B-29 Frozen in Time Pt 6

***Final Part***

B-29 Frozen in Time follows Darryl Greenamyer and his crew as they try to retrieve an almost intact B-29 from the Arctic Circle. The airplane crash-landed nearly 50 years earlier during a secret mission for the United States. The pilots survived the crash and were rescued, but the B-29 was left in the harsh and unforgiving climate 250 miles north of Thule, Greenland. Greenamyer, a former test pilot who set a low-altitude speed record in a jet he built from spare parts, believes that he can actually fly the plane after performing some maintenance and building a short runway. He flies in parts for the B-29 and a massive bulldozer to clear the runway, but every takeoff is dangerous in these conditions, and he and his crew have a short window for success due to the brief summer. Greenamyer also faces a limited budget and other difficult hurdles as they try to resurrect a piece of history and fly it home.

***Property of Nova, No copyright infringement intended***

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• B-29
• Superfortress
• Thule
• Darryl
• Greenamyer
• RB-29
• Cold
• War
• Greenland
• bomber
• plane
• aircraft
• snow
• B-29A
• B-17
• B-25
• B-52
• abandoned
• recovery
• fire
• ww2
• world
• war
• cold
• korean
• korea
• wright
• military
• warfare
• explosion
• tragedy
• artic
• flying
• fortress

[FiveCentsPlease]

@bc1969214

Kee Bird was lost because they ran out of fuel and one of the last radio message was that they only had four minutes fuel onboard. I haven't read any accounts from the crew, but they did burn/destroy all classified documents and equipment. It's possible what little fuel was left along with the oil and hydraulic fluid was used for warmth and to destroy equipment, and that the tanks would have been mostly dry afterward.

[bc1969214]

@757mech1 another thing I'm speculating on due to lack of knowledge but would they have to purge all the old hydraulic fluid and replace with new? Possibly cycling the gear helped work the old stuff out of the system if it's interconnected. The fuel system was another thing the documentary didn't cover. What did they do with the old fuel and how did they check the tank condition for contaminants so rust and crap wasn't coming loose as the pilot went baha?

[djfelon4life]

They taxied the plane way to fast too much bouncing.

[byd4201]

that sucks

[Tull29]

I saw the entire documentary some years ago. If I recall correctly after all the effort to restore and to get this bird into flying condition again and given the monumental task at hand, she caught fire during her run up to lift off on a makeshift plowed strip. I think it was a ruptured auxiliary fuel cell that caused it.

To even attempt such an endeavor was the product of passion and a thorough understanding of the war years!

Just my two cents worth.

Just my two cents worth.

[48censor]

its the ghost of the old crew members who did not want the plane to leave its resting place.

[RatkoUSA]

Sad

[Asovtcev]

... A real tragedy.....

[josekosteleta]

Why can not disarmed and restored. It was obvious that if the place will power in a problem could happen. The plane was there for 50 years. It is naive to think that everything would be fine.

[blackhawks430]

i would have put a rope on to it and pull it with the caribou bcs of the front tire it would have kept it strait but o well whats gone is gone