airplane Wreck |
| Depth: | Median: 27M Bottom: 28M |
| Location: | Between the fringing reef to the north west of Munda and the main island of Rendova. Solomon Islands. |
The Airacobra wreck near Munda in the Solomons Western Province is largely intact and sits upright on a sandy bottom in an accessible 28 m of water.
The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service when the United States entered World War II. It had an innovative layout, with the engine installed in the centre of the fuselage, behind the pilot, and driving a tractor propeller via a long shaft.
This example sits at 28m on a flat sandy bottom.
Usually the viz is pretty good and will stay that way if you keep your fins up!
Actually quite a large plane for a fighter.
It is full of what I assume are juveniles – they made it hard to get any ‘long’ shots.
Hanging around the back were a bunch of Gold-spotted Sweetlips – just ‘hanging’ as Sweetlips are wanton to do.
On the wing there was a Leaf Scorpionfish. As with many Solomons dive sites, there was no current or surge, so he wasn’t doing much leaf action. In fact he hopped away after he got bored of us.
Inside the wreck are large numbers of bug-eyed shrimp – looking like they’ve escaped from some crazy animated feature.
The flatter surfaces, the corals have started to claim as their own.
Rather usefully, Dive Munda have models of the aircraft wrecks that they dive in their dive shop. Have a look before you go down.
