Beep-Beep!! Out Of The Way Dumb *ss!!

[Jack Cook]

excuse us coming through

[Robbie Roberts]

Them dawgz ain't gonna move that Cat no matter how hard they try!

Robbie

[tom d. friedman]

i heard about that 1, what an incredible feat, they bellied in because the ice pack was too soft. if i'm not mistaken....... they raised the gear later & made a successful take off!!

[RickH]

The Grumman Albatross was considered a Triphibian. Land, water, snow. Could this incident have gotten people to thinkin' ?

[Nathan]

The skipper always said to land in water. Not water that was frozen.

[TAdan]

Well...being a Husky owner I think I can vouch for the fact that they would likely stand infront of a moving Catalina Atleast mine would

I watched her walk into two parked cars last week... Thats my dog...

[gilt]

FYI-

Bernt Balchen made three gear up landings on the Greenland ice cap in a PBY as part of an epic rescue of an Operation Bolero B-17 that went missing on 11/9/42. His first landing was on 2/5/43, the second on 3/17/43, the final one on 4/5/43. I suspect the one pictured is either the second or third one. After the third one the PBY was unable to depart with all onboard and Balchen, with two others, dog sleds 80 miles with a hand compass and protractor (no map) to Atterbury Dome for pick up by a PBY.

Tom-

[gilt]

Actually the idea predates this, in 1925 Dornier Wal flying boats were landed on ice in the rescue of Amundsen and Ellsworth after their first attempt to fly to the North Pole failed.

Tom-

The Grumman Albatross was considered a Triphibian. Land, water, snow. Could this incident have gotten people to thinkin' ?

[Jack Cook]

I suspect the one pictured is either the second or third one

Captions say Attu 1943

[gilt]

The year is correct the location incorrect, one of these photos is used in Balchen's book "Come North with Me". The dog sleds are an additional clue given that I doubt they were traveling by dog sled on Attu.

Tom-

I suspect the one pictured is either the second or third one

Captions say Attu 1943

[Jack Cook]

I always believe everything I see in print
Life is just easier that way

[gilt]

Jack-

While I agree with your remark the question in this case is which printing to believe (we've both seen mislabeled photos), the one on the photo or the use of the photo in Balchen's book which is accompanied by copius details. Given that he also includes the details of a telegram from Hap Arnold relaying engineering info from Consolidated I doubt that this occured often, and given the vast geography of Greenland compared to the much shorter distances of Attu I doubt that there would be a reason to attempt such an operation. In addition to the fact that the icecap makes this much more likely than the ragged terrain of Attu.

In addition Balchen's PBY ops in Greenland are well documented by himself and others, not to say it's not possible it was done elsewhere or that your labeling isn't correct but from my knowledge this is most likely Greenland.

Actually life is easier if we don't ask questions and accept the status quo.

Tom-

I always believe everything I see in print
Life is just easier that way

[jamesintucson]

Tom is right on this one. At Pima we have a collection of papers and artifacts given to the museum by Balchen's family which includes original prints of some of these photos. Balchen was an absolute genius at Arctic flying but he rarely gets the credit he deserves in part due to his conflicts with Admiral Byrd.

James

[Jack Cook]

Actually I was admitting in a back handed sort of way that I took the caption at face value and didn't really put it with the photos and say
That what I like about posting photos here. In many cases you gwt some great intell that brings the story out. I just thought it humerous that a PBY was sitting there on it's belly, motors running and a dog sled in front

[gilt]

As a kid Doolittle and Balchen were my heros, and they still are, two very different but equally accomplished pioneers. I than read "Fate is the Hunter" and was motivated to solo the Blue Spruce Route a number of times landing at both Bluie West One (BGBW) and Bluie West Eight (BGSF), Greenland remains the most fascinating geography I've seen.....................even after numerous RTW's.

Tom-

Tom is right on this one. At Pima we have a collection of papers and artifacts given to the museum by Balchen's family which includes original prints of some of these photos. Balchen was an absolute genius at Arctic flying but he rarely gets the credit he deserves in part due to his conflicts with Admiral Byrd.

James