The expedition, led by Jim Salazar and Ken McBride from Arctic Hotpoint Solutions and Fallen American MIA Repatriation Foundation (FAMIARF), just returned from Greenland’s Ice Cap having reached all set targets with success. The targets were to locate P-38 “Echo” dogfighter from Lost Squadron and to test new Drone/GPR research technology to locate airplanes buried under 300 feet or more of ice.
The team worked in two groups – the UAV group started the research with the new technology – a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and drone integrated system to locate the P-38. The acquired data showed anomalies at a depth of around 300 feet.
UAV radar’s contact was confirmed by the ground surveying group. The distance between determined locations of both groups was 10ft.
The Lightning is one from the same group of six P-38’s and two B-17s which got stranded on the ice in Greenland during a WWII ferry operation. As most readers will be aware, a previous team recovered one of these P-38s back in the late 80s, and restored her to flight. We all know that aircraft as Glacier Girl now.
They'll try and get the ice melted and pull it out next year.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a22575917/wwii-p-38-discovered-under-300-feet-of-ice-in-greenland/
https://www.uasvision.com/2018/07/27/drone-locates-lost-p-38-squadron-in-greenland/
Hope its in decent shape. Glacier Girl was okay, but had been crushed a bit by the ice. These guys do their homework and do a good job unlike some wreck hunters who push the limits and end up destroying more than they save, and create a lot of acrimony and make it more difficult for the guys that are the real deal.
ReplyDeleteI suspect this will be in the same condition. That's a shame, but there was nothing that would have protected one any more than the other... i think. How they get 300 feet under ice... that's something I can't remember reading and explanation about
DeleteSnow falls & freezes, the some more snow falls & freezes too. Lots of snowfall up there. This repeats itself for 3/4 of a century.
ReplyDeleteHope they get another one up from there, as P-38's are both beautiful and rare. The really pricey bits like engines, instruments, weapons, landing gear and such is likely to have survived without much damage.
There are 4 P-38's and 2 B-17's left. The B-17's are doubtful because of their size, but with every extraction they'll get better at getting the P-38's out.
DeleteI believe there there's a Popular Mechanics article on how Glacier Girl was extracted. That's the good news, they've done this before and can improve the process rather than inventing it as was the case the first time. Once located they use an H point melting cone to bore a human sized hole down to depth. Then the work is to use steam to remove the ice from around the plane so that it can be disassembled and lifted to the surface. On the one hand it would be the coolest thing ever to be a part of this team, but on the other hand, working 250+ feet down in a ice cavern takes balls.
ReplyDeletemost of em were sold and cut up as scrap metal after the war.
ReplyDeletethey literally were worthless.