dhc-4 de havilland canada caribou

[TheBeebe1972]

Soft soil, failed flaps, and an excessive load - all threatened to end a mission that would have failed anyway: the revival of the Kee-Bird, a B-29 Bomber.

[pradzee123]

wow lucky..

[oracle2world]

Hey, it is either a crash or it doesn't count for anything.

[GSDirtboy]

No problem. Just pull that bird apart and re-assemble it with both wings on each side of an engine, bolt the tail on the back of the engine, and fly it out. Oh, wait! That was a different movie!

[alpha18412]

Maybe done on a budget, maybe due to conditions, maybe done on the spirit of a wing and a prayer but everything in this video screams half-assed.

[queenofyeay]

@alpha18412 You got that SH*T right... I was thinking as I watched them bounce Kee Bird through the ruts... "Wait till the next season, you are going to shake the plane apart!" As a huge student of WWII aviation I can't describe how stunned, then how massively angry I got as that beautiful plane burned to the ground A**HOLES! It was moving alright, moved me to tears at the senseless loss of a national treasure. I applauded the git-er done effort, until they basically torched her, FFS!

[alpha18412]

@queenofyeay Thanks for the reply after all these months. As a former Field Artillery guy areonautics are'nt my forte. But as a member of what used to be the US Army RDF I feel that aircraft could either make or break my life on Earth.

I also have a certain attraction to WWII aircraft as a historian in my own mind.

This entire episode came across to me as way too presumptive for the characters and material involved; a tribute, I think to today's reality TV (NATGEO not excluded).

[hotelgulf718]

Agree. A lot.of effort for a lot of loss. It was quite moving to watch the whole process and the terrible results for working like animals. The upside is that the mechanic did pass doing what he loved.

[oktobercat]

The ending was tragic, the fire , the death of the mechanic, the tool kits lost with the b29, i,m a mechanic myself so it was a documentary that i really capured my attention, in hindsight perhaps the kee bird may have been recovered safely in sections, or component modules, it was sad, i had tears in my eyes at the end of it, if only the apu was switched off , it may have worked, RIP mechanic buddy, a unique insight 2 a brave adventure.

[onefugowie]

@oktobercat gear head myself they should have parted the plane out left the engines instead of bringing in four new ones and props it was taking a great chance flying it out would have been amazing bringing the bird in though and landing it

[queenofyeay]

@oktobercat Yes, the ending was tragic, as a diesel mechanic of 30 years, I applauded the huge effort, even if it was on a shoestring. BUT I believe they REALLY only needed one thing to have flown Kee Bird out successfully.

Enough common sense to wait till the next season to fly the plane out.

So a lack of the proper funding as well as a lack of stamina to do it all again the next season, caused the loss of a life as well as the loss of a national treasure. Shameful

[ugens1]

Nova: B-29 Frozen in Time

[crazygood150]

What documentary is this???

[kurlywanker]

Beauty ! For sure a great save....long live the Caribou !

[dawgphart]

Great save. With no flaps and little fuel, you do what you gotta do. Buy that pilot a beer.

[jonqdrum]

it makes my head hurt watching you virgins argue points of view and explain shit when it is excessively apparent your knowledge of aviation and off strip operations is zero. Maybe you flew a 172 or read a flight manual but beyond that shut up..and it was hard to watch the ending of this documentary

[bruno640]

@jonqdrum Yeah, that kinda made me sad, too. Guess the ol' "Kee-Bird" wasn't meant to leave her "nest", after all those years! A shame about those new engines, though. And all that work invested, not to mention the loss of one of the crew, whose name shamefully escapes me at the moment. But, at least it was done in the right-spirit...

[Chuckjagermeister]

Keep off those brakes. Jeez.

[kingair81r]

The caribou was freed and flown but the b29 recovery failed.

[ismasamov55]

Flap failure had nothing to do with sinking into the sand. By the time the aircraft started digging in to the sand the aircraft was moving to slow for flaps to have any effect.

Also. What bullshit, Dangerously overloaded. How can that be for one thing it would be illegal and second impossible as the pilot said he was too low on fuel. Fuel = weight

[lazflyn]

Flaps probably would have helped him come in slower so he would have used much less runway and stayed on the firm part of the surface. Notice how hard he hit on the first part and the tires didn't dig in. If he could have come in slower than 90 kts the landing would have been more successful.

[YoughMama]

ismasamov, flaps create more lift allowing the plane to land at a slower speed without stalling, this allows it to take less runway and presumably stop before reaching softer soil. While the plane may not have been overloaded for a normal runway (such as the one it took off from) it could be overloaded for a shorter runway even though it burnt up most of its fuel.

[ismasamov55]

Everyone seems to assume that this aircraft is landing on a "Landing strip" When in fact The landing is being done on a unprepared area.

There was no "overrun" area. The whole area was full of soft spots that only effected the aircraft when it slowed. Planes can land on water ,or "skim", hydroplane if they are moving fast enough,, if allowed to get too slow ,will quickly sink.

This aircraft for lack of a better word sandoplaned then was effected by soft spots once it slowed

[bargie38]

Sandoplaning?? What are you smoking? No such thing as that. If it's soft, you bog in, doesn't matter how fast you are going. With the Bou, putting the flaps down to 40 and giving it a boost of power will help un-bog you due to the blown wing effect. Yes, even stopped this works!

[menfalling]

i ve seen this video on tv it make my cry at the end !!

where did you find it?

[allyn788]

It's an excerpt from a documentatry about Darryl Greenamyer's attempted recovery of the B29 Kee Bird.

Not to give the ending away, but the attempt was unsuccessful....absolutely heartbreaking...

[jospi2]

This is from one of the best documenteries I've ever seen. Sadly no happy end.

[RORYALGATE]

GOTA LOVE THE CARIBOU....SWEET!!!

[volouro]

B-29 Frozen in Time. Love NOVA.Picked up the DVD of this episode about a year ago.