Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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"From Glacier to Glory"
June 25, 2007 3:40 PM
The P-38 Lightning was a state of the art plane at the beginning of World War II, but the age of nonstop trans-Atlantic flights was still far in the future when the eight planes of "the lost squadron" began their trip to Europe.
A quick update to Friday's story: as of this writing, the restored plane, nicknamed "Glacier Girl," is in Goose Bay, Labrador, delayed by weather. There's live tracking HERE.
The next stop is Iqualuit, Nunavut, in northern Canada. The final destination is a former RAF base in Duxford, Cambridgeshire, northeast of London. There's a museum there today.
The comments on the AirShowBuzz website, which is following the flight, are sometimes heart-warming, often revealing. "Gotta love that GPS and better weather forecasts, for sure makes you appreciate what those guys went through and they were far less experienced than you guys," says one, referring to what the original pilots faced when they tried to cross to England in July 1942.
A reminder that technology marches on, but Arctic weather is no more forgiving than it was 65 years ago.
June 25, 2007 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (3)
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Godspeed to "Glacier Girl" and her crew!
Posted by: chuck | Jun 25, 2007 4:00:50 PM
Too bad you did not have time to go into details about the bombers they were escorting -- because that really hit home! Dad noticed a disabled B-17 and that was the type he flew in WWII, as you well know. So the lovely story was especially moving for us.
Posted by: Marlies | Jun 26, 2007 8:21:36 AM
My dad was a crew chief on P-38's. He loved them and spoke of them fondly.
I am sorry he is not here to see this resurection but I am sure he would have liked to help out somehow.
Emil's family
Posted by: John Alcorn | Jun 27, 2007 6:21:55 PM
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