Bluie West #1

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billrunnels

billrunnels

Distinguished Member
B-17 Bombardier
8AF, 303bg, 360bs
1,124
1,368
Oct 13, 2017
Minnesota, USA
On our (night) crossing in January 1945 we had to make an emergency landing at Bluie West One in Greenland due to insufficient fuel to make Iceland. While over the Ice Cap the base control tower was contacted. The operator said the base was closed because of gusting surface winds up to 80 MPH and they had no electric runway lights. Our pilot replied "it may be closed but we are going to reopen it, we have no other choice". Consideration had been given to bailing out over the Ice Cap. We let down in a clear area over the Atlantic and headed for the entrance to the fjord. I doubt that a rougher ride exists but our B-17 took it in stride. The control tower operator said "B-17 where are you" and our pilot replied "we will be around the corner in a minute or two". A safe landing was made. They had positioned jeeps at each end of the runway with headlights on to assist the landing approach. Each member of our crew experienced a degree of motion sickness.

To give you a feeling for the landing challenge, YouTube has a short video of a daylight landing using the same approach we did. If interested, go to YouTube and search "Phenom 100 Narsarsuaq approach".
 
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billrunnels said:
On our (night) crossing in January 1945 we had to make an emergency landing at Bluie West One in Greenland due to insufficient fuel to make Iceland. While over the Ice Cap the base control tower was contacted. The operator said the base was closed because of gusting surface winds up to 80 MPH and they had no electric runway lights. Our pilot replied "it may be closed but we are going to reopen it, we have no other choice". Consideration had been given to bailing out over the Ice Cap. We let down in a clear area over the Atlantic and headed for the entrance to the fjord. I doubt that a rougher ride exists but our B-17 took it in stride. The control tower operator said "B-17 where are you" and our pilot replied "we will be around the corner in a minute or two". A safe landing was made. They had positioned jeeps at each end of the runway with headlights on to assist the landing approach. Each member of our crew experienced a degree of motion sickness.
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Fascinating story Bill and such breathtaking video without doubt. Thank you for sharing.
I remember reading some years ago that the USAAF expected a loss rate of bombers crews crossing the north Atlantic en route to Europe between 5-7% but fortunately less than 5% was achieved overall.

Bill, between that voyage to Europe via the north Atlantic and your first operational sortie, which endevour kept you more on edge?

Cheers
 
Late last year I reread the great Earnie Gann book, "Fate is the Hunter" and found it even better than I recalled. He talks about flying the northern Atlantic and getting into Blue West One, having clouds down to the ground and having to fly through that fiord (like 633 Squadron) while looking for that unreliable and weak radio signal. Fortunately there was a sunken ship at the entrance to the fiord and that served as a marker that it was the right one. Flying up one of wrong fiords would have been fatal.
 
airminded88 said:
Fascinating story Bill and such breathtaking video without doubt. Thank you for sharing.
I remember reading some years ago that the USAAF expected a loss rate of bombers crews crossing the north Atlantic en route to Europe between 5-7% but fortunately less than 5% was achieved overall.

Bill, between that voyage to Europe via the north Atlantic and your first operational sortie, which endevour kept you more on edge?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Twenty aircraft were dispatched for our night crossing to Iceland. Two sent in SOS of which one made it and one was lost.
The night emergency landing in Greenland was the most concerning thing I experienced during the war more so than any mission. The thought of bailing out over the Icecap, which was vetoed by a crew vote, or ditching in the cold Atlantic was up setting to say the least. Between the crossing and the first operational sortie it was smooth sailing. The two week period of training and just getting acquainted consumed my time. I found the period to be a welcome challenge.
 
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MIflyer said:
Late last year I reread the great Earnie Gann book, "Fate is the Hunter" and found it even better than I recalled. He talks about flying the northern Atlantic and getting into Blue West One, having clouds down to the ground and having to fly through that fiord (like 633 Squadron) while looking for that unreliable and weak radio signal. Fortunately there was a sunken ship at the entrance to the fiord and that served as a marker that it was the right one. Flying up one of wrong fiords would have been fatal.
Click to expand...

Great book that. If I recall that scene they were descending in a soup and weren't sure how high off the water they were. They let out the trailing aerial and when the weight snapped off after hitting the water they knew they were low enough!
 
The runway at Bluie West #1 elevation was interesting. At the fjord end it was 10 ft and at the opposite end 136 ft. The difference over the 6,500 X 200 ft concrete runway was clear to the naked eye. We landed up hill and departed down hill. Setting in the nose of the B-17 on take off gave me the feeling we were going to drive into the water. However, after rotation and a rather steep bank to the left all was normal again. Our brief stay at the base was pleasant with one exception, someone stole my two boxes of candy bars that were stored in the nose.:oops:
 
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Great post Bill! Where did you end up flying back to in the states? Did the forts end up sitting at air bases or were they already slated for the scrap heap?
 
Great story, Bill. Thank you for posting. I was surprised to read that you crossed in January. I thought the route was generally closed from November-ish to March-ish, depending on the actual weather. Also, the thought of bailing out at night, over the ice cap in likely hurricane force winds is REALLY not appealing. Glad you guys made the right decision!
 
From the book I am now reading, "The Bomber Aircrew Experience."
On 18 Jun 1942 the first 8th AF combat units were staged to Presque Isle, Maine. The first leg was 570 miles to Goose Bay, Labrador; 15 B-17's arrived there on the late afternoon of 26 Jun, refueled, and left for Blue west One, 775 miles from Goose Bay. At Blue West One the bombers were unable to land due to poor visibility. One B-17 went on to land safely at Blue West 8, about 400 miles further along the coast of Greenland. Eleven other B-17's made it back to Goose Bay and three others became lost and had to crash land on the coast of Greenland; all the crews were rescued.

By 27 July 180 aircraft, C-47's, B-17's and P-38's had arrived safely in Scotland. 6 P-38's and 5 B-17's were lost but all the crews were saved.

By the way, Presque Isle, Maine is nowhere near the ocean. I recall after the AFB was closed considering that airport as a possible landing spot for the X-33 if launched from Cape Canaveral.
 
MIflyer said:
From the book I am now reading, "The Bomber Aircrew Experience."
On 18 Jun 1942 the first 8th AF combat units were staged to Presque Isle, Maine. The first leg was 570 miles to Goose Bay, Labrador; 15 B-17's arrived there on the late afternoon of 26 Jun, refueled, and left for Blue west One, 775 miles from Goose Bay. At Blue West One the bombers were unable to land due to poor visibility. One B-17 went on to land safely at Blue West 8, about 400 miles further along the coast of Greenland. Eleven other B-17's made it back to Goose Bay and three others became lost and had to crash land on the coast of Greenland; all the crews were rescued.

By 27 July 180 aircraft, C-47's, B-17's and P-38's had arrived safely in Scotland. 6 P-38's and 5 B-17's were lost but all the crews were saved.

By the way, Presque Isle, Maine is nowhere near the ocean. I recall after the AFB was closed considering that airport as a possible landing spot for the X-33 if launched from Cape Canaveral.
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Thanks for the post. Very informative. The Greenland stop continued to be challenging in 1945 when we made the crossing.
 
Gann's novel "Island in the Sky", which was made into a movie. was based on an actual incident in WWII when a transport aircraft got lost and ended up landing in the wilderness. In those days crews flying that route essentially found themselves in the position of being explorers, hampered by not only the weather but lack of accurate maps and in some cases magnetic anomalies that made compasses unreliable. In the movie the lost airplane was a C-47 but I think in reality it was a C-87.
 
MIflyer said:
Gann's novel "Island in the Sky", which was made into a movie. was based on an actual incident in WWII when a transport aircraft got lost and ended up landing in the wilderness. In those days crews flying that route essentially found themselves in the position of being explorers, hampered by not only the weather but lack of accurate maps and in some cases magnetic anomalies that made compasses unreliable. In the movie the lost airplane was a C-47 but I think in reality it was a C-87.
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Oddly much the same could be said about Greenland at the time, January 1945, of our crossing. The navigational and Bluie West #1 landing instructions we had to review, while circling over the Ice Cap, said the maps and charts for the area were inaccurate with exception of the coast line. Consequently, a minimum safe altitude of 12,000 ft was recommended.
 
Jim Daigneau said:
Great story, Bill. Thank you for posting. I was surprised to read that you crossed in January. I thought the route was generally closed from November-ish to March-ish, depending on the actual weather. Also, the thought of bailing out at night, over the ice cap in likely hurricane force winds is REALLY not appealing. Glad you guys made the right decision!
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The route might as well have been closed. We departed Hunter Field, GA on December 24, 1944 and arrived Molesworth, England February 1, 1945. Spent time in New York, Bangor and Goose Bay along the way. The lengthy delay was due to ice storms over the Atlantic and congestion at airports created by the back up. However, there was a plus, we spent New Years Eve at Times Square welcoming in 1945.
 
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