Final Flight: A Personal Journey
into the Heart of the High Sierra.
The manuscript for Final Flight is
finished and is now in the hands of my editor at
Wilderness Press
Final
Flight - the story
Shaping patterns of reality
with imagination, writers express their curiosity with the
world. Like scientists, writers find pleasure in studying
and bringing order to a chaotic universe.
Unlike scientists, they
do so without relying solely on being rational. Instead,
they pursue human stories that appeal to heart and
mind.
Read my autumn, 2006
Sierra Heritage Magazine story about the crash. |
|
2nd Lt. William Gamber |
Here is such a story of human proportions - one that continues to command news
headlines and capture the imagination of readers everywhere.
Once upon a time, in 1942, US Army Air Forces 2nd Lt.
William Gamber departed Sacramento, CA on a routine training
flight. The pilot and his three student aviation cadets were never seen
again. Wreckage found in 1947 in a remote area of Sequoia
& Kings Canyon National Parks was confirmed as belonging to Lt.
Gamber's plane a Beech 18 AT-7 #41-21079. A 1948 recovery team
lead by Captain Roy Sulzbacher returned empty-handed. Everything was forgotten until October, 2005,
when climbers found the mummified body of an aviator
embedded within Mendel Glacier. Five months later the "Ice Man" was
identified as Leo Mustonen, one of Lt. Gamber's cadets and the
story was forgotten again.
During my August, 2007, expedition to Mendel
Glacier I was surprised to find another one of Lt. Gamber's crew
of students.
On Friday, February 8, 2008, the family of
Cadet Ernest Glenn Munn was notified by the US military
Repatriation Department that he was the person I found last
summer. He will be returned home and buried in St. Clairsville,
OH.
Click for images of the Beech 18 engine [1,
2,
3],
cowl writing,
Munn's ring, his
parachute, the author of "Final
Flight" [1,
2] with engine
wreckage, a portion of Munn's
sweater, site of
Munn's burial in the ice,
and teeth from his comb.
All photos
© 2007 by Peter Stekel. All
rights reserved.
See wreckage from the Beech 18 piloted by Lt.
Gamber here.
View or download
photo montages
1,
2 &
3 [pdf].
Large files!
The
missing plane story and enigma of the two cadets appearance in the
glacier forms the backbone of my latest project - a
non-fiction book, FINAL FLIGHT.
Mendel Glacier, Kings Canyon
National Park
Where is the Mendel Glacier? Click
HERE.
Clues, red herrings and a vanishing witness make FINAL
FLIGHT a classic, yet true-life, detective story. Why was
the aircraft 150 miles off-course? Why has there been confusion
about where the plane
really crashed? How could human remains lie hidden for so
long? How did the these aviators come to be buried in a glacier? Will
the other two bodies surface? What about the plane?
Across all
cultures, people care deeply about what happens to their bodies
after death. It is our duty to ensure that these cadets are
treated with the respect that we, ourselves, would expect.
FINAL FLIGHT is an aviation narrative delivering irony,
pathos and tragedy while tying together generations and time.
Chapters in the book will discuss aircraft design along with the
mechanical and navigational limitations that explain possible
crash scenarios. Reviewing the search and rescue operations
clears up confusion over the wreck's location. Separate chapters
integrate important topics such as mountain weather and glacial geology
into the storyline. As the
sleuth in the story, I critically appraise contradictions in the
Ice Man's history. Information about removing the Ice Man from
the glacier and determining his identity is provided along with
biographies of the missing men. |
Final Flight Blog
Videos of Darwin Canyon and Mendel
Cirque
Also
HERE on
YouTube
Final Flight
in the news
I have been interviewed for television news
programs on Fresno and Seattle TV stations. Some of the broadcasts
are available HERE.
Glenn Munn comes home
Wheeling News- Register 5/15/08
here or
here.
WTOV-9 Steubenville, OH 5/15/08
here.
Print Articles
Ernest Glenn Munn is identified
Los
Angeles Times 3/12/08
here
or
here.
San Jose Mercury-News 3/12/08
CNN 3/11/08
here or
here
San
Francisco Chronicle 3/11/08
Associated Press
3/10/08
Seattle Times 2/14/08
printer
friendly [repeat of 2/12/08 Fresno
Bee story]
WTOV-TV Steubenville 2/13/08 WV [Ernest Glenn
Munn is identified]
printer friendly
WTRF-TV Wheeling, WV 2/13/08
printer friendly
Fresno Bee 2/12/08
printer friendly
Spokesman-Review
web edition 2/12/08
Spokesman-Review
printer friendly 2/12/08
Discovery on Mendel Glacier -
August, 2007
San Jose Mercury News 9/24/07
front page print edition
PDF
JPEG 1,2,3,4,5
[0.5 MB each]
San Jose Mercury News 9/24/07 web edition
Fresno Bee
1 web edition 8/26/07
Fresno Bee
1 print edition
PDF
JPEG 1,2,3
[1.3 MB each]
Fresno Bee
2 web edition 8/22/07
Fresno Bee
3 web edition 8/21/07
Fresno Bee
3 print edition
PDF
JPEG
1,2,3
[1.2-2.2 MB each]
Many of the following articles are repeats
from either the Fresno Bee or from wire service stories.
However, the geographic range [as far away as Australia] excited
by the story is very impressive. I believe it suggests how
compelling this story is to so many people.
Eureka Times-Standard 8/21/07 print edition
PDF
JPEG [10MB]
Spokane Spokesman-Review web edition
[printer-friendly]8/25/07
Spokane Spokesman-Review web edition 8/25/07
Spokane
Spokesman-Review print edition
PDF
JPEG 1,2 [6-10 MB]
Associated
Press
United Press International
AOL
FOX News
San Diego Union-Tribune
Sydney Daily Telegraph [Australia]
Los Angeles Times
Seattle Times
web edition 8/21/07
Seattle Times print edition
PDF
JPEG
[1.2 MB]
Modesto Bee
NPS
Digest
Aircraft Wrecks
Political Gateway
Fitness Footwear
KCBS radio
[San Francisco, Oakland]
KFSN TV
KMPH TV 1
KMPH TV 2
KTVU TV
WSTB TV
Learn more about the work being
done to find and identify other wrecks by clicking
HERE.
Home
Author
Biography
Bibliography
Links to
Published Work
Non-Fiction
Fiction
Photography
Specializing in
the Sierra Nevada with a focus on Sequoia & Kings Canyon
National Parks
write to:
peter[at]finalflightthebook.com
©
2009 Peter Stekel
All Rights Reserved.
This page was last updated on
04/07/2009
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