Kind: captions
Language: en
[Music]
Tonight on Nova, a B29 flying a Cold War
spy mission crash landed in the Arctic.
Her crew was rescued, but the Keyird was
left behind.
Nearly half a century later, a new team
wants to bring her home.
>> Just like new again.
>> It'll fly. You bet it will fly.
>> But conditions are harsh, the work
exhausting. Their shared dream becomes a
life and death drama as they struggle to
free the B29 frozen in time.
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[Music]
A C141 lifts off from Tuli Air Force
Base.
Once a vital staging post for the
nuclear bomber fleet, Tuli is now a
relic of the Cold War.
While its radar domes still probe the
horizon, it is eerily quiet and almost
deserted.
One of the most remote and isolated
outposts of the United States Air Force.
It lies on the 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.
[Music]
Inland, a vast, unbroken ice cap
stretches for 800 miles.
The weather changes hourly from bright
sun to dark, menacing storm clouds with
gale force winds.
250 mi north of Tuli lies another relic
of the Cold War,
an almost intact B-29 bomber.
This plane, nicknamed the Keyird, became
lost and crashlanded while on a secret
mission.
[Music]
The crew was rescued, but the Keyird
would lie here abandoned for almost 50
years.
When the B29 first flew in 1942, it
could go higher and farther than any
other bomber.
In the war against Japan, it traversed
the Pacific and crested the Himalayas.
The culmination of the B29's military
service was when the Anola Gay dropped
the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
ending the war.
Nearly 4,000 of these planes were built,
but now less than a handful remain.
If the Keyird could be recovered from
this Arctic wilderness, it would be a
unique treasure of aviation history,
probably worth a great deal of money.
Daryl Greenmire, a former test pilot,
has been working on a bold plan to
rescue the B29 and fly it back home.
>> Well, we haven't got any fuel.
>> Daryl has flown higher and faster than
most other living pilots. It once been a
test pilot on the U2 spy plane and its
replacement, the SR71 Blackbird.
[Music]
In the 70s, he built his own starf
fighter jet from spare parts to gain a
lowaltitude speed record, which he still
holds.
An accomplished pilot and engineer used
to taking risks. If anyone could pull
this off, it was Daryl.
It really is a unique opportunity. It
may be the only airplane in the world
that I can think of that's been sitting
somewhere for 50 years that you could
actually get in and potentially fly.
It's just in a far away place. That's
that's the reason it's available.
[Music]
But getting the Keyird into the air
requires more than skill and boldness.
The bulk of the heavy supplies and
machinery that Daryl would need has to
be carried to Tuli on the annual supply
ship.
A 5-tonon bulldozer will be needed to
build a runway for the B29.
Bulky new tires and propellers are also
required along with four massive
reconditioned radial engines.
All of this equipment has to be carried
north over the 250 m of desolate Arctic
landscape that separates Tuli from the
bomber.
Daryl's solution to this is a 1962
Caribou, another of his salvaged
wonders.
>> It's basically a short field, you know,
short landing and takeoff airplane, and
it's made for unimproved fields. They
use it in Vietnam a lot and it's it's
pretty rugged airplane. It's ideal for
this sort of thing flying these engines
in and it'll carry a pretty good load.
Ricky, who has been Daryl's chief
engineer for over seven years, is
responsible for making his plans work.
With the Caribou's arrival in mid July,
Daryl's team is complete.
Cecilia Grandy has been Rick's assistant
for three years learning on the job.
>> Dirt doesn't go through the
>> Vernon Rich is a tool maker and
machinist.
>> And Bob Vanderine, as well as being
another pair of hands, is going to do
the cooking.
>> Roger von Grot, a retired airline pilot
and a distant relative of Baron von
Richtoen, will fly the caribou.
[Music]
Daryl and the others take off from Tuli.
[Music]
Q1 back on the active runway.
>> Their flight takes them over uncharted
mountains and glaciers 250 mi north.
It is a risky journey into the unknown
where the chances of rescue are slim.
Finally, they come to the valley where
the B29 came to rest.
[Music]
They fly low over the valley floor.
Roger lowers the wheels and makes a
brief touchdown to test how firm the
surface is.
[Music]
It seems fine. So they go around and
come in to make a landing.
If anything goes wrong now, the
consequences could be fatal.
But they make it.
>> Fantastical.
>> Fantastico. Yeah. The relief and
euphoria spill out as they examine their
landing strip.
>> Fantastic, huh?
>> You can get the thing turned around in
this soft dirt, you know.
>> Oh, yeah. We can. In fact, this I felt
this is the first really soft stuff we
hit. Look back there.
>> Yeah.
>> You like our approach?
>> The team begins to set up camp as behind
them, the B29 gleams like new in the
chill Arctic sunshine. A time capsule
preserved in this remote valley.
All around is evidence of the remarkable
story of the Keyird's last crew.
For them, landing here had been nothing
to celebrate.
It had been the start of a frightening 3
days.
>> I honestly didn't think we was going to
get out of it. I I had made up my mind
on the way down that
um this is no dream. This is reality.
Face it and uh accept it. Then we
realized once we're out the the plane
was not on fire. That was the main
concern. Arnette made a hell of a good
landing and uh
the the airplane was intact.
Nobody was hurt in the crash landing,
but they were stranded in a deadly
climate miles from anywhere, not knowing
if they would be rescued.
>> My biggest concern, I was too busy,
frankly,
wanting to get a position in
to the search airplane so somebody would
know where we were. That was a big
thing, establishing our position and
find out where the hell we are so we
could be rescued. Our spirits are high.
We knew we were going to get out. He
just there wasn't one guy didn't feel
like we weren't going to make it.
But I remember the cold and no place to
go to get warm. That's the thing that I
remember mostly about it.
>> On the second day, an Air Force plane
found the Keyird.
>> The greatest we felt was when they when
that plane flew overhead with the
supplies and they knew where we they
actually physically spotted us. That was
the greatest feeling.
>> A day later, a plane landed beside them
and flew them out to safety.
Now, at last, the keyird was going to be
rescued as well.
I've got torn feelings
and everybody's excited about getting it
out and they're going to make a lot of
money on it apparently. Uh, and
everybody's going to look at this
airplane. It's great and all that. But
somehow it's something like uh going
into an Indian grave. As far as I'm
concerned, I kind of feel like it
belongs out there.
>> No longer claimed by the Air Force, the
Keyird was now available to anyone who
could fly her out.
>> Daryl and his team go to work.
>> Keyird. Keyird over
>> the radio link to Tuli is established.
the tense setup
>> and Bob starts work on recovering the
damaged rudder which despite the
aluminum construction of the B29 had
been covered in fabric.
Then as the caribou taxis to return to
Tuli, their precarious situation is
brought home to them.
>> Daryl was trying to taxi around. And I
was out watching and he got going a
little bit and then nose wheel just went
all the way 90. Both tires rolled off,
you know, roll off the rim. Lost all the
air. I thought we're stuck there.
It takes hours to dig the wheels out of
the sticky mud.
Rick's idea to use propane gas from the
camp stove allows the caribou to return
to Tuli. Even though the wheels could
explode if they get too hot.
[Music]
The plane takes off, leaving Rick, Bob,
and Cecilio behind.
Once a tuli, they refill the tires.
>> Don't make any sparks.
There's so many.
>> It is vital to get the bulldozer up to
the B29 and improvise a runway, but the
caribou will be seriously overloaded.
And as Daryl inches the bulldozer into
the plane, Roger is concerned.
>> It's a little bit uh higher risk than I
really thought it would be because uh
Daryl uh can access everything through
the limit.
>> If the both engines run, it'll get off
the ground. But if one engine quits,
uh, we're just going to have to crash
straight ahead because one engine is not
going to carry the load.
[Music]
The caribou, slow and cumbersome,
returns to the B29.
[Music]
Rick lights a bonfire so that Roger
knows the wind direction for his
landing.
As the dangerously overloaded caribou
comes into land, people on the ground do
not realize that something has gone
seriously wrong.
[Music]
The flaps had failed and Roger had
nearly lost control.
>> We came in uh no flapper. I came I came
>> I I knew you were coming.
>> Well, 90 knots. I I was stalling. I was
in the shaker at 90 and Daryl said we
can't do it with Holly Flaps. though. I
don't want to go all the way back there,
but we're getting low on fuel.
The caribou has plowed into the soft
earth. Another inch and the propellers
would have smashed into the ground.
Disaster had been narrowly averted.
[Music]
Daryl puts the bulldozer to work on the
P29. immediately proving its worth.
[Music]
The key bird is back on dry land for the
first time in half a century. free.
We got it.
When the giant B29 crashed in 1947, the
Bombay doors suffered the most obvious
damage. They will be taken off to be
replaced later.
Well, the snow really cushioned it real
well. It It built up under the Bombays
and the Bombay doors took all the load
and about 90% of the damage. There's a
little bit of damage on the aft
fuselage, but that and on the flaps, but
that's it.
>> The propellers were badly buckled by the
crash and the main engine bearings were
twisted. New ones will be put in their
place.
>> The key elements were the engines, but
uh we've got four new engines. We ran
two of them on the test stand. They all
ran. They ran great. We need to uh get
these engines on and tidied up and ready
to run. And then hang propellers.
>> They take an inventory of the work
necessary to get the plane airworthy.
>> The tires, they look good, but they're
rayon and uh rayon doesn't age well. So,
we brought up some nylon tires to change
them out. the uh the rudder and the
elevators are going to be uh changed
out. Coming on over here to the uh the
ailerons, the control surfaces were
fabric and they uh they have to be
changed.
They were paper thin. You could put your
finger right through them.
>> The summer here is very short, so time
is of the essence. Daryl has a limited
budget. He planned to make a round trip
in the Caribou every 2 days to fly in
the engines and parts from Tuli. The
weather so far has prevented this. Daryl
hoped the whole project could be
finished in a month, but two weeks have
passed. He has yet to fly a single new
engine out of Tuli.
>> We're not exactly
>> Captain Dugan, the base manager, asks
him about the schedule
>> from when you got here that, you know,
trying to plan to have people in here.
We could fly straight through and we
haven't been able to. And I told him, I
said, "The weather up here is not like
it may be summer, but it's not summer
like you think of it in the United
States."
>> That's right.
>> Talk to the man upstairs and do
something with this weather.
>> Well, to get it the same at both sites
would be unique also.
>> Yeah.
>> Actually, the weather up there the last
few days has been nice.
>> Well, that's what I heard. I say it's
good up there and it hasn't been good
here.
>> In fact, it's hot.
>> Yeah. It gets actually hot sometimes,
like 50 degrees
>> and no wind.
[Applause]
Back at the B29, Rick, Cecilia, and Bob
continue working, stripping off the old
twisted propellers.
Rick designed the hoist from old photos
of B29s being fieldmaintained during the
Second World War.
off.
>> Daryl and Roger return with a new engine
and the old ones are slowly eased off.
>> I let down just real easy.
forward.
>> Before the new engines can be installed,
a lot of components need to be stripped
from the old ones.
>> Okay.
Well, how do you want to dismantle this
thing? Well, first we got to take the
carburetor, take all this stuff off.
Then we got to take the injection pumps
off. Then we got to take the carburetor
off. Okay? Then we take the motor mount
off.
>> All right.
[Applause]
>> Eventually, a small production line is
set up as old engines are dismantled to
be taken back to Tuli and the new ones
are made ready to be hoisted into place
on the old engine mountings.
The engines themselves are massive
18cylinder radials, the most powerful
ever built.
>> Changing these huge engines in a warm
hanger is difficult enough.
Doing it in the middle of the Arctic
will be a backbreaking task.
Rick is tireless and his workload isn't
only confined to the B29.
The Caribou also presents problems.
The caribou takes off on its third trip
to Tuli.
[Music]
[Applause]
It circles and returns to land.
[Applause]
Roger thinks there may be an engine
fire.
>> Soon as I went to cruise power, the
light came on and it was flashing. And I
went back and looked at the uh engine.
You know, I didn't see any smoke or
anything, but you know, I was reading in
the book where they said you can get
some fires internally with no smoke
evidence. So,
we thought it was prudent to come back
where the maintenance is.
>> Rick discovers that the fire indicator
on the engine is faulty. The abortive
flight has cost Daryl more time.
>> It's really disappointing. What can I
say? I mean, it's uh here we got two
beautiful days of weather coming up and
uh we got plenty of work to do, but it's
it's just going to, you know, if if we
can't take off on Monday, then we are
behind. We going to have people sitting
on their hands doing nothing.
>> Then the weather causes more delay. A
month has passed and it is now the
second week of August. Snow is beginning
to settle ominously on the surrounding
hills.
Rick and Cecilio keep working even in
the rain. Hammering on the exhaust
cowlings.
>> That was easy.
>> Whose side are you on?
>> You got any of those bolts?
Uh, have you heard a report from the
Casa on the tops of the clouds? And
also, is it scattered or broken back at
Tuli?
>> It's uh, it's broken back here. It's 10
scattered.
>> Daryl is desperate to keep the shuttle
flights going and feels that he has to
risk flying in bad weather.
>> So, don't bother going that direction.
>> Okay. U, I guess we'll uh we'll give it
a shot. We'll come around and then uh
we'll try and come in under it.
[Applause]
[Music]
Okay, come down with it.
[Music]
Let's go ahead and go back up with it
again.
[Music]
Can you see turn it on and off?
>> Turn on again.
[Music]
The work is physically demanding.
Removing the old tires takes hours. Even
using the bulldozer to separate them
from the rim.
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
Hey Bob. Now
[Music]
my small one.
[Music]
Rick is beginning to show the strain of
this hard work and looks exhausted.
Meal times bring some respit and are an
opportunity to tell stories of old
exploits. Like the time Daryl tried to
take off in Panama without using the
runway.
>> They wanted me to take off on the ramp
so they didn't have to open up the fence
to get on Panama property to use the
runway. So I said, "Well, no problem."
But then they wanted me to take off uh a
little bit downwind because if I went
the other way, I'd be flying over the
general's house.
>> And so I said, "Well, okay. I think so."
It was a downhill run and then a slight
turn about
60 knots and then down the ramp.
>> How much runway do you have all told?
>> I don't remember. But what happened was
I went down the little hill and made the
right turn and then it started bouncing
and all of a sudden the uh the nose
wheel steering kicked out and uh I tried
to hold it and it and the I was too
close to the fence and so it it kind of
lifted off and then squatted right down
on the fence.
>> But I didn't give up just then. I kept
going.
working under the wing in that
snowstorm. It was too hot and it was
coming loose because of that.
>> Oh, really?
>> Bob has finished recovering the rudder
with fabric and he and Roger are now
putting the finishing touches to it.
>> Vernon has to make many of the small
components for the rudder cables and
control surfaces from scratch
>> without blueprints. It is not easy in
its place and then stick drill this one
out and stick it in the other end. So,
we'll have the same configuration again
>> just like we made the other two.
>> Well, you just uh Yeah, except that No,
no, we'll go to this this size bowl,
>> right? Right.
>> Yeah.
>> So, we're going up,
>> right?
>> Just like new again.
>> Yeah, it'll fly.
>> Real This is the real recovery work
here.
>> It'll fly.
>> You bet it'll fly.
By the time the rotor is ready to be
hoisted back into place, the project has
taken 5 weeks.
>> Far longer than Daryl's original
forecast.
>> Why don't you give me that uh
>> Is that the correct one up there?
>> Yep.
>> But the sun is now back and people's
spirits have lifted again.
>> All right.
Beautiful.
>> Stick a bolt in there and I'll wiggle it
around.
>> Can you tap it in?
>> I'll try to do now.
>> Well, you see the flange in front. It's
got to be straight with this.
>> I see the flange in front. Very
>> I mean in back in back in the back of
the flange. See, it's a flat spot.
>> Yeah, I see the flat spot.
>> Well, it isn't lined up.
>> Well, it isn't.
It's going.
>> Yeah, it is.
Hold it right there.
>> That's it.
>> Well, it fell in.
>> Are you crying? Are you so happy with
those tears of joy?
>> You got it.
>> The weeks of work are paying off. The
rudder's been fitted and four new
engines are in place. The last major job
is the propellers. The propellers came
out of the prop shop in Tucson and
they've been overhauled, but they
haven't been final assembled yet. We'll
put those together and hang them on, but
I don't anticipate any problem with
that. They I've done that before and
they usually go together pretty easy.
These are awful big propellers, so the
biggest I've ever dealt with.
>> What happened? Okay, come on. Let's go.
Easy.
>> Carefully balanced in a workshop back
home. They have to be assembled in the
right sequence or they'll rip the
engines apart.
>> Oh, burning. I stepped right on your
foot. I saw it.
Okay. Okay. Come on in.
Ring fell off.
>> Just wait.
>> Yeah. Put it on the
thing needs to be wiped off. It's
probably got sand all over it now.
>> Set it down.
>> Okay, it's down.
>> Here, let me have it.
>> All right.
>> Up. Okay, you got it.
>> All right, there we go. Let's go. Let's
go.
>> Okay, set it down.
>> Damn.
>> Yes. Look at that.
>> See, that's what happens when you have
the first team in.
>> Oh. Oh, that's right.
>> Push.
>> 16 ft across and weighing almost a ton.
They're difficult to maneuver.
>> Okay, that looks good.
[Applause]
>> We're going to have to come down about
an inch and a half first.
>> How's the grain for?
>> Okay. A little bit more. Okay. Hold it.
Okay, that's it.
>> Okay, now you should be able to rock it.
>> Okay,
jump on it.
>> Now it's time to start an engine.
>> Click.
[Music]
It's the first real test of weeks of
exhausting work,
and the engine refuses to start.
Rick thinks he knows what's wrong.
>> Should you get me a pair of tin snips,
somebody
again?
No change.
>> Carburetor doesn't want to work.
>> The carburetor needs adjusting.
[Music]
Everyone is jubilant, but still only one
engine has been tested.
>> Time is running out fast, and Vernon is
still working on the other three.
We've got to uh hook everything up to
them to make sure that they work. Uh got
to put the magnetos on, the generators,
all the fuel system, the oil system. It
probably takes uh 12 14 hours after the
time you stick it on there per motor uh
to actually get them going. Uh and
that's in a nice heated hanger with all
the tools that you need. But so uh when
it's blowing, uh blowing snow sideways,
it takes a little bit longer. And we'll
fix it. We'll get it going.
[Applause]
>> The last major hurdle is a runway.
Daryl uses the bulldozer to level the
ground, but the heavy rain has left the
tundra water logged with shallow lakes
dotting the surface.
Normally, a B29 would use a runway of
over 5,000 ft, but the most Daryl can
hope for is 2,000 ft of dry earth to
take off in.
>> This is the worst spot of all right
here. And uh it's it's it's really at a
critical distance.
>> Well, you know, like you were saying,
two days ago there was no water here. So
hopefully with, you know, three or four
good days
>> Yeah.
>> just like this, this water won't even be
here.
[Music]
It's August the 22nd and the first
sunset at midnight signals the approach
of the polar winter.
Finally, all four engines have their
controls and fuel systems connected and
are ready to be tested.
Daryl climbs into the cockpit and the
first engine is turned over.
Let's
That's a beautiful sight.
>> Beautiful. Good.
>> The engines will have to run perfectly
to lift the giant bomber from such a
short runway.
Rick knows that everything needs to be
double checked.
Why don't you stand up on that side and
look down there and see if you can see
any oily? I got to go around here and
see if I can find anything.
>> Work continues on the engines,
eliminating oil leaks, making sure
everything will work as it should.
>> This one's got an oil leak. That one's
got a loose pusher on tube.
>> It seems that the flight of the keyboard
will be only a few days away.
[Music]
The caribou departs for Tuli to pick up
more fuel for the bomber.
But just as success seems within reach,
Rick has become ill. For several weeks,
he has been taking painkillers for what
he has insisted is a badly twisted back.
Most days he's faced the grueling
schedule in great pain.
He has now collapsed and can no longer
do any work.
[Applause]
Then the caribou returns with a serious
mechanical problem. One that puts
everybody's safety in jeopardy.
>> We lost partial power on the right
engine of the caribou. And uh we thought
it was probably a cylinder problem. And
when we arrived, uh we found that we had
a uh a stuck exhaust valve and it was
hitting the top of the piston. And uh we
need a cylinder to get out of here uh
with any kind of safety at all.
The winter finally hits, bringing gale
force winds and freezing rain. The
temperature plummets. Soon life here
will be impossible.
If they don't get out now, they never
will. The first of the winter snows is
settling on the camp.
[Music]
After 2 months, time has beaten Daryl.
Work on the keyboard stops as everyone's
attention focuses on the caribou.
The caribou is their lifeline and Vernon
and Cecilio struggle to fit a spare
cylinder.
Despite inadequate tools and freezing
fingers, they managed to do it.
But the engine still has a serious oil
leak. There's no guarantee it won't give
out altogether as they fly over the
glacier back to Tuli.
>> You fly this now.
>> Yeah.
>> If we can put oil in the engine while
we're flying, then we have absolutely no
problem at all.
Every flight of the caribou was a
flirtation with death.
This is ever more so.
As ice is knocked off the caribou's
wings, Daryl faces up to the fact that
he can go no further. I'm just going to
have to sit down and and take a long
thinking session about what we're going
to do. I haven't given up. We've got too
much uh we're too close. The airplane is
essentially ready to fly. We never did
get a runway suitable to take off this
year. The uh winter caught us. Rick is
sicker than a dog. We got to get him out
of here and probably to a hospital. And
so things are coming to a screeching
halt.
At last, they're ready to pull out,
leaving the keyird where it has been for
nearly 50 years.
Halfway through the flight, the
Caribou's right engine loses power, but
they managed to struggle on one engine
into Tuli.
Rick is carried off into an ambulance.
>> Suffering from internal bleeding, he is
flown to a hospital in Canada and rushed
to surgery.
Two weeks later, this kind and gentle
man, a resourceful and highly skilled
engineer, died of a blood clot.
Daryl could barely come to terms with
Rick's death, but having come so far, he
was not prepared to give up his struggle
to recover the B29. It would mean bitter
disappointment and financial disaster.
Nine months later, with the caribou
still out of action at Tuli, Daryl
returns to the Keyird in a chartered
Twin Otter.
[Applause]
He has enlarged the team with the
inclusion of Matt Jackson
>> and John Kater, both specialists in
radial engines.
>> An old friend Al Hansen.
Three or four of those fittings,
>> and Thad Dulan, a qualified B29 flight
engineer.
The temperature never rises above 24° F.
The cold makes the work far more
difficult, but Daryl's plan is to use
the surface of the frozen lake as a
runway.
>> We were trying to get here as late as
possible before the ice melted so that
we could use the lake for the runway and
uh and yet not have miserable cold
weather.
>> The lake is covered in snow drifts, but
Daryl's main concern is how long it will
remain frozen.
>> I'd say two weeks. We've got to get on
that lake or we're in trouble.
The snow is piled up around the Keyird
and the engines need to be thoroughly
checked after the winter.
The new team is all business and the
biting cold is a spur to their
determination to get the job done.
>> What did you do with that finish? You
took off the number one feathering pump
to put the line on.
Daryl's concerned about the effect the
cold will have on the engines and takes
his time warming them up.
>> He's running at low RPM until the oil
temperature gets up.
>> How long would that take?
>> 10 minutes.
[Applause]
They discover a number of oil leaks.
We're fighting little gremlins right now
because of the weather. You know,
moisture and cold really reres havoc on
an airplane. You can bring a brand new
airplane up here and let it sit for a
week and you'll have the same kind of
problems.
The engine cowlings have to be taken off
and replaced every time something needs
fixing in the engines.
And every time an engine stops, great
care has to be taken before it can be
restarted.
After a week of work, the engines are
running smoothly and the oil leaks have
been eliminated.
The flight of the Keyird is approaching
and Daryl turns his thoughts to the
runway. What I'm concerned about is uh
the drifts on the lake. I tried to to
flatten them out with the bulldozer and
the the grater that we've got, but I may
have created more problem than I cured
because the uh it it left little mounds.
The problem with the B29 is there's no
nose wheel steering. And so when I hit
one of these mounds with the right gear,
it's going to pull right. It's a
problem. We're just going to have to get
out and try it.
The engines cool quickly in this climate
and an oil burning heater pipes hot air
under the cowlings to keep them close to
working temperature.
Preparations are underway for the first
flight. Daryl must be ready as soon as
the conditions are right.
Today is a good day. It's it's warmer
and uh what we'll do is we'll start at
one end. We're preheating one engine now
and we'll start it and we'll start the
next one and then get to the third one.
By the time we get to the third one,
we'll probably go back and run the first
one and then get and so we get them all
up to temperature um at the same time.
And then once we get them up there,
we've got to keep them there. That's why
it's so critical to uh once we get
everything warmed up and ready to go
that we don't dally, we go. Otherwise,
we got to start the whole process again.
And that's burning fuel, which is a
precious commodity up here. You know,
when the engines are running, there's a
surge of adrenaline. I want to get in it
and go. And I think it'll make it.
Daryl strides to the cockpit. The dream
that has obsessed him for 3 years is
just hours from being realized.
Thaad sits at the flight engineers
console to start all four engines.
>> Here we go. On four, Darl. Okay.
Instruments that have remained dormant
for 50 years once again register life in
the machine.
The giant radial engines can deliver
over 2,000 horsepower each.
Thad makes lastminute adjustments to the
oil pressure and the carburetors to get
the engines running sweetly.
>> Don't have much in the way of nose. Oil
pressure on three Darl. Well, it's
coming up now.
Manifold pressure gauge just came loose.
There she comes.
As the propellers shimmer in the
sunlight,
Daryl puts the coordinates for Tulie
into the newly installed satellite
navigation system.
[Applause]
The plane has frozen into the mud and
snow and it takes maximum power to break
the wheels free.
The nose wheel can't be controlled. And
at slow speeds, Daryl has to adjust the
engine power to steer the plane.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
Finally, it is moving in a wide circle
out onto the lake on its way toward the
end of the runway.
[Music]
[Applause]
The plane is bounced and shaken by the
frozen snow drifts.
Suddenly, smoke can be seen pouring from
the windows in the cockpit.
>> The auxiliary power unit, a standby
generator, was thrown from its mounting
in the rear fuselage and caught fire.
Fire extinguisher.
>> Fortunately, the crew managed to jump
clear.
Daryl shouts for more extinguishers, but
it is too late. The fire has already
swept through the plane.
He can do nothing but stand and watch as
this irreplaceable piece of aviation
history is consumed by fire.
With it go years of planning and hard
work by so many people.
It's going to burn to the ground.
[Music]
Apparently the uh uh the APU was left
running in the tail and the uh fuel tank
broke loose and dumped fuel on the APU
and started the fire in the tail. That's
where the fire extinguisher was, but we
couldn't get to it.
I don't think it would have made any
difference which way we took off. It
would have been airborne
>> a third of the way across the lake.
Well, I almost threw my bag in before
you pulled out cuz I figured we were
going to go.
So, I just put my tools in.
>> Where are they? Up front.
>> No, they're in the tail where the fire
was.
>> Gone.
>> My tools are up front.
>> It wasn't cuz you didn't try.
It was ready to go. That's the the real
tragedy of it. I mean, we were so close.
Success was right there. It was right
there. But this is my game and I'd do it
again.
[Music]
Daryl had faith that the B29 would fly
once again with him at the controls,
but instead it remains on the frozen
surface.
When the ice melts, what's left of the
Keyird, the new engines and propellers
will sink and come to rest on the dark
bottom of the lake forever.
[Music]
Heat. Heat.
[Music]