July 31, 2011
Talkeetna, Alaska
We know weather always plays a role in any aviation endeavor and this week, the skies have smiled on us. Picturesque Talkeetna, Alaska greeted your Champaign Aviation Museum recovery crew with clear skies and warm temperatures. We look on it as a good omen!
Talkeetna itself is the very definition of eclectic. The town is small and tourist driven. Strolling along Main Street, one can hear many different languages and dialects. In addition to various accents, charm can be found in every corner of the town (though there are few corners!) and we are enjoying ourselves in this small outpost. Talkeetna is approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage and is situated near Denali National Park , home to Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain. Many of the hostels (not hotels) in town are home to climbers who attempt to summit the mountain during the climbing season, from April to July 4. There are concerts in the town park and the community puts on plays throughout the summer. Talkeetna perks up in the spring and slumbers after mid-September. By the end of September, snow is a reality.
Visitors can rely on two constants in Talkeetna’s summer sky: mosquitoes and airplanes! You hear both buzzing all day. Flying is second nature (or maybe first) to citizens of Alaska and the airport where our work is being done is busy all day with sightseeing and other general aviation operations. We are located at the north end of the field’s single runway and that is where the parts from the crash were dropped by the helicopters. By Thursday evening, we had the tail, part of a wing, the left main gear, three turbo chargers, and other items at the airport. Perhaps the sight of so many damaged and jagged airplane parts at the end of the runway was a tad unsettling to the people taking those sight seeing flights, but, hey, it’s all for a good cause! Mosquitoes are the other flying machines in town and they make their presence know throughout the day and night.
Recovery of the remains of 44-85505 continues though the immediate crash site is only about an acre, the brush is quite dense and the work has been arduous. The crash site crew helicoptered in Thursday, remained overnight, and helicoptered out late Friday night. Work at the crash site was conducted Thursday and Friday and well over a ton of material was air lifted out of the woods and back to Talkeetna Airport. As of Friday night, all recoverable parts have been airlifted to the Talkeetna Airport. The crash site and airport site crews have been working significant hours to move the materials and get them ready for shipment to Ohio.
On Friday, 9 of us took a boat upriver and then hiked to the crash site to assist in the final recovery and clean up effort. To illustrate the imposing nature of the terrain, the distance from the river to the site is approximately a mile, but it took 90 minutes to travel that mile. We kept our eyes and ears peeled for any bears but the most fearsome predator we encountered were, again, the mosquitoes.
Our efforts here and in Talkeetna are becoming well known in town; several of us have been interviewed by a local radio reporter. Our jackets and T shirts with the Chaampaign Lady logo are a sure fire way to strike up a conversation. A TV crew came up from Anchorage to film the initial airlifts on Thursday afternoon. Details on this footage are forthcoming. Also, on Thursday August 4, Paul Good will be making a presentation at the Don Sheldon home. The late Don Sheldon defined bush flying in this part of Alaska and his family continues this business. We are more than happy to share our story with anyone and have met quite a few people for whom the B 17, or other military airplanes, have had a significant impact in their lives.
The weather has cooperated during the first week, and we hope that continued good weather to allow us to make good progress in sorting and packing the material. More photos and updates coming soon. Time to go to work!
