rpadula
En-Route
Tonight, I had a great time hearing Richard Taylor speak about recovering a P-38 from beneath the ice of Greenland. And until I got the invite, didn't even know he was a fellow Georgia Tech alum (architecture, at that). I can't even begin to do the story justice here; I guess you'll just have to buy the book. 
Highlights from the speech:
- He and Pat Epps (son of Georgia's aviation pioneer Ben Epps -- see KAHN airport) decided on a whim to fly to the North Pole in a Bonanza because "it wasn't that far away" from Oshkosh. Quick quiz: what does a magnetic compass do at the North Pole?
- After breaking the radar kart's axle and almost getting lost while trying to locate the buried planes, Richard radioed back that he was hungry and out of oil. Pat flew by and dropped a Hershey bar taped to a quart of oil. (He did land a few minutes later to pick them up)
- The planes were buried under 250 feet of ice and snow! Normally, the arctic is fairly arid, but this location about 12 miles in from the Greenland coast was close enough to the jet stream's moisture to receive 30 feet of snow per year. That melts into 5 feet of ice each year. Times 50 years.
- Only one P-38 was recovered. There are five more, and two B-17s, still there.
If you ever have the chance to hear Richard speak, I highly, highly recommend you do so. He is a fantastic storyteller and is the other handsome guy in the picture...
-Rich
Highlights from the speech:
- He and Pat Epps (son of Georgia's aviation pioneer Ben Epps -- see KAHN airport) decided on a whim to fly to the North Pole in a Bonanza because "it wasn't that far away" from Oshkosh. Quick quiz: what does a magnetic compass do at the North Pole?
- After breaking the radar kart's axle and almost getting lost while trying to locate the buried planes, Richard radioed back that he was hungry and out of oil. Pat flew by and dropped a Hershey bar taped to a quart of oil. (He did land a few minutes later to pick them up)
- The planes were buried under 250 feet of ice and snow! Normally, the arctic is fairly arid, but this location about 12 miles in from the Greenland coast was close enough to the jet stream's moisture to receive 30 feet of snow per year. That melts into 5 feet of ice each year. Times 50 years.
- Only one P-38 was recovered. There are five more, and two B-17s, still there.
If you ever have the chance to hear Richard speak, I highly, highly recommend you do so. He is a fantastic storyteller and is the other handsome guy in the picture...
-Rich
