B-29, 45-21768 "Kee Bird"

MikeD

MikeD

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Don't know if you guys (esp the youngin's here) remember this. USAAF B-29 45-21768 "Kee Bird" crash landed in northwest Greenland on the ice in 1947 during a spy mission. It was abandoned in place on the ice. In 1994, a group of avation restorers sought to recover the now-buried B-29 and bring it up to flying condition. Over a year of work was undertaken bringing it out of the ice and making a ton of repairs to it. On the day it was going to take off from the ice, enroute to Thule AFB prior to coming to the USA, the cre was performing an engine runup, when a leaking gas can near the APU caught fire. The fire was unnoticed until it was too late to be controlled and the Kee Bird burned to the ground and back into the ice, where its remains lay still today.

A tragedy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kee_Bird

The last sentence of the Wiki description, is curious indeed:

The whole affair was sharply criticized by many in the warbird community as being ill conceived and risky. The argument being that the cost of restoring the B-29 to be flown off the lake could have been better spent simply disassembling the aircraft and airlifting sections of it back to Thule AFB, where eventual return to flying status could have been carried out in much safer conditions. Especially galling was the loss of four rare and newly overhauled Wright R-3350 engines, along with associated propellers and running gear. Before the aircraft sank the salvage crew is believed to have removed drain plugs from all four engines allowing oil and hydraulics to drain into the sensitive environment.
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What is up with that last sentence? The "sensitive environment"?

The thing burned on the ice, and all of the wreckage is still there. What difference does it make if some hydro and oil was released? It was going to be there anyway.

No worse than any of the other crash sites up there, of which there are many.

The whole thing is rather oddly written. 3350s aren't particularly rare, either.
 
Started watching the video and then went and read what you wrote Mike. Couldn't bring myself to watch the rest.
 
Well, better that happened on the ground than after rotation. :(
 
I remember watching that documentary. It was quite sad to see it burn, especially since a couple of the team died trying to salvage it.
 
I watched this on the discovery channel as a kid and was amazed at the stupidity of Greenamyer. Perfect example of what happens when you rush things. He should have waited for next season. Idiot!
 
Hacker15e said:
What is up with that last sentence? The "sensitive environment"?

The thing burned on the ice, and all of the wreckage is still there. What difference does it make if some hydro and oil was released? It was going to be there anyway.

No worse than any of the other crash sites up there, of which there are many.

The whole thing is rather oddly written. 3350s aren't particularly rare, either.
Click to expand...

Good question. Don't know why its written that way, or why the crew would necessarily do that, since it would just be there anyway.
 
Hacker15e said:
3350s aren't particularly rare, either.
Click to expand...

Depends...

Taken as a whole (all variants) the engine is not rare at all.

Taken as an individual variant (the -23 and -23A) that powered the B-29, there are very few running examples remaining. If memory serves, that is one reason it is taking so long to get "Fifi" back in the air... not only are they replacing the engines, but they are replacing them with a different variant requiring some modification to the airplane.
 
That's terrible, really sucks to see that. I can't imagine the feeling of frustration and sadness that those who worked on it felt as they all just sat there and watched it burn to the ground. All of thier work ruined so quickly, incredible :(
 
Couldn't they have taken the engines back off and salvaged them? Looks like the fire took out the fuselage but left the wings and engines intact.
 
Just picked this up from the library, great footage and such a great story.

This is a Nova documentary about the claiming and restoration of a B-29 (the "Key Bird") that had crash landed on the frozen tundra of Greenland back in 1947. There it sat until 1994 when Darryl Greenamyer organized a crew to fly in with equipment, new engines, props, and tires to rebuild the thing to ferryable condition right there in the mud and snow. They use a De Havilland Caribou as their shuttle airplane, hauling in parts, people, fuel, bulldozers, etc, landing it on the dirt, getting it stuck in the mud.

One tough and determined crew.

Found out they have it available for online viewing too.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1548962233/
 
Took this in March...

fifi.jpg
 
mshunter said:
I watched this on the discovery channel as a kid and was amazed at the stupidity of Greenamyer. Perfect example of what happens when you rush things. He should have waited for next season. Idiot!
Click to expand...
Holy crap, I agree with you on something...the "force knowledge" version of what happened is really rather interesting.
 
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