Warbird fans know the story of the P-38 "Glacier Girl," how she was one of several P-38s that on July 15, 1942, escorting Boeing B-17s, were airborne on their way to Iceland.

Hampered by bad weather and low on fuel, they were forced to land on the eastern coast of Greenland. After several days the pilots were rescued and planes were left to be recovered at a later date. In the spring of 1992, a group of 40 people led by Middlesboro entrepreneur Roy Shoffner returned to Greenland and burrowed through 268 feet of ice to reach one of the Lockheed P-38s and brought it up piece by piece to the surface.

A decade later, on October 26th, 2002, after thousands of hours of work the P-38 they recovered, now dubbed The Glacier Girl, took flight again, flown by Planes of Fame President Steve Hinton.

Now owned by Rod Lewis, Glacier Girl may soon have company, if a non-profit organization called the Operation Bolero Recovery & Restoration Group, Inc. is successful. The organization is dedicated to the recovery and restoration of WW II aircraft, and to sharing the significant history of the vintage military aircraft of WWII with generations to come.

Their current project is the recovery and restoration of the remaining Lost Squadron, five P-38 fighters and two B-17 bombers forced to land in Greenland during Operation Bolero.

"Once recovered, the planes of the Lost Squadron would be brought home and restored by OBRRG, in hopes that they would fly the skies with the P-38 Glacier Girl, thus becoming the only squadron of WW II fighter aircraft flying together in the world," a spokesman said.

"Due to the historical significance and value of these aircraft, a group in Germany is actively seeking to recover them," the spokesman said. "If this is allowed to happen, it is likely that these wonderful warbirds will never return home to the country that they served so valiantly for.

"Operation Bolero Recovery and Restoration Group would like to 'Bring 'Em Home to America' where they rightfully belong," said Joe Meyers, operations manager, based in Silversale, Pa.

Pacific Flyer e-mailed Meyers, asking who would pay for such an expedition, expected to cost in the millions.

A few days later, he replied: "What can I tell you about where the money will come from?. I personally certainly do not have the funds needed to complete this venture," he said.

"I started this with my own money and continue to operate through generosity, belief in me and the dream that many have of recovering these planes. I will lobby, beg, borrow and talk to anyone that has a similar dream and money (even if they don't have money) to spend on this."

Meyers added that he believed that he had the "ability, skill and knowledge to complete this mission."

"I was told from the start by Pat Epps, Richard Taylor and Roy Shoffner that funding this would be the biggest problem and heartache that I would encounter," he continued. "They were right but there are enough small people behind me that we are certain to find those with deeper pockets to help us Bring 'Em Home."

What does it take to recover an airplane under 268 feet of ice?

"Basically, you start with a six-digit budget, followed by transporting tons of equipment that include arctic survival gear and heavy construction machinery, and top it all off with adventure-minded individuals willing to take the hardships and risks associated with one-of-a-kind expeditions to a hostile environment," the group's spokesman said. 'That's what it took to recover a P-38 from 'The Lost Squadron.'"

The contraption designed to burrow through the ice looks like a technologically advanced spinning top. It's called the Super Gopher - a thermal meltdown generator - and melts the ice by circulating hot water from a collector and pumping it through copper tubing coiled around the outside, the group said. The four-foot-wide device is suspended over the area to be tunneled through by a hoist and chain, being lowered at a rate of about two feet per hour.

The water created is pumped out through a hose coupled to a submersible pump. When the Gopher completed melting its 268-foot-deep shaft it was winched out of the hole and set aside. The hole took the better part of a month to complete.

The descent to the bottom of the ice hole took 25 minutes. Men equipped with steam hoses were lowered in to carve out a cave surrounding the aircraft.

Water created from this was constantly pumped out, as workers had to slog through ice water to keep the project moving along.

It would take two more pages just to explain what the recover faced and what the new Operation Bolero is confronting. If you want to read the details, go to www.operationbolero.org/. It was an astounding feat, and now they want to get the rest of the planes out before the Germans do.

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