Group Project

Do you think that Mr. Champlin should have consulted with the Navy before spending his time and money on this project? Should he (or the general public for that matter) have known about this special rule regarding federal property? Consider whether there should be a time limit or statute of limitations regarding the forfeiture or non-forfeiture of title. Also, consider whether property should be considered lost or abandoned by the failure to protect or attempt recovery of the property.
Mr. Champlin should consult the Navy before starting his project on the restoring the plane. In fact, if he consulted the Navy, he could avoid the problems he is currently because, if the Navy had no objections to his project to restore the plane, he could invest his money into the project without any risk of trials or lawsuits being filed by the Navy. On the other hand, over half of a century has passed since the moment of the plane’s crash and the federal government has never announced the loss of its property. In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the federal government is likely to consider the plane as regular casualty which were frequent during World War II (Dukeminier & Krier, 2002). What is meant here is the fact that the plane was not just lost by the Navy but it was destroyed and it was not used or even searched for by the Navy. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that the Navy and federal government did not search for remnants of destroyed vehicles, planes, and other property destroyed in battles during World War II (Bruce and Ely 2003). Through such action, or to put it more precisely, inaction, the Navy demonstrated that they have no claims in relation to the plane. Therefore, the actions of Mr. Champlin did not need any consultations with the Navy. Even if he knew the ruling on the federal property, such a position of the navy and the federal government proves that they do not consider the plane their property after the crash. In this regard, half of a century is a too long time to claim for return of the federal property.

 
References:
Bruce, J.W. and J.W. Ely Jr. (2003). Cases and Materials on Modern Property Law. New York: West Group.
Dukeminier, J. & J.E. Krier. (2002). Property. New York: Aspen Law & Business.