>>> In fact the expedition failed because the airplanes were buried 
>>> 300 feet
>>> deep in new icepack.

>> Not quite true. See:
>> http://www.thelostsquadron.com/

>> This recovery was documented on a (I think) Discovery Channel show 
>> several years ago and as the link shows at least one of the planes, 
>> a P-38 Lightening, was recovered from a depth of 268 feet of ice. 
>> 268 feet since 1942 is 4.2 feet per year.

> That rates a "not quite true"? The intention was to recover the 
> whole
> group of planes. Taking one apart and dragging it 300 feet then 
> taking
> 12 years for it to get reassembled doesn't sound
> like a success....

My perspective on the tale, having enthusiastically read about it long 
ago in several reports including a nice National Geographic coverage, 
was that what they did constituted a success. Even greater success 
would have been appreciated :-).

While it was "hoped" that the craft would be near the surface there 
was no really credible reason for expecting that this was true - GW or 
not. That they would be so far away and so deep was not appreciated 
initially but the discovery was not, AIUI, so earthshaking as to 
rewrite any texts on snowfall, ice compaction rates etc.

I understood that a significant driver for the project was that they 
wanted to be "crazy americans doing something outlandishly challenging 
for the sake of it". They certainly succeeded in that. While there was 
a hope early on that the venture would prove net revenue positive it 
seemed to me that they recognised soonish that if that was going to be 
true then it would be by telling people about it and not by selling 
Yamamoto's banes.

I loved their hot water borer. Such a fantastically marvellous 
solution. Utterly obvious after the event but not quite so much so 
before it existed.



        Russell

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