High Sierra Topix

It's great to see the new look of High Sierra Topix.

For anyone who is interested in following the story of the two men who were found on Mendel Glacier from the 1942 crash, I've begun a blog that follows my investigations for FINAL FLIGHT, the book I am writing about the event.

The blog is here:
http://finalflightthebook.com/Final_Flight_bog_home.htm

I've been able to get some photos taken of the glacier in 1948 from the family of Capt. Roy F. Sulzbacher - the US Army officer who lead a recovery team to Mendel Glaicer in 1948. They are posted in the February blog. I also have some photos taken in 1947 by one of the students who first found the wreck. I will post those soon. Along with my photos from 2007 it is possible to see how much the glacier has shrunk during the last 60 years.

I update the blog as time permits and as I get more data. I have plans to add entries for August and September, 2007 - probably in May when I get back from the Grand Canyon.

If anyone reading this has any info about the Mendel Glacier or other historical photos, I would love to hear from you.

Peter

I've just gotten off the phone with Mrs. Jeanne Pyle, a sister of Ernest Glenn Munn. Glenn was one of the cadets on the ship that crashed into Mendel Glacier in 1942. JPAC notified her and her family this afternoon that the person I found on the glacier last August was her brother.

If you're interested, check my blog at http://finalflightthebook.com/Final_Flight_bog_home.htm and I will post more data as it is known.

Congratulations on finding Munn, and bringing closure to the family.

Glenn Munn was buried in the Munn family plot in Colerain, OH last week May 17, 2008]. At the request of the family, I flew out from my home in Seattle to attend the ceremony. Glenn's three sisters [all in their 80s] along with their children and their children's children were in attendance along with about 200 other people. This included friends, neighbors and other members of the public who were interested in the story. Representatives from three television stations, including the local West Virginia station, were there as well.

The US Army provided a chaplain and honor guard. The area VFW chapter was there as well and a color guard. And a group of vets calling themselves the Patriot Riders escorted the casket from the airport in Pittsburgh to the chapel and from the chapel to the cemetery.

I took some photos and video which I have posted at:

http://youtube.com/user/FinalFlightTheBook
http://finalflightthebook.com/Blog_May08.htm

Coming Aug. 31 from
THE FRESNO BEE
Central California's Leading Newspaper

“Lost Flights: The Sierra’s deadly legacy,” a series of print stories and online reports by The Bee's Mark Grossi and Cyndee Fontana.

Come with us Aug. 31-Sept. 17 and relive the stories of doomed flights. Examine the Sierra’s dangerous terrain and weather. Learn why there are so many crashes and why it's so difficult to recover lost planes.

In the center of the series, Grossi and photographer Mark Crosse will bring the Sierra front and center when they hike to Mendel Glacier in search of the remains of airmen who were lost on a training flight in 1942. Join them as they blog live from the mountain.

The series will package stories, photos, maps, charts, videos, audio clips and blogs for an in-depth review of Sierra plane crashes.

You can join the journey now; enjoy early blogs, galleries and more at http://www.fresnobee.com/lostflights/.

Be sure to bookmark the page so that you can keep up with the series as it unfolds in print and online Aug. 31 through Sept. 17, only in


The Fresno Bee and FresnoBee.com

Last summer, before my hiking trip to the French Pyrenees, I was contacted by a BBC4 producer working on a documentary about the disappearance of Steve Fossett in the Eastern Sierra Nevada while flying a single-engined aircraft. In researching airplane crashes in the Sierra, this producer came upon the Final Flight website and my research into the Mendel Glacier WWII crash on a Beech 18 AT-7. We spoke on the phone and, based on the information I gave him about bad weather flying in the mountains, he expressed an interest in interviewing me.

The timing was bad. He was going to be in California when I was in France. By a stroke of luck, we managed to arrange a meeting in London on the day before I returned home. We drove to the Royal Air Force Museum and for two or so hours, with a B-17 in the background, he asked me questions about Final Flight and how bad weather could have accounted for the crash of the AT-7.

The program I contributed to is going to be broadcast on the National Geographic channel beginning February 22 at 5 PM [repeated at 8 PM]. See here for the schedule: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/tv-schedule" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You will have to scroll to the proper date.

The program is called, "Lost in the Nevada Triangle."

Here is their synopsis
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/e ... 9/Overview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sounds pretty scary doesn't it! I've seen the program and, other than the scary title, it is a fair presentation of how dangerous it is to fly over the Sierra Nevada in bad weather or big winds. Most of the discussion is about Steve Fossett and what could have lead up to and/or caused his plane to crash.

So, if you're at home on the 22nd, grab some popcorn and enjoy the show!

Peter

Nevada Triangle ? Never heard of it. Of course, I'm from the right coast, but still....
"Facts" from the website:

The Nevada Triangle is as much a mystery as the Bermuda Triangle. After the disappearance of a millionaire Steve Fossett, the search for her whereabouts became the biggest peacetime search and rescue operation in U.S. history. What makes the Triangle so dangerous?

Nevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital of Nevada is Carson City, and the state's largest city is Las Vegas.
An area some call the Nevada Triangle is where more than 2,000 planes have crashed in the last 50 years.
The Nevada Triangle is also famous for alien sightings, a top secret military base called Area 51, harsh landscape, and the extraordinary turbulent weather that makes it challenging to any pilot.
The Nevada Triangles stretches from Las Vegas in the southeast to Fresno in the west, with Reno at the top. It has seen a large number of plane crashed over the last 50 years.
The area covers almost 25,000 square miles, half the size of England. There are many theories as to why so many planes go missing here, from unusual atmospheric effects to alien intervention.
The Sierra Nevada form a towering barrier, up to 14,500 feet high, that planes must cross to reach the rest of the country. Many surviving pilots who have crashed in the mountains report how disorientated they are.


Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/e ... #tab-facts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;#ixzz0fwN9GXjY

Final Flight, my book about the WWII crash site at Mendel Glacier is coming out September, 2010. It tells the story of the four aviators and how their plane ended up crashing on November 18, 1942. It will be sold in all the usual places and can be pre-ordered from amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/Final-Flight-Myst ... 079&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How about a link on your site to this thread?

ERIC wrote:How about a link on your site to this thread?

Always trying to promote "Topix," eh, Eric?