Mission Impossible

[Flying Lawyer]

News report from California ....

Plans to tether a World War II era C-47 plane to a California Air National Guard Chinook helicopter and airlift it from the airport to the Travis Air Museum had to be scrapped when the plane turned out to be too heavy to lift.

"It's a big disappointment, but that's better than a catastrophe," said Duncan Miller, former U.S. Army Air Corps pilot, who owned the aircraft - which like other C-47s is affectionately nicknamed "Gooney Bird" - for some 17 years before donating it to the museum.

"It breaks my heart, but it is smart of the helicopter crew not to do it, for safety reasons," Miller said. "I've been aboard aircraft that crashed. This is the better way. It's better to say I'm sorry it didn't work today than trying to explain why it crashed."

California Air National Guard Flight Engineer Steve Robertson said the problem came down to a simple issue of weight. "When we did the planning, we were told it weighed around 17,000 pounds and that's an acceptable amount," he said. "But when we lifted it, it weighed considerably more. It must weigh around 21,000 to 22,000 (pounds)." The Chinook is not capable of lifting that kind of weight, he explained.

Plans to move the plane are not ending, however. Robertson said that if portions of the wings or the engines were removed, the lift could go forward. Then the removed portions could be reconnected at Travis.
"We'll have to see," said Miller. "I'm no quitter."