Greenland P38 Recovery Expedition

[menards]

How did this expedition go?

[KMcBride]

Several issues that delayed departure to the point where the decision was made to postpone until next year. Work on the An2 took longer than anticipated tracking down some difficult to find parts, a transport aircraft to haul some additional equipment/gear that did not come through, and not the least of which the radar system was pulled for a priority job with the company that owns it, and not available during our time frame. This is a very unique type of radar system with only a few in existence in the U.S. and Canada.

It is a relatively narrow time frame for the expedition to get underway - a late departure could well mean shutting down the operation with deteriorating weather that otherwise might be successful. There needs to be significant allowances for the unknown delays - possible equipment break downs, waiting for replacement parts, weather, etc.

Over the summer, we did complete work on the An2 and performed several test flights, we crated and shipped our remaining equipment/gear by ocean freight, and located another potential radar provider.

We'll follow up with some of the guys who responded previously, and plan to get underway this next year at or near our target departure point. With more time to prepare, hopefully we'll have back-ups in place for critical items such as the radar, in case the primary provider does not come through.

We haven't given up yet...

Ken

[tbolt]

Hi Ken ,I've always been interested in the P 38s under ice in Greenland. I remember hearing as a child in the 1960s about the Ghost Squadron. I've also followed the recovery and flight of Glazier Girl . Good luck on the recovery of the other Lightning's .I've subscribed to this topic and will be following closely with great interest.

Good Luck again !

Cheers
Tony (tbolt)

[Django]

Any updates for this year?

[Peeler]

The 2016 mission was grounded by gremlins with the AN-2 en route to Kulusuk, Greenland. Without transportation for the excavation equipment the project is postponed another year. A small group of the team did go out to the Grumman Duck site, 29 miles to the west, and did some radar work in that area.