VintageAirRally

They made it to Kulusuk, #Greenland! About half way there!

The Beech 18 (the only one of the 3 planes able to land on the airfield) even made it all the way to Bluie East 2 Air Force base, abandonned for more then 70 years now and created during WWII to supply the Allies in #Europe. A strangely beautiful, almost haunted place. When the US left, they left everything - busses, trucks, machinery and thousands and thousands of fuel containers meant to supply the airforce, that have been rusting into the ground and spoiling the pristine environment. After years of fruitless negociations between the US and Denmark, the Danish government finely, two days ago, pledged $10 million to clean it all up.

After the US had assumed responsibility for the defence of Greenland during the last WW, it sent Antarctic veteran, Lt. Frederick E. Crockett to survey the area in order to create a radio and weather station. In November 1941, he found an alluvial shelf at the base of high mountains which faced a narrow strait near Eskimo huts named Ikateq. It was to become the base, situated in an area around Angmagssalik and was subject to extreme weather. On 26 July 1942, the USCGC Comanche led a supply flotilla bringing the construction crews to complete a 4,000 foot gravel runway and associated facilities. On 1 November, the BE-2 station began reporting weather from the new location and a 5,000 foot runway was completed in 1943.

#airforce #environment #Denmark #abroadabroad @Paula Froelich