Jan 5, 1967 was not a good day for things flying in the skies of Nevada

October 31, 2017 8:48 PM

Tom Mahood - known for his investigation into what happened to the Death Valley Germans - searches for a lost spy plane.
posted by Chrysostom (9 comments total)

Damn, I got so excited when I saw Tom Mahood because I thought he'd found out what happened to Bill Ewasko! I still check in every few months to see how that's going, though his last update made it sound like he wouldn't be making anymore search trips for Bill. Still, psyched to read this story because basically every Tom Mahood search story is great.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:57 PM on October 31, 2017 [6 favorites]

From the Ewasko notes:

"You haven’t failed at something until you officially give up.(Whoever said this is an idiot)".

I didn't realize that search and rescue reports couldbe so enjoyable to read.
posted by mecran01 at 4:51 AM on November 1, 2017

That was fascinating. It boggles the mind just how big and remote so much of the American West is.
posted by mdonley at 4:57 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Apparently there are shredded bits of titanium from crashed airplanes and such all over the desert. Prototypes crashed a lot more often back when, I guess. (But still less than one might expect)
posted by wierdo at 6:22 AM on November 1, 2017

Yeah, it's not at all uncommon to find bits of airframe confetti all over the Mojave. I've seen bits of wrecks at crash sites at least a dozen times. I used to see a lot more of it before the meth epidemic ravaged the (heh) high deserts, but nowadays anything that has scrap value is gone sooner rather than later, so you're a lot less likely to find any pieces bigger than a nickel.

Aerospace archeology is also more of a thing,, now. There used to be only a handful of people that used to do it as a hobby, but as I understand it a lot more people do it now as some kind of weird adventure lifestyle and/or profit center to sell bits of wrecks to collectors.
posted by loquacious at 6:34 AM on November 1, 2017

Great story. But that extended passage about the stuck truck could use some paring down. "Get back to the plane!"
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:31 AM on November 1, 2017

I dunno, I found the stuck-truck story a funny sidebar. It is darn interesting to read his stories of how he found things. A real needle in the haystack search with little available information, and most of it questionable etc. Nothing I have an interest in doing, but I can enjoy reading about those that do go down that rabbit hole (and document it all)
posted by k5.user at 8:28 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

I always feel guilty following along with his reports on Google Maps. It's like I'm cheating or something.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:36 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I am still working through this but it's worth it alone for the sunk truck saga.
posted by stowaway at 9:49 PM on November 1, 2017