Post by raymond on Nov 4, 2012 10:26:53 GMT 12
Any one in Ak want to borrow this for a read, its by Carl Hoffman and is mainly about the attempted recovery of the B29 Kee Bird in Greenland. An interesting read.
Im normally near Ak airport (work) or over Kumeu way
The crash of the Kee Bird B-29 Superfortress made banner headlines in 1947 when a team of Air Force pilots pulled off the near-miraculous feat of locating the wreck in Greenland and snatching its stranded crew from the teeth of the arctic winter. For nearly half a century, the almost perfectly intact warbird lay abandoned on a lake of ice–but not forgotten. Fifty years later, with collectors paying upward of a million dollars for salvageable World War II planes, two intense fanatics, legendary test pilot Darryl Greenamyer and starry-eyed salvage wizard Gary Larkins, hatched the extraordinary idea of launching an expedition to Greenland to restore the Kee Bird, bring it back to life, and fly it out.
In this riveting adventure of man, machine, and history, Hoffman literally crisscrosses the country to track down the key players in the high-stakes warbird game. He meets a retired Midwestern carpenter who crammed every inch of his yard with now-precious warbirds during the lean years when they were considered junk; attends an air show where crowds go wild at the sight of four of the fourteen air-worthy B-17s flying in formation; speaks to pilots and mechanics, millionaire businessmen and penniless kids–all of them ready to drop everything in pursuit of these fabled planes.
In this superbly crafted narrative, Hoffman turns the warbird craze into the stuff of high drama and awesome adventure. Hunting Warbirds takes us to the heart of one of the most fascinating obsessions of our time
from
www.goodreads.com/book/show/1036230.Hunting_Warbirds
Im normally near Ak airport (work) or over Kumeu way
The crash of the Kee Bird B-29 Superfortress made banner headlines in 1947 when a team of Air Force pilots pulled off the near-miraculous feat of locating the wreck in Greenland and snatching its stranded crew from the teeth of the arctic winter. For nearly half a century, the almost perfectly intact warbird lay abandoned on a lake of ice–but not forgotten. Fifty years later, with collectors paying upward of a million dollars for salvageable World War II planes, two intense fanatics, legendary test pilot Darryl Greenamyer and starry-eyed salvage wizard Gary Larkins, hatched the extraordinary idea of launching an expedition to Greenland to restore the Kee Bird, bring it back to life, and fly it out.
In this riveting adventure of man, machine, and history, Hoffman literally crisscrosses the country to track down the key players in the high-stakes warbird game. He meets a retired Midwestern carpenter who crammed every inch of his yard with now-precious warbirds during the lean years when they were considered junk; attends an air show where crowds go wild at the sight of four of the fourteen air-worthy B-17s flying in formation; speaks to pilots and mechanics, millionaire businessmen and penniless kids–all of them ready to drop everything in pursuit of these fabled planes.
In this superbly crafted narrative, Hoffman turns the warbird craze into the stuff of high drama and awesome adventure. Hunting Warbirds takes us to the heart of one of the most fascinating obsessions of our time
from
www.goodreads.com/book/show/1036230.Hunting_Warbirds