B-29 Frozen in Time

Other Wars Cold War
#1

I saw this program on Nova back in 97. an amazing story of a team of men who attempted to rescue a down B-29 called Kee Bird in the frozen artic north. i was facinated. could they repair this piece of history on sight in artic weather and fly it home??? part 6 of the vid tells the story. one man lost his life in the rescue attempt

In February 1947, a B-29 bomber nicknamed Kee Bird became lost above the Arctic Circle while on a secret Cold War reconnaissance mission. After crash landing in northern Greenland, the crew was rescued, but the Kee Bird was left behind. Although nearly 4,000 B-29s were built in the 1940s, by 1994 the Kee Bird was one of only a few such planes left in the world. Its historical significance and well-preserved condition attracted the attention of Darryl Greenamyer, an experienced salvage pilot. After surveying the plane and its location, Greenamyer decided to repair the Kee Bird and fly it back to the United States. This episode of NOVA follows his team’s efforts to rescue the Kee Bird.

in 6 original parts and well worth watching. narrated by the late Richard Crenna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFdFo9Yo0LI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOf2LS5JGM8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg4cz2Rt8TM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jan6-LdFdow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d6yEFhjXXg

part 6. mission accomplished or not???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tJb-bmgBC0

the only operational B-29 I know of is FIFI. but there are many on static display nation wide. including the 2 that flew with enola gay on the Hiroshima bomb mission

#2

That’s amazing.
Have they plans to resque and restore the unique aircraft?

#3

Incredible…talk about “frozen in time.”

#4

not any more

#5

I seen this documentary a few years ago. It was heart braking to see it burn to the ground. They forgot to shut down the APU before taxiing. It brke loose and started a fire. They were so close to getting it back.

#6

I saw it again yesterday on PBS.

#7

I felt kinda sad for them at the end. All that hard work for nothing. As one said at the end, at least they tried.

#8

Alot of warbird afficionados were upset about the outcome, with accusations thrown about along the lines of ‘cowboys’.

General consensus was that it should have been recovered by strip down and taken to a suitable airfield for a proper refurb job before trying to fly it. All that remains is sitting in the bottom of the lake now.

Hindsight is easy but actually being able to fly it out would have been amazing.

#9

True.

#10

That first photo is amazing!