ORAC
27th Feb 2004, 04:19
You may have seen film of the P-38 Lightning raised from under the Greenland icecap which, after 10 years restoration, has now joined the airshow circuit in the USA.
It was 1 of 8 which landed, the rest are still there. Of the remaining 7 the first to land flipped inverted on the ice, the remainder belly landed with engines running and suffered prop, and presumably engine, damage. Apart from that they, and their escorting B-17s, are relatively intact.
A German team has now announced that they intend to raise the remaining aircraft.
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(AFP) February 26, 2004
Buried US planes to be raised from ice
From A Correspondent in Berlin
A GERMAN team hopes to recover a “lost squadron” of American warplanes from the Greenland ice, more than 60 years after they crash-landed at the height of the Second World War. The task would involve using steam to melt 300ft of compressed snow estimated to be lying on top of seven apparently undamaged aircraft.
“Our aim is to make the aircraft accessible to the public,” Rolf Grunert, a spokesman for the team, said yesterday. “We hope to get an offer from a museum.”
The United States had joined the war after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, but efforts to supply Britain with war material were hampered by the Nazi U-boat campaign.The Lockheed P38 Lightning, a fast fighter aircraft with the longest range then available, was needed to escort B17 Flying Fortress bombers over Europe. They were to be ferried to England via Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland in formation with two B17s, which would navigate.
Bad weather and navigation problems forced the aircraft to crash-land in Greenland, just south of the Arctic Circle. The uninjured crews were rescued more than a week later, but the aircraft were abandoned. Thirteen expeditions have succeeded in recovering only one Lightning, which was brought to the surface in 1992. It was restored in the US and named Glacier Girl.
It was 1 of 8 which landed, the rest are still there. Of the remaining 7 the first to land flipped inverted on the ice, the remainder belly landed with engines running and suffered prop, and presumably engine, damage. Apart from that they, and their escorting B-17s, are relatively intact.
A German team has now announced that they intend to raise the remaining aircraft.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(AFP) February 26, 2004
Buried US planes to be raised from ice
From A Correspondent in Berlin
A GERMAN team hopes to recover a “lost squadron” of American warplanes from the Greenland ice, more than 60 years after they crash-landed at the height of the Second World War. The task would involve using steam to melt 300ft of compressed snow estimated to be lying on top of seven apparently undamaged aircraft.
“Our aim is to make the aircraft accessible to the public,” Rolf Grunert, a spokesman for the team, said yesterday. “We hope to get an offer from a museum.”
The United States had joined the war after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, but efforts to supply Britain with war material were hampered by the Nazi U-boat campaign.The Lockheed P38 Lightning, a fast fighter aircraft with the longest range then available, was needed to escort B17 Flying Fortress bombers over Europe. They were to be ferried to England via Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland in formation with two B17s, which would navigate.
Bad weather and navigation problems forced the aircraft to crash-land in Greenland, just south of the Arctic Circle. The uninjured crews were rescued more than a week later, but the aircraft were abandoned. Thirteen expeditions have succeeded in recovering only one Lightning, which was brought to the surface in 1992. It was restored in the US and named Glacier Girl.