Bruce Robertson the man who set the search rolling.
Planning and Preparation
I obtained maps of Loch Doon both old and new. The old maps showed the features of the loch before it was flooded in 1936 as part of the Galloway hydro electric scheme. Loch Doon is the highest loch, (being 700 ft above sea level), of a series of lochs, and acts as a header tank to fill lower dams in times of water shortage.
The main outlet is vey deep below ground and lies under the gully between Culliendoch Hill and Craigencolon. The outlet was to prove a hazard to divers in the early searches, which were very near the outlet.
The loch was formed in the ice age and the bottom consists of mud which varies in depth to about 1.5 metres.
There are occasional rocky outcrops of submerged islands. Some of the individual rocks were up to 3 metres high and these eventually made a snag line search ineffective. There are many under water springs where no sediment settles. The border between Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway runs down the eastern shore and this factor could have proved very significant in the future, however no complications arose when the Spitfire was ultimately recovered.