PORTAGE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Workers are restoring a piece of history in Portage.

The Air Zoo in Portage is working to restore a U.S. Navy FM-2 Wildcat that crashed in December 1944 in Lake Michigan when it was trying to take off.

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The tail of the plane was caught in a paddle wheel on the aircraft carrier and was sheared off, with what was left of the plane being discovered and brought to Portage for the work in 2012.