Original subtitles

[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]

[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.

>> Yeah.

>> 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]

[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]

[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]

[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]

[Music]

Heat. Heat.

[Music]

[Music]