Glacier Girl

[Noir]

I am no fan of the P38 but the story of "Glacier Girl' is amazing, I thought I'd share with people that don't know it yet.

One of the most remarkable flying survivors is a P-38 named "Glacier Girl". On 15 July 1942, six P-38Fs and two B-17Es were flying from Greenland to Iceland on a leg of a trans-Atlantic shuttle to Britain when they ran into a blizzard. They turned back to Greenland but the base was socked in, and they were forced to belly in on the Greenland icecap. One P-38 flipped over on landing but none of the aircrew received any serious injuries, and in fact the aircraft suffered very little damage. The aircrew were dropped survival gear and rations and were hauled out by dogsled about ten days later. One pilot threw the keys of his P-38 on the fighter's seat for anyone who wanted to recover the thing later.

The eight aircraft of the "Lost Squadron" forgotten until 1981. Two Americans, an airplane dealer named Patrick Epps JR and an architect named Richard Taylor, were chatting. Taylor owned a Learjet but told Epps he really wanted a P-38. Epps replied that he knew where six were, and said they would be like new. All they would have to do is shovel some snow off them.

They mounted a number of expeditions to find the machines, finally locating them in 1988 with ice-penetrating radar. Epps knew they would be buried in ice, but everyone was astounded when they found the aircraft at a depth of well over 86 meters (250 feet)! This was more than Epps and Taylor expected and they were not able to follow up the matter by themselves. Ultimately the project to recover the aircraft passed on to a Kentucky businessman named J. Roy Shoffner.

A series of expeditions used a hot-water drill to bore down through the ice and reach the aircraft. The recovery crew went down to a B-17 first, which turned out to have been crushed by the weight of the ice, but then they tried one of the P-38s and found it in excellent condition. They melted out a cavern around the P-38, dismantled it, and brought it to the surface in August 1992.

The P-38F was transported back to the US and was brought back up to operational trim after 50 years in the deep freeze. Although the airframe had suffered some damage under the ice, about 80% of it was still usable. The aircraft was given the appropriate name of "Glacier Girl" and returned to the air on 26 October 2002. It is the only early-model P-38 in flying condition.

Source http://www.vectorsite.net/avp38.html

[Serenity]

I was fortunate enough to see her in Reno a few years ago:

[FireDrgn]

I read the book great read fascinating story......... Some really persistant men to get her out..... I like were they shoot the 20mm cannon after all those years .. 50 gal drum blew it the heck


<S>

[moot]

[Noir]

Magnificent, it almost makes me want to fly a 38...

[moot]

Bigger pic if you open it separately.

[Angus]

It was quite a project to get her back.
A p38 went down not far from where I live. Apparently one engine caught fire. Guys that I know managed to get the engine blocks up and still keep them stashed...somewhere. Wonder if there is any value in those though, or is it all the airframe?

[Drano]

I'm pretty sure there's a DVD out about the recovery and restoration of Glacier Girl. It was either on History Channel or A&E a fe years back. I remember watching it. Showed the whole expedition thru restoration up to the first test flight.

If you want to see a similar but larger scale recovery project of a B-29 found on the ice that will just break your heart check out PBS's episode of Nova called "B-29 Frozen in Time" about the recovery of a B-29 called "The Kee Bird". Watch it to the end.

Drano

[Bodhi]

It was quite a project to get her back.
A p38 went down not far from where I live. Apparently one engine caught fire. Guys that I know managed to get the engine blocks up and still keep them stashed...somewhere. Wonder if there is any value in those though, or is it all the airframe?

Likely worthless other than as a historical piece or boat anchor. 

[Angus]

If so, how does it compare to something buried almost 300 feet into a glacier?

[Bodhi]

If so, how does it compare to something buried almost 300 feet into a glacier?

Exposure.

As far as I can remember, they are not using the original engines on Glacier Girl anyways.  Nor are they using the original wings, booms, vert fins, and a host of other parts.  Glacier Girl is a nice aircraft, but really isn't an "early" P-38.

[Noir]

Exposure.

As far as I can remember, they are not using the original engines on Glacier Girl anyways.  Nor are they using the original wings, booms, vert fins, and a host of other parts.  Glacier Girl is a nice aircraft, but really isn't an "early" P-38.

alright I didn't know that thanks for the heads up

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

They were using the original engines. Shortly after it flew again, they replaced the crankshaft in one engine. But they ended up replacing both engines shortly after it was sold, during the attempt to replicate the Bolero mission.

[Bodhi]

They were using the original engines. Shortly after it flew again, they replaced the crankshaft in one engine. But they ended up replacing both engines shortly after it was sold, during the attempt to replicate the Bolero mission.

According to Yancey, the "originals" were replaced after the first flight.  He also said the "originals" weren't very original...

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

According to Yancey, the "originals" were replaced after the first flight.  He also said the "originals" weren't very original...

I know they wasted a crank in the right hand engine on the first flight, the crank was in a glass case at the hangar. I'm sure the valves, valve springs, pistons, rings, etc., and a lot of other normally replaced parts were replaced. For what I was told they paid for each engine to be rebuilt, I'd hope so. They pulled the right hand engine out after the first flight, and sent it back (maybe they sent both of them back, I would have), and had a new crank put in it, and a couple of rods I think, from what I saw of the parts. I saw it fly at the last show they had at Middlesboro, and both Steve and Bob told me those were still the original engines. If they still had the original heads and blocks, that'd be considered "original" by most standards. At least by most restoration standards.