WWII B-29 Fly's again..

[timntrucks]

wow that was some super videos.. its a shame that only one is left that is up an off into the blues

 

[asgtoolman]

Goosebumps, goosebumps and more goosebumps!!! At least one is airworthy-- Thanks CAF

 

[ranchhopper]

Didnt they dig one of these out of the ice in antarctica it took years and they retrofitted it with new engines and the battery cable came loose on takeoff and it burned up on the ice. I watched a documentary on it after years of digging it out and I believe the mechanic died too while working on it.

 

[oldMan99]

Didnt they dig one of these out of the ice in antarctica it took years and they retrofitted it with new engines and the battery cable came loose on takeoff and it burned up on the ice. I watched a documentary on it after years of digging it out and I believe the mechanic died too while working on it.

If I recall correctly the fire was caused by a portable generator they were using as a APU. They had made some makeshift brackets to hold the generator/APU in the tail area of the aircraft. While taxing on the very rough tundra to their ice runway the generator/APU bracket broke and the generator/APU fell. It was either the heat from the engine or an electrical short that caused the fire.

They had nothing but a few hand held fire extinguishers to try to fight the fire with and of course that was not nearly enough.

It was a real shame to watch the old lady burn to nothing more than a pile of melted structural parts. Once the runway melted (Ice covered lake) the remaining bits sank to the bottom of the lake.

I do believe you are correct about the death as well. Again, from memory, I think it was medical (Heart attack?) from exertion during the fire, not from smoke/flame. In any case it only serves to increase the level of tragedy that day.

On a much brighter note, does anybody have any information to share about the "Glacier Gal"? In contrast to the epic tragedy on the above noted B-29, the Glacier Gal story is truly amazing and I believe it is flying today....

 

[Takai13]

Glacier Girl of the Lost Squadron.

Glacier Girl - The Lost Squadron (Recovery of a P-38 from beneath a Greenland ice cap)

 

[Fredo Corleone]

Didnt they dig one of these out of the ice in antarctica it took years and they retrofitted it with new engines and the battery cable came loose on takeoff and it burned up on the ice. I watched a documentary on it after years of digging it out and I believe the mechanic died too while working on it.

That was the Kee Bird left in greenland since 1947.


I got the tour of FIFI about twenty years ago beautiful plane.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

If I recall correctly the fire was caused by a portable generator they were using as a APU. They had made some makeshift brackets to hold the generator/APU in the tail area of the aircraft. While taxing on the very rough tundra to their ice runway the generator/APU bracket broke and the generator/APU fell. It was either the heat from the engine or an electrical short that caused the fire.

They had nothing but a few hand held fire extinguishers to try to fight the fire with and of course that was not nearly enough.

It was a real shame to watch the old lady burn to nothing more than a pile of melted structural parts. Once the runway melted (Ice covered lake) the remaining bits sank to the bottom of the lake.

I do believe you are correct about the death as well. Again, from memory, I think it was medical (Heart attack?) from exertion during the fire, not from smoke/flame. In any case it only serves to increase the level of tragedy that day.

On a much brighter note, does anybody have any information to share about the "Glacier Gal"? In contrast to the epic tragedy on the above noted B-29, the Glacier Gal story is truly amazing and I believe it is flying today....

I thought the "Kee" bird might come up on this thread. I really tried to avoid it as we have a family friend that lost $$$$ in that deal. Anyhow, yes it was the APU but it was a makeshift fuel tank that was hanging in the tail. The APU was running as required for flight to help support the electrical systems. Durring a high speed taxi test off their makeshift runway, they hit a large ice heave and the tank broke loose spilling fuel on the hot APU engine and a fire took over the tail. Being that the B-29 skin is MAGNESIUM, there was no stopping it.

On the contrary to the "nothing salvageable" The outer wings were repairable and all 4 of the 0 TIME overhauled engines and PROPS were still fine!!! Due to the gobs of money spent, they did not bother to salvage what was left OR clean up the area of fuel drums and equipment flown in to the salvage area. They just packed up and left it sit on the ice. She sat until spring and broke through to the bottom. The country is "PISSED" that no effort was done to clean the area and that the remains are now at the bottom of the lake. Now our friend also had a Serviceable Prop. He loaned the group his prop so they could fly it out. " the value of over 28K according to Hamilton Standard is now at the bottom of the lake. All he was given was a letter stating that it was his prop and that if salvaged by someone, he still had ownership.
I know a group from the UK wanted to go get it but the country is reluctant to allow ANYONE to go get it!

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Forgot to add, the mechanic who died , I believe got sick from pseumonia that was untreated. He died early in the project and did not live to see her burn.

 

[oldMan99]

Thanks for the additional info! It has been awhile since I saw the documentary and was working from old rusty memory banks. Reading what you said about the generator/fuel tank/fuel spill seems to jog something in the memory and I'm pretty sure your correct about that. I am however pretty sure that in the documentary they failed to mention that the wings and engines remained salvageable (And were just left there). And I am very sure they failed to mention that the site was left a mess with fuel/oil drums and so forth.

I really feel for the guys that were out there trying to save the old bird and the disappointment they must have felt but they should have made the commitment to at least make an attempt to remove the fuel and oil from the site to limit the contamination of the lake/environment.

You would also have thought that they would have salvaged the rare (And still serviceable) engines and propellers. Maybe they just thought that the salvage cost was more than the parts were worth? I donno.

All in all, it is a real shame the way it ended up. I bet the guy that "Engineered/installed" the fuel tank bracket was pretty unpopular with th rest of the crew....

After reading what you said about the mechanic - I was pretty sure it was not due to the fire and was medical (Was correct about that) but after reading your info and starting to remember more, I was thinking that it may have happened during the "repair season" the year before the fire, not during the final repair session?? That might not be correct ether though, like I said, it has been awhile since I saw the documentary.

Thanks again for both the clarifications and the additional info! Getting additional info is always nice, especially when it is something of "Insider info". The news and documentarys always leave stuff out..

Did not mean to hi-jack the thread, my apologies to the OP and my thanks to him for starting a great thread about a grand old piece of American hardware!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

I am in awe.

Thank you for posting this thread.

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Yes, the mechanic died the year prior to the flyout attempt. Yes it was very sad that the engines and props were not salvaged as they were new overhauls. I dont even know if her orig engines were removed from the site. I do know they were changed for the flight out. Our friend got a video on the progress after the first work season. I can only say that they were on a shoestring budget and lots of short cuts were attempted. I will also say that the team leader is no longer ever seen in the warbird circles.