FINAL FLIGHT BLOG

T a b l e   o f   C o n t e n t s

2010

October -

September - A remembrance of Barbara Christian Adams, cousin of William Gamber, who passed away May 19, 2010.

August - Peter breaks his ankle in three places while crossing Crabtree Pass, north of Miter Basin in Sequoia National Park, and has to be Medi-vac'ed. Dr. Robert L. Goulding found! Excellent initial reviews of Final Flight HERE.

July - It's a busy month for people interested in airplanes! Begins with: 1.] Publication update for Final Flight. 2.] Coming author events in October and November. 3.] Another JPAC mission accomplished. 4.] Tony Krizan from the Sierra Star in Oakhurst, CA searches Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks for a missing P-40 from 1941. 5.] The "Swamp Ghost" of Papua New Guinea. 6.] An interesting story about Pamela Archer Murphy, wife of WW II's most decorated soldier, Audie Murphy.

June - Advance praise for Final Flight the book. Excellent words and praise about Jon Turk and The Ravens Gift.

May - Contribution of participants from High Sierra Topix. Photos of climbing Mt. Mendel from SummitPost.org

April - Peter Stekel interviewed about Final Flight on Seattle's NPR affiliate, KUOW.org. William Bechter, Bill Davis, and Leonard Spivey and how their experiences in WW II were helpful with understanding what the crew of the missing AT-7 was doing at Mather Field in 1942.

March - "Home," a song by British balladeer, Gerry McNeice recounts the story of Leo Mustonen. An MP3 along with a YouTube video can be heard and viewed.

February - First: See the finished front cover for Final Flight. Then, listen to a radio broadcast of Peter Stekel interviewed by Keri Brown at WVPB for a West Virginia Public Radio show about Final Flight which aired on February 22.  Also, Peter Stekel and Final Flight on the National Geographic channel. Finally, new documentary about classic planes being produced - beautiful scenes of a Beech 18 in flight. From Terwilliger Productions it is called Aviation Epic.

January - Final Flight copyedits are done. Examples of the uniforms worn by Leo Mustonen and Glenn Munn. Peter Stekel television interview about the "Nevada Triangle" and occurrence of airplane crashes in the Sierra Nevada. Photo comparisons of Golden Gate National Cemetery, 1948 and 2010.

2009

December - Sample chapter, "Pro Patria Mori," which covers the topic of why we honor soldier dead. This chapter will not appear in this form in the published version of Final Flight.

November - Publication update. 67th year anniversary of AT-7 #41-21079 crash. Crew portraits.

October - Death of Richard Christian - cousin of William Gamber. Update on National Geographic television special featuring Peter Stekel and Final Flight. YouTube videos of Mendel Glacier from 15,000 ft.

September August July - Cemetery at Normandy in France. My summer trip to Mendel Glacier. Visiting Hal Klieforth. Norman Clyde cabin site.

June - Flying in a Beech 18 with Michael Kopp.

May - Historical and contemporary views of Mendel Glacier and AT-7 wreckage. Capt. Robert A. Lewis.

April - Submitting Final Flight manuscript to Wilderness Press. Publication of Best Hikes Near Seattle by Peter Stekel.

March - Marilynn Dick.

February - OV-10 Bronco crash on Darwin Glacier. Photos of Senator Hotel, Mather Field, and airports at Los Banos, Corning, Eagle Field, Mesa del Rey - all of which figure prominently in the Final Flight story.

January - Marilynn Dick. Photos and video captures from the following movies, all featuring a Beech 18: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, XXX, Octopussy, The Flyboys, Letters from Iwo Jima, All the Pretty Horses, Along Came Polly, Insomnia, and The Aviator.

December - Troubles with getting public documents about OV-10 Bronco crash on Mt. Darwin. "Who They Were," biographical sample chapter from Final Flight. Archive of stories and audio files, by Mark Grossi, "Lost Flights" about Sierra Nevada airplane crashes from August-September issues of the Fresno Bee.

November - 66th year anniversary of AT-7 #41-21079 crash. Crew portraits.

October - Meetings with meteorologists and climatologists Laura Edwards, John Lewis, and Steve Johnson. Taking Jim, Gabe, and Scott Shriver, Glenn Munn's nephews, to Mendel Glacier crash site. Images of Mendel Glacier.

September - Aerial photos of Mendel Glacier. Photos from the 1948 burial of the crew at Golden Gate National Cemetery. Hiking to Mendel Glacier with Mark Grossi and Mark Crosse from the Fresno Bee.

August - Meeting with Michael Nozel [climber and co-discoverer of Leo Mustonen] and Hassan Basagic [glacial geologist].

July  - William Langewiesche and my thoughts about writing Final Flight. Video from WMV May 16 broadcast about Glenn Munn, Blond Bomber Comes Home, with my interview. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks summer guide with my article about wilderness and Mendel Glacier.

June - West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary about Glenn Munn. YouTube videos of Leo Mustonen's funeral. Phyllis Reynolds. Memorial Day musings. Links to videos and images.

May - Interviews with Pauline Jones and Perry and Barbara Adams. Video from Glenn Munn funeral. Various videos of television news programs covering Glenn Munn funeral story. Links to newspaper stories about Glenn Munn.

April - Pat Macha. Poem about Glenn Munn written by M/Sgt Louis Marin.

March - Links to newspaper stories and moderated internet forums discussing Mendel Glacier and/or the AT-7 crew. Television interviews about Final Flight. David Hadden, Fresno County Coroner. Pat Macha. AT-7 crew headstone images from Golden Gate National Cemetery.

February - Meeting with Leonard Spivey at Mather Field to discuss William Bechter and his diary for November, 1942. Visiting Vintage Aircraft in Stockton where Taigh Ramey refurbishes Beech 18s. History of ice climbing in the Mendel couloirs. Photos and musings of Capt. Roy Sulzbacher's trip in 1948 to Mendel Glacier.

January - Capt. Roy Sulzbacher. Links to 2007 videos of Darwin Canyon. Conversations with Leonard Spivey, Lt. Col. Tom Betts [USAF Ret.]. Two books about airplane crashes.

2007

December - Capt. Roy Sulzbacher. Conversation with Taigh Ramey about the Beech 18. Glenn Munn's ring.

November - Lousy Hollywood movies about airplane crashes. Interviewing Ruth Mortenson. Other missing aviators.

October - Capt. Roy Sulzbacher's story. Finding Ruth Mortenson [sister of John Melvin Mortenson]. Identifying Glenn Munn's ring. A possible television special about the Final Flight story.

September - Videos of television interviews with Peter Stekel discussing his discovery of a second airman from the AT-7 lost November 18, 1942 in Mendel Glacier.