Darryl Greenamyer Keynotes National Air-racing Group Annual Meeting and Banquet
Darryl Greenamyer, test pilot, race pilot, and speed record holder in piston AND jet aircraft highlighted the 1996 NAG Annual Meeting and Banquet held Saturday, Jan. 20 1996 at Francesco's Restaurant in Oakland California. Seven times declared unlimited national champion at Reno, Darryl set the world speed record for propeller-driven aircraft in 1969 with a Grumman Bearcat clocked at 483.041 mph. Eight years later, flying a "homebuilt" F104 Starfighter jet, Darryl set another world speed record of 988.009 mph.Darryl showed some slides and spoke about the speed record attempts, and how much he enjoyed his "homebuilt" jet fighter - until he had to ditch it and "punch out" after a speed record run when the landing gear failed to fully extend - "You can't belly-in an F104" he said wistfully.
The main topic of his talk, however, was the ill-fated 3-year attempt to resurrect the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Kee Bird from the ice in northern Greenland where it has rested since its crash-landing in 1947 during a secret reconnaissance mission. Although it remained in fairly good condition, no-one had attempted a salvage operation on the big airplane due to the sheer inaccessibility of the crash site and fiercly inclement weather - until Darryl Greenamyer, that is!
After a year of planning, Darryl airlifted a tractor and lots of airplane parts and tools first to the USAF airbase at Thule , then to the site of the B-29 when a sevicable landing strip was scraped out of the ice. Through two years of frustration and miserable weather, his team of mechanics was basically able to re-build the massive bomber in place - including four reconditioned 18-cylinder Wright 3350 radial engines and a full 16-blade set of some of the largest propellers ever built.
In the spring of 1995, after a series of setbacks, (including the death of his chief engineer for seven years, Rick Kriege), Darryl had the old bomber rolling on the ice in a fast taxi, minutes away from attempting a take-off when disaster struck. A fuel line to an APU in the tail section had broken loose and sprayed gasoline on the hot APU. A fire broke out which consumed the big plane where it stood on the ice. Now wrecked for good, the Kee Bird would sink to the bottom of the shallow lake in the coming thaw.
Public TV Station WGBH sponsored a NOVA documentary called "B-29 Frozen in Time" which chronicles the heroic attempt to resurrect Kee Bird. Darryl had not seen the video at the time of the NAG banquet (it was first aired by PBS stations around Jan. 30), but it proved to be a poignant tribute to the effort, the team and especially to Rick Kriege. Copies of the video are available from WGBH for $19.95 + s/h by calling 1-800-255-9424 or writing WGBH, P.O. Box 2284, S. Burlington, VT 05407-2284.
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