Thanks, Taz... great video, and outcome... Save the Gooney Bird. Looks like it just happened in January... middle of summer down there.
Thanks for sharing that I'm really curious what the economics of a project like that are, ballpark numbers. What does a turbine C-47 go for? The one guy mentioned it costing $5k a day to be out there. I don't recall seeing new engines so maybe just the props/gearboxes were wrecked?
I wonder if the high cost of saving the C-47 was driven by the fact that there just aren't many (any?) airframes available. According to the pilot, it's the largest aircraft you can operate profitably on skis.
That is one heck of a recovery and very cool that they did it and got her back flying! Thanks for posting...I love those sorts of stories.
crazy, what a cool story. I just can't get the numbers to add up in my head, but neat project for saving the bird and just the challenge of it.
There are still quite a few airframes sitting around but that 's just about what they are---airframes.
My first airplane ride was in a DC3, back in the 60s when I was a Cub Scout. I also rode one to the Bahamas in the 80s.
Just to ask a silly question... What's the difference between an airframe that has been sitting parked for a decade or two at some airfield and one that was recently flown and was crashed in Antarctica? Seems like you could do quite a bit for long neglected but intact airframe that is someplace more convenient over replacing significant parts on a crashed plane buried in snow. Just curious as I know nothing about the practical side of this.
On site repair of a DC-3 crashed in Antarctica and then flying it out.. does it get any cooler than that? (pun intended). Looks like they thought of everything to bring since it's not easy to go "oops, forgot ..." What a crew.
This one was set up for turbo-props and named after someone's daughter, so I think there was some sentimental value there, too. Changing one from gasoline to JP/Jet-A (kerosene) is probably a task, too. Surely did some major surgery in pretty miserable conditions working mostly by brute force. Pretty inspiring. Glacier Girl cost a lot more than she is worth in dollars, too, but she was worth it as the only early P-38/F-5 flying, and that is hard to price.
