|
Let's review the current state of the five remaining P-38F aircraft frozen in the Greenland ice sheet. If you're not familiar with the one that was previously recovered in 1992, google it. There's a book and at least one documentary on the subject. Yesterday's news. A pyrrhic victory, in that it was not an economically viable concept. Now, 22 years later, three of the remaining a/c are on the edge of he crevasse field, where they will be mangled beyond recognition within a couple of years. Time has run out for those who are waiting for the market value to catch up to the recovery cost. The government of the newly-independent country of Greenland has renounced all previously-held salvage rights. It is now first-come, first-served (with the proper permits, of course).
The value of each P-38F, in today's market, would be about $700,000, customs-cleared, ready to transport from a U.S. port facility. While it is not possible to recover one a/c for that kind of money, it IS possible to recover all five at once, for around $3.5M. You won't profit, but you won't show a huge loss either.
The current locations of the a/c are currently known in certain circles of the scientific community, through the efforts of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (didn't know we had one of those? me either). We know they can be pinpointed with VLF sub-surface radar. They are about 100m (330') down in the ice. To get a proper perspective on the task at hand, stand at the bottom of a thirty-story building and look up. Now just melt a (large) hole in the ice, take apart the plane, and haul it up. Repeat four more times. Piece of cake.
It would take approximately two weeks per a/c, plus set-up and clean-up time, so three months at minimum. Factor in weather, and probably more like four months out there, a major time commitment. Billionaires have better things to do with their time, and you can't do it on your summer vacation. This requires dedicated folks who have the background and skillset for this sort of work. Since basically only three people have done this before, having actual experience doing it is not possible. However, one of them has made a significant contribution to our knowledge base. If things go well, there are other a/c to recover in Greenland. Melt more holes while you have the equipment there to do it.
Now to the point: Are there five entities who would want these a/c, if recovered? Some of the major players are on here. Some of you are their friends. Some of you work for them. We would like to meet with any person or institution who has the desire and the means to own/restore one (or more) of these a/c, including those outside the U.S. We have a comprehensive plan for the recovery, we have a lower-risk investment strategy, and we have a non-profit set up to do this type of work. We would like to form a recovery co-op with the interested parties. If you are one of these, please send us a PM so we may contact you directly.
For anyone else who would like to participate, we will start a crowdfunding campaign soon. It will include some rather interesting perks. We're not looking for "volunteers" or crew members at this time. We aren't here to stir up controversy or to challenge others. This is a project that fits well with the objectives of our organization, and we share your keen interest in warbirds. No further information on our plan will be shared publicly at this time. Thanks for your consideration.
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..." - JFK
_________________
"There's nothing new under the sun. It's only new to you."
"Deserve's got nothing to do with it."
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
