BRINGING
HOME THE B-29 “KEE BIRD”
By William E, Dietzel
Thule
Air Force Base: One of the most
remote and isolated military outposts of the United States Air Force. On an
inhospitable barren shore of northwest Greenland, deep inside the Arctic Circle.
The climate is harsh and unforgiving. Even in summer, when the sun never sets,
it remains so cold that the sea is littered with icebergs. Inland, a vast
unbroken icecap stretches for eight hundred miles. The weather changes hourly,
from bright sun to dark, with menacing storm clouds with gale-force winds.
MISSION:
RECOVERY THE B-29
“ Kee Bird” 1996
Two
hundred and fifty miles north of Thule, Greenland lies the charred remains of
the B-29 . “ Kee Bird”. This
aircraft, nicknamed the Kee Bird, became lost and crash-landed while on a secret
mission. The crew was rescued, but the Kee Bird would lie abandoned for almost
fifty years.
After
years of planning, a qualified team of mechanics and pilots challenged the harsh
climate of the polar ice cap to recover the B-29
from its Arctic grave. The recovery expedition team was airlifted to the
site of the B-29 .
Transport
aircraft carried in a John Deere crawler, Engine host. four reconditioned
18-cylinder Wright 3350 radial engines and 16-Hamiton Standard propeller blades,
in addition to the thousand of pounds of airplane parts and all the necessary
tools to re-build this massive bomber in place.
The
aircraft was readied for flight; a serviceable landing strip was scraped out of
the ice. After fifty years on the frozen tundra the B-29 four giant R-3350
engines roared to life. As the propellers shimmer in the sunlight, the aircraft
uses maximum power to break the wheels free from the frozen mud and snow. It
moves in a wide circle out onto the lake. On its way toward the end of the
runway the aircraft is bounced and shaken by the frozen terrain. Turning the
aircraft into the wind the Kee Bird was only minutes away from take off when
disaster struck. Suddenly, smoke came pouring from the windows of the cockpit
as the flight crew jumped clear. The B-29 aircraft
was consumed in a flash fire forward of the tail section through the tunnel
engulfing the cockpit. The auxiliary power unit, a stand-by generator was thrown
from its mounting in the rear fuselage and fire broke out when a fuel line
ruptured and sprayed gasoline on the hot exhaust.
The
B-29 “ Kee Bird “ an
irreplaceable treasure of aviation history was consumed by the fire. With it
goes years of planning and hard work by so many dictated airmen.
NOT
ALL IS LOST….
Vernon
Rich, Phoenix, AZ one of the original Kee Bird recovery team in 1996 received
salvage rights for the remains of the Kee-Bird from the Danish Government. Mr.
Rich has prepared a mission plan and organized a recovery team to depart for the
arctic July 1, 2001 to bring back the remains of the B-29 .
The
B-29 fuselage burned forward of the tail section through the bomb bay into the
cockpit. The fuselage and cockpit were totally destroyed in the fire.
The center wing section was not damaged by the fire, as will as the outer wings
1300
hundred gallons of aviation fuel still remains in the fuel tanks.
Four
reconditioned zero time 18-cylinder Wright R-3350-23 radial engines with cowling
are still intact.
16-
reconditioned zero time Hamilton Standard propeller blades are still on the
engines.
The
vertical and horizontal stabilizer is completely intact
The
recovery team of mechanics will disassemble the remaining Wings, four engines,
propellers, and tail section of the B-29 “
Kee Bird“ and they will be airlifted out.