trucker17
Charter Member
Ok. As the title says. This is a FSX story.
Story by Amanda Teague.
B25 paint work by my dad, Craig Teague.(Trucker17)
THIS STORY IS PURE FICTION!!!!!!
9 1/2 years ago I was staying the night in George, South Africa after dropping off some cargo. On September 18 at about 0330 AM, a small plane went down in the mountainous region of the Spitskop Mountains.
The call went out for searchers to try and locate the downed aircraft. I had volunteered to help in the search. So at 0630, I fuel up, and climbed into my old Cessna C185 and took off, taking a heading of North by Northeast towards the mountain and the planes last recorded location.
After about 3 hours of flying, I spotted a flash of light in the distance, so I flew off to investigate what it was, hoping it would have been the downed C172.
The flash of light I saw was a downed aircraft, but not the little Cessna....It turned out to be a B25 Mitchell bomber, that had apparently went down during the war.
I flew in circles and took some pictures of the old Bomber and recorded its location, then continued with my search for the Cessna. At 1430 I headed back to the airport for fuel, and grab something to eat before heading back out to search for the missing plane.
I had my plane running and heading for the run way, when the call came in that the C172 had been found, and everyone aboard was safe, so I turned around and headed back to park my plane for the night.
That evening I had brought up to some of the locals at the airport about the old bomber, a couple of the pilots had told me they had seen the plane a few times on flights up that way. But no one knew anything about it. So that night I started to try and find out more about the bomber.
Upon returning to my home base, I told my mechanic about the old plane, since he had worked on these old birds in the 1950s and 1960s. Surprisingly he was very interested in the old plane, and together we started to see what we could find out about the old plane.
After a few weeks we were pretty sure we had found all the information on the Bomber I had found. It was 41-12682 of the 83rd BS, 12th BG, USAAF. As it turned out the plane had been on a bombing mission over Tobruk when it suffered heavy damage due to flak, and enemy fighters. The pilot and crew completed their mission and was limping the battered and damaged bomber back to base when it crashed landed just north of the Spitskop Mountains. the crew had survived the crash landing, and was picked up by the U.S. Army, and after some treatment for their wounds were returned to their base. And the bomber was abandoned by the Army Air Corp as a complete loss.
Now after years of being forgotten, the plane is found, and all the red tape to rescue the old plane started.
After 5 years of red tape, road blocks and the general run around from every department in Washington DC, I had finally gotten the OK to rescue the old plane. So after months of trying to set up a crew to retrieve the plane, and figure out the cost of everything the decision was made to just fix the plane where it is and fly it out.
So the tedious job of collecting everything to get the old bomber airborn again was started.
After 6 months of collecting parts and tools, we have everything we need to repair the plane in the field. 5, 53 foot overseas containers and we are on our way. after making sure all the containers make it aboard the ship, we head for the airport to catch our flight to George, South Africa.
And after just over 20 hours in the air we arrive in George, South Africa. After a good nights sleep and a good meal, plus picking up provisions to last us some time in the field, we purchased some 4X4s and headed for the crash site. After 2 1/2 days of driving we arrive at the site.
Almost 6 years and we finally get to see the plane in person.
Boy their is a lot of work here to do. We'll spend the rest of the day putting the camp together, and start clearing all the brush away from the plane tomorrow. ( Sorry about the picture not looking as described. Finding a color picture of a crashed B25 like that is not easy.)
Thursday June 17 2010.
0630. Coffee on, and collecting the tools so we can start cleaning away the brush from the plane. 0720. we tackle the port side of the plane, their is a lot of work to do, we have about half the port side cleared away, and its 1345 now.
1730. After a couple of run ins with some large scary looking snakes we finally cleared out the port side of the plane. I hope I have enough Aluminum sheets, I'm starting to wonder. After dinner me and the guys start working on tomorrows strategy.
Friday June 18, 2010.
Back up at 0630, making coffee, and going around waking everyone up. after making a game plan on who is starting where on the starboard side of the plane, and having coffee and breakfast, its time to go back to work. Its now 1425 in the afternoon, and the plane is clear of brush. The tractor should be here in the next couple of days, that will make the work a lot easier.
Tomorrow we'll put the hoists together and see if we can get the plane on its wheels. And start taking her apart.
Saturday June 19, 2010.
My mechanic got an early start on building the hoist, I woke up to fresh coffee and him making pancakes. That's was nice, especially since I am the cook here for everyone. Thanks dad for letting me experiment on you with my cooking. After breakfast I'm going to start clearing all the brush off the plane, out of the engines, and of the nose. and take inventory of the damage that has to be fixed.
I'm glad I have my mechanic here with me, this plane is going to require a lot of new skin, The plane is split in 2 so we wont be able to put her on her wheels yet.
so me and the crew are cleaning out the inside of the plane, Good thing is that the damage is not as bad as it looks, so far.
Tomorrow me and my mechanic are heading back to George to meet the ship for our containers. The rest of the guys will be clearing an area for the containers to be dropped at.
Wednesday June 23, 2010.
The container ship arrived last night. So with luck it wont take long for them to pass through Customs.
Monday June 28, 2010.
The containers are cleared for travel. I pulled my Bell 206 out, and loaded up some of the materials into it, so I can take them in it, and we stuffed the rest of the container into the remaining 4 containers......
After having to pay a dirty customs officer everything is on its way, good thing 3 of the containers got by him without having to pay him off.
as for the Bell 206, The laugh is on him, I flew it out.
Tomorrow morning we head back to the crash site, my mechanic will be escorting the trucks, while I fly back.
June 29, 2010.
0630. I do a pre trip inspection on the helo, and was airborn by 0800. (After getting breakfast, and fueling up.) 2200 and I'm finally back at the crash site. And I'm dragging. Kitchen is cleaned up so I'll just make a couple of sandwiches and hit the cot. The trucks should roll in the a day or so.
June 30, 2010.
I slept in a little this morning, I was surprised that the helo was all tied off, and looking around, that whole area looks real good, the plane is moved, and looks like its ready to be striped.
July 3, 2010.
The trucks are just pulling in. 4 containers of parts and supplies. Now time to re inventory everything to make sure nothing broke in transit.
1 day of inventory and its time to start on the plane.
Story by Amanda Teague.
B25 paint work by my dad, Craig Teague.(Trucker17)
THIS STORY IS PURE FICTION!!!!!!
9 1/2 years ago I was staying the night in George, South Africa after dropping off some cargo. On September 18 at about 0330 AM, a small plane went down in the mountainous region of the Spitskop Mountains.
The call went out for searchers to try and locate the downed aircraft. I had volunteered to help in the search. So at 0630, I fuel up, and climbed into my old Cessna C185 and took off, taking a heading of North by Northeast towards the mountain and the planes last recorded location.
After about 3 hours of flying, I spotted a flash of light in the distance, so I flew off to investigate what it was, hoping it would have been the downed C172.
The flash of light I saw was a downed aircraft, but not the little Cessna....It turned out to be a B25 Mitchell bomber, that had apparently went down during the war.
I flew in circles and took some pictures of the old Bomber and recorded its location, then continued with my search for the Cessna. At 1430 I headed back to the airport for fuel, and grab something to eat before heading back out to search for the missing plane.
I had my plane running and heading for the run way, when the call came in that the C172 had been found, and everyone aboard was safe, so I turned around and headed back to park my plane for the night.
That evening I had brought up to some of the locals at the airport about the old bomber, a couple of the pilots had told me they had seen the plane a few times on flights up that way. But no one knew anything about it. So that night I started to try and find out more about the bomber.
Upon returning to my home base, I told my mechanic about the old plane, since he had worked on these old birds in the 1950s and 1960s. Surprisingly he was very interested in the old plane, and together we started to see what we could find out about the old plane.
After a few weeks we were pretty sure we had found all the information on the Bomber I had found. It was 41-12682 of the 83rd BS, 12th BG, USAAF. As it turned out the plane had been on a bombing mission over Tobruk when it suffered heavy damage due to flak, and enemy fighters. The pilot and crew completed their mission and was limping the battered and damaged bomber back to base when it crashed landed just north of the Spitskop Mountains. the crew had survived the crash landing, and was picked up by the U.S. Army, and after some treatment for their wounds were returned to their base. And the bomber was abandoned by the Army Air Corp as a complete loss.
Now after years of being forgotten, the plane is found, and all the red tape to rescue the old plane started.
After 5 years of red tape, road blocks and the general run around from every department in Washington DC, I had finally gotten the OK to rescue the old plane. So after months of trying to set up a crew to retrieve the plane, and figure out the cost of everything the decision was made to just fix the plane where it is and fly it out.
So the tedious job of collecting everything to get the old bomber airborn again was started.
After 6 months of collecting parts and tools, we have everything we need to repair the plane in the field. 5, 53 foot overseas containers and we are on our way. after making sure all the containers make it aboard the ship, we head for the airport to catch our flight to George, South Africa.
And after just over 20 hours in the air we arrive in George, South Africa. After a good nights sleep and a good meal, plus picking up provisions to last us some time in the field, we purchased some 4X4s and headed for the crash site. After 2 1/2 days of driving we arrive at the site.
Almost 6 years and we finally get to see the plane in person.
Boy their is a lot of work here to do. We'll spend the rest of the day putting the camp together, and start clearing all the brush away from the plane tomorrow. ( Sorry about the picture not looking as described. Finding a color picture of a crashed B25 like that is not easy.)
Thursday June 17 2010.
0630. Coffee on, and collecting the tools so we can start cleaning away the brush from the plane. 0720. we tackle the port side of the plane, their is a lot of work to do, we have about half the port side cleared away, and its 1345 now.
1730. After a couple of run ins with some large scary looking snakes we finally cleared out the port side of the plane. I hope I have enough Aluminum sheets, I'm starting to wonder. After dinner me and the guys start working on tomorrows strategy.
Friday June 18, 2010.
Back up at 0630, making coffee, and going around waking everyone up. after making a game plan on who is starting where on the starboard side of the plane, and having coffee and breakfast, its time to go back to work. Its now 1425 in the afternoon, and the plane is clear of brush. The tractor should be here in the next couple of days, that will make the work a lot easier.
Tomorrow we'll put the hoists together and see if we can get the plane on its wheels. And start taking her apart.
Saturday June 19, 2010.
My mechanic got an early start on building the hoist, I woke up to fresh coffee and him making pancakes. That's was nice, especially since I am the cook here for everyone. Thanks dad for letting me experiment on you with my cooking. After breakfast I'm going to start clearing all the brush off the plane, out of the engines, and of the nose. and take inventory of the damage that has to be fixed.
I'm glad I have my mechanic here with me, this plane is going to require a lot of new skin, The plane is split in 2 so we wont be able to put her on her wheels yet.
so me and the crew are cleaning out the inside of the plane, Good thing is that the damage is not as bad as it looks, so far.
Tomorrow me and my mechanic are heading back to George to meet the ship for our containers. The rest of the guys will be clearing an area for the containers to be dropped at.
Wednesday June 23, 2010.
The container ship arrived last night. So with luck it wont take long for them to pass through Customs.
Monday June 28, 2010.
The containers are cleared for travel. I pulled my Bell 206 out, and loaded up some of the materials into it, so I can take them in it, and we stuffed the rest of the container into the remaining 4 containers......
After having to pay a dirty customs officer everything is on its way, good thing 3 of the containers got by him without having to pay him off.
as for the Bell 206, The laugh is on him, I flew it out.
Tomorrow morning we head back to the crash site, my mechanic will be escorting the trucks, while I fly back.
June 29, 2010.
0630. I do a pre trip inspection on the helo, and was airborn by 0800. (After getting breakfast, and fueling up.) 2200 and I'm finally back at the crash site. And I'm dragging. Kitchen is cleaned up so I'll just make a couple of sandwiches and hit the cot. The trucks should roll in the a day or so.
June 30, 2010.
I slept in a little this morning, I was surprised that the helo was all tied off, and looking around, that whole area looks real good, the plane is moved, and looks like its ready to be striped.
July 3, 2010.
The trucks are just pulling in. 4 containers of parts and supplies. Now time to re inventory everything to make sure nothing broke in transit.
1 day of inventory and its time to start on the plane.
