Show Burial in Alaskan Snow Doesn't Faze Wasp Engine ANCHORAGE ALASKA Burial ALAsKA in hi an art Alaskan snowbank for two months is not the best treatment in the world for an aircraft engine But it didn't bother one of Pratt Whitneys Whitney's horsepower Wasp engines During the winters winter's zero sub-zero temperatures an Army cargo plane ran out of gas and made madea a forced landing along a river bank The plane nosed over a hidden stump and was considerably damaged Army repairmen removed the Wasp rolled it through the snow to an adjacent knoll and covered it with snow for protection Working with a minimum of equipment and a maximum of ing ingenuity the Army men were able to repair the damaged plane in two months All An materials and parts had to come over oyer the frozen Alaskan foothills to the nearly inaccessible spot where the crash occurred Finally the crew went up the thc knoll and started probing probing- for the engine now deeply buried under two months' months sno snowfall fall They dug the Wasp from its snow blanket and rolled it downhill to reinstall it in the airplane Plumbers Plumbers' pots were used to warm the en en- en gine The pilot pressed the starter and on the first attempt the roar of the Wasps Wasp's exhaust ex ex- haust broke the winter stillness a tribute to the skill skill of Americans working under the most adverse conditions and the dependability of the modern aircraft engine Two hours afterwards the rebuilt plane flew back to its base |