And you thought unopened crates of bikes were cool

I can't locate the article, but there was a B-29 frozen in ice. The guy thawed it out and was rebuilding it to fly out. It caught on fire and was destroyed.

Another was being rebuilt to fly out and the guy died or something. The ice thawed and it sank, with the brand new engines, to the bottom of the sea.
 
To those of us in aviation for all our lives, this is along the lines of the baby that falls in the well. It's discovered, much effort and expense is thrust into recovering it, and everybody wants a happy ending on the evening news. The problem, on both counts, is that babies are not made to fall 30 feet and survive, and aircraft are not intended to be buried for 60 years and survive, but I'm still watching to see what they come up with. The aircraft we are working on has been rotting on top of the ground since the 80's , but if the cash holds out, by God, she's gonna fly again. One of a kind, only one on the face of the big blue ball like her. It's inspiring, and I often have to think ofr the big picture to deflect a given day's negatives.
 
That pic isn't from the Burma planes and the article is opinion/conjecture just to fill in column space.
Youre right of course ... Im just a worryer!
Fingers crossed
 
Claire Chennault, Tex Hill and Gregory Boyington were there with the AVG. They did move to Kunming after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Maybe they left a P-40 in the woods?
James Cavanaugh has a P-40, a Spitfire, and an F-4U, all flyable, and many more.
Here's the link for the list.
http://www.cavanaughflightmuseum.com/index.php/navcollections/navaircraft

Thanks for the updates.
 
The Kee Bird story is a heartbreaker. After all that work, the damn thing buns... :( Here's a happier story from my neck of the woods.

http://www.lakemurray-sc.com/lakemurrayb25.html

lakemurrayb25.jpg
 
I got to see this Bike On Saturday at the Motorcycle show.

The Article;

The Free Press, Mankato, MN
December 23, 2012
A sunk ride rises: Motorcycle lost to lake in 1956 resurfaces

By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer

— Sure, it's rusted, the seat's a goner and the gas tank bears gaping holes.

But to Ron Miller, it's a beauty. Never mind that it's been sitting on a lake bottom the past 56 years. This motorcycle has a tale it wants told.

"I have a feeling the bike is talking to me, and it's telling me to go out and tell the story,"Miller said.

The 1938 German motorcycle was exhumed from its watery grave Nov. 29 when a commercial fisherman hauled in his net and there it was.

The fisherman, Jeff Riedemann, said he's netted a lot of debris in his time — boats, motors, antlers, a buffalo skull — but this catch of the day trumped all else.

"There it was. We couldn't believe it."

Moreover, for being on a lake bottom more than half a century it was still in relatively good condition. The cylinder was dry and there was air in the tires.

It was dredged from Big Swan Lake in Dassel, where 15-year-old Dean Allie dunked it while joyriding on frail ice on a December day in 1956.

His father had just bought it for him, and the shame of drowning his ride was tempered by the fact that he didn't perish also.

The leather jacket he was wearing, cinched snugly at the waist, had filled with air, serving as a life preserver until he was aided by nearby anglers.

Allie, now 71, still lives in the Dassel area, and when the bike was brought to him his eyes welled with tears, Riedemann said.

The incident made for big local news in '56, and efforts the next summer to drag the lake for the bike failed. Even scuba divers couldn't find it.

Allie was going to keep the bike for posterity until Riedemann and business partner Ken Seemann introduced him to Miller.

Riedemann and Seemann sell carp to Miller, who makes a living trucking the live fish from Minnesota to Asian markets in New York City.

Miller is also a motorcycle buff — he owns eight — and coveted Allie's bike not only for its vintage German pedigree but for the "found treasure"aspect of its story narrative.

Allie gave the motorcycle to Miller, who plans to clean it up and have a large placard made that chronicles its saga.

"I want to get the story out. It'll go on display,"said Miller, who envisions exhibiting it at motorcycle dealerships, civic celebrations and elsewhere.

He said restoring it to running condition is out of the question, if not impossible. His mission is to clean it up as much as he can, then send Allie a photo of it, per the agreement the two men made.

Miller got a good start on that a few days ago. He took it to a do-it-yourself car wash and spent two hours pressure-washing it.
 

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