Frozen WWII Airman

digger · Post by **digger** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 8:42 pm

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/24/frozen ... index.html

Don't know if this has been posted.

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:01 pm

Interesting and bitter sweet ending to this man's life.
Died at 22. The article said his mother grieved for years that her son's body could not be found. Reminds me of the B-24 bomber that was lost in the Lybian desert. All but one crewmember's remains were found.

The plane he was on was an AT-7 navigational plane (that had originally been a civilian transport plane) The plane looks alot like Earhart's plane. (same type of style - silver, 2 engine configuration)
Ski or anyone,
Do you have any knowledge on this plane? Were there other training accidents with this aircraft during WWII?

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:46 pm

HEY!! That was in MY backyard! I reported on this awhile back...

It has been covered quite extensively by the local news here in Central California from the day the body was discovered. Kings Canyon National Park is only about an hour's drive from where I live. Its quite a touching story and I'm glad the family finally got closure as to what happened to their loved one. The fact that they were able to properly bury him over 60 years later is amazing.

INTREPER · Post by **INTREPER** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:51 pm

What an incredible story.

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:59 am

Good stories just do not go away.

Last Sundays NBC show "Crossing Jordan". took this story and with minor changes made it into a passable show. They changed the location to New England to fit the show and the aircraft to a T-33 trainer and the year to the early 50's, but an interesting show.

TTT

Folkwulfe · Post by **Folkwulfe** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:31 pm

Razor
The AT-7, AT-11, C-45, and SNB-2 were basically the same Beechcraft twin engine design. Each was specifically modified to fill a seperate role as trainer/light cargo hauler during and after WW2. The AT-7 was called the "Navigator" as it was rigged for navigational training. The AT-11 (SNB-1 in Navy use) was called the "Kansan" and was used for bombadier training. A later version was the C-45 (SNB-2 for the Navy) was called the "Expeditor" and was used for multi-engine training as well as light cargo/passenger duties. All were developed from the pre-war Beechcraft D18 design. Earhart's planes was a Lockheed Electra Model 10 that looked similar.

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:03 pm

Hey thanks Folkwulfe for the information. I appreciate it!

There is never a lack of information or participation from this board- THANKS!!!