Fifty-seven years ago the first flight of B-17’s were assigned to fly to England. The United States will officially enter the European theatre of WWII. On the morning of June 27^th, 1942, eighteen B-17’s attached to 97^th Bomb Group were ready to depart from Goose Bay with their first fuel stop in Greenland and their final destination Grafton-Underwood, England. That morning three B-17’s would run out of fuel and crash due to bad weather in Greenland. The three airplanes lost that morning were "My Gal Sal", the "Alabama Exterminator", and "Sooner".

"My Gal Sal" ditched on the Greenland ice cap. "Alabama Exterminator" ditched on a rocky Greenland beach close to a native Eskimo village, and "Sooner", piloted by Major H.C. Chambers, ditched on the water in a fjord just 15 miles from the base at which they were to re-fuel. The crewmembers from all three aircraft survived that morning and all were eventually rescued.

July 12^th, 1999, fifty-seven years later, the recovery of the 1942 B-17E "Sooner" began. Bob Ready from Cincinnati, Ohio, developed the recovery project early in 1998. Bob has been involved in the ownership and restoration of WWII aircraft for twenty years. His love of aviation and the history of aviation have motivated him to put together a team of expert salvagers. This team has over sixty-one recoveries from all over the world. Over the years they have recovered aircraft from some of the most remote and dangerous parts of this world. In addition to recovering the "Sooner", the expedition will attempt to raise another B-17 that had to ditch on April 9^th, 1944. Under similar conditions a brand new 1944 B-17G model ran into bad weather and because of low fuel had to put down on an ice-covered fjord. The crew survived and was rescued three days later. Within a week this Flying Fortress slipped into her 700’ watery grave and has been there for fifty-five years. Crew of the B-17G  Photo of the B-17G

Never before has there been an attempt to recover two B-17’s within a four week period in the kind of cold and depths that these airplanes exist. The attempt will be made with the most sophisticated sonar system and recovery equipment that exists today. Combine the state-of-the-art equipment, the experience of the Air Pirates, the very cold water these two pieces of history have been lying in, and all the data related to their locations, the success of the recovery looks excellent.

During the development of the recovery logistics we found two survivors of the "Sooner" and four survivors of the second aircraft (this aircraft had no name). Still alive today are the "Sooner’s" bombardier, Lt. Paul Blaida, and the pilot Lt. John Nichols. Lt. Blaida will be with the recovery team and will be on the site when his airplane comes out of the icy grip of the fjord that held the "Sooner" for fifty-seven years. The four survivors of the 1944-G model will not be on site, but are expected to greet their aircraft when it arrives mid-August in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Each of these brave crews picked up new B-17’s after their ordeal and went to war. Some were killed in action, some became prisoners of war, a few made it home. This recovery is only the beginning of many stories to come. First the recovery of the B-17’s, then the stories.