Kee Bird?

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7821

Stumbled across these photos of "Kee Bird". I believe the date is sometime on 1977? Photos found here.
http://www.panoramio.com/user/4333239

Rocket88 · **Joined:** Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:54 pm **Posts:** 23

These were taken in the summer of 1993 before they put her on her wheels. I'm not sure who the man in the shot is but might be Rick Kriege.

p51 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2014 3:54 pm

The top turret still had .50 cals in it?

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:02 pm

p51 wrote:

The top turret still had .50 cals in it?

This 29 was in Northern Greenland, above the arctic circle. Waaaaaaaaay far away from any civilization.

Ken · **Posted:** Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:52 pm

Watching portions of the Nova program again, it looked as if the .50s had been removed from both upper turrets by the time of the taxi test and fire, but it is clear that the lower aft turret still had the .50s mounted and they are visible in some of the fire scenes.

Ken

Iclo · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:03 am

Just kidding : perhaps if they have succeed and reached the States, the plane would have been seized by a federal agency for "illegal import of weapons" and gift to a museum for static display ? (All similarities with a recent story of a skyraider is pure coincidence)

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:12 am

I thought the plan was to limp to Thule AFB, where she'd undergo more thorough repairs before heading to the States (which I assume would have included de-miling the weapons and fire control systems.)

SN

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:58 am

Steve Nelson wrote:

I thought the plan was to limp to Thule AFB, where she'd undergo more thorough repairs before heading to the States (which I assume would have included de-miling the weapons and fire control systems.)

SN

If Im not mistaken, that was in fact the plan. Boy it would still be nice to see that happen, albeit in many pieces now.

p51 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:03 am

I still snicker every time I read about this bird, as it was a moot point in regard to getting it to Thule.
I know someone who was with the USAF at the time there and he said the plan was to impound the bird until it met all the US and Local airworthiness standards for a normal aircraft, which is unlikely it ever would. They even had a hangar area set aside for the longterm storage of the Kee Bird.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:28 pm

p51 wrote:

I still snicker every time I read about this bird, as it was a moot point in regard to getting it to Thule.
I know someone who was with the USAF at the time there and he said the plan was to impound the bird until it met all the US and Local airworthiness standards for a normal aircraft, which is unlikely it ever would. They even had a hangar area set aside for the longterm storage of the Kee Bird.

While a few months in a heated hangar with facilities to work on it would have no doubt been very welcome, I doubt that they would have been able to hang on to it indefinitely like your contact planned. It doesn't really work that way.

p51 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:30 pm

Hey, just telling you what I've heard, from the ADC to the base commander there at the time...

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