Sunday 27 August 95 ATKA ISLAND

We were all awakened at 4:50am by a moderately strong earthquake, the building shaking pretty good. A most unnerving event, some of us got back to sleep for a short while. At 6:00am, Bob is rousting everyone out of the sack, outside there was a star studded sky. Mark got on the phone with a weatherman on ADAK, a pleasant surprise to find someone on duty this early on a Sunday. The truth came out in a bit, an Admiral was due in that morning! ADAK was calling it 1,900 feet overcast and 10 miles visibility, a light wind out of the south. We all ate a quick breakfast, loaded up our gear and headed for the airport.

As we were getting the engine covers off the GOOSE and preparing to depart, we all stopped to take in a spectacular sunrise, a moment that one would like to freeze in time. The sky was afire in a beautiful red glow and as the sun came over the horizon, the clouds and terrain were framed in a brilliant white rim. So peaceful and quiet, only an occasional bird to break the silence. We all just stood and absorbed the early morning rays of sunlight, then finished loading the GOOSE. James got the honors of the right front seat that morning, we all climbed aboard and were flying at 8:05am.

Breaking ground and climbing out from ATKA, Mark turned west towards ADAK, the weather was clear ahead of us. But climbing to altitude, the higher we went, the harder the wind blew and our ground speed fell way off. Mark did some quick figuring on the fuel burn, and decided to descend and make better time, versus a lower fuel burn at altitude but taking longer to get there. He let down to 1,500 feet and that was just great by the guys in back, the view was terrific!

Approaching ADAK, the sky was mostly clear, we all sense that today is the day. We crossed directly overhead the Naval Base, none of us first timers realized the facilities were as big and as developed as they are. We skirted over the ridge Jim Duffy had climbed over to get to the runway that fateful day, then crossed SHAGAK BAY. As we approached the Island of KANAGA, a cloud layer had formed at about 800 feet but there was a very definite base and excellent visibility. The search began for "the lake big enough to ditch a P-38 in, 3/8 to 1/2 mile from the salt water with a small rock island in the eastern half, southern third."

North of KANAGA BAY, Mark circled a lake that fit the description, but it was too far from the salt water. He turned south and headed for SWALLOW POINT, just south of KANAGA BAY. There, Jim Duffy had picked a fair sized lake as the most likely spot. Circling that lake, we couldn't find a rock, BUT, a bit further south, one did! Over lying it we ruled it out, it was a bit too small and very close to the salt water, up on a 100-150 foot bluff--Frank didn't remember walking over a bluff or cliff on the way out. Mark turned west bound and proceeded across the south shore of KANAGA Island. Heads were twisting and straining to take in all the possibilities, the cloud ceiling kept getting lower and lower as we continued west.

Approaching CHUNU BAY---where there is a very nice sized lake that Frank had picked as the most likely---the cloud ceiling was down to 350 feet, the terrain about 250 feet and good visibility. We flew by the lake and--NO ROCK. Everything else was perfect, the size of the lake, the distance from the salt water. A brief discussion was held on why the rock would not be there: earthquake, changing water levels, someone pickled off a 500 pound bomb on it. We decided to come back and scan the lake if we did not find anything more obvious. Mark took up a coarse for TWIN BAYS, where there is a long narrow lake that Oscar Treland had picked as the airplane being in.

Arriving over TWIN BAYS, the cloud layer was down to 200 feet and ragged on the bottom, the visibility holding up pretty good. Mark slowed the GOOSE down, dropped a notch of flaps and started into TWIN BAYS, headed for a narrow gun-sight valley that led up to the lake. The ridges on both sides of the valley were obscured in the low lying fog, visibility maybe one mile. Our maps did not show the terrain features on the island very well, Mark was very hesitant about starting up the narrow canyon the lake is setting in. Hugging the right side, he pushed it as far up the canyon as he felt comfortable, then rolled into a steep left hand turn and headed back towards the salt water bay. As Mark was about half way through the turn, James in the right front seat spotted a rock just barely visible on the east side of the lake. Back out over the salt water, he made a 180 degree turn and started towards the lake again. This time the fog had lifted a bit and we all got a good look at the rock, but Mark was forced to turn out to the salt water one more time. He made one circle in the salt water bay to see if there was a beach solid enough to get the GOOSE on, thinking we could walk up to the lake. Nothing there inviting enough to even consider. Mark headed back up towards the lake for another look, again forced to turn away because of poor visibility, the rock in plane view.

Knowing that this was most likely the proper lake, we needed to find a place close to land. Because we were burning into our reserve fuel, it needed to be close enough that we could watch the weather. Mark headed for the south end of TANAGA ISLAND and LASH BAY where he knew he could get on the beach. Everybody was talking and excited about seeing the rock, it fit the description perfectly! We crossed the south end of TANAGA ISLAND just inland from CAPE SASMICK and turned west towards LASH BAY. The clouds kept coming down, the fog was getting thicker, the further west we went the worse it got. As we approached LASH BAY, the visibility came down to about zero, Mark was once again forced to reverse course and made a 180 degree turn back towards CAPE SASMICK. He was unable to cross the island and retrace our path back north, but had to follow the beach around the cape, the south end of the island was now obscured with fog. Rounding CAPE SASMICK, he turned north and skirted the eastern shore, just like we did only yesterday, with the clouds lifting as we approached TWIN BAYS. We decided to attempt a landing in the salt water, have two guys suit up in dry suits, swim to shore and hike up to the lake.

Mark set up to land in TWIN BAYS, dragging in from over the beach and landing headed off shore into the open water. He touched down on the water momentarily but then decided it was no good--to much swell. He pushed on a bunch of power, the GOOSE struggled back into the air and we headed north in hopes of finding a place to set. No luck on that either--we found decent water but the beaches were too rough and lots of rocks and reefs lay off shore. Mark headed east for KANAGA Island, figured he would land in the lake that Frank picked as the most likely lake. It was only a couple miles across the straits, we could watch the weather from there.

Arriving at the western shore of KANAGA, we found the lake also fogged in and were forced to go even further east, and landed in KANAGA BAY. It was now 9:40am. After getting an anchor in the water and the GOOSE tethered to it, we all climbed up on the cabin top and bask in the sun, everybody excited and talking about the rock. We can sense its the right lake, it matches the description and location perfectly. As we surveyed our surroundings in the radiant sun, KANAGA Volcano was clearing visible to the north of us about 12 miles distant. Out came a sack of Trail Mix to munch on, a few sticks of jerky, a wedge of cheese, a few jokes were told. Everybody was laughing, we settled down and waited. The old saying, "If you don't like the ALEUTIAN weather, just wait"--really came true, soon it was overcast, KANAGA Volcano disappeared, it started to blow, a fog bank would roll in. We looked at one another in questioning eyes. In ten minutes the sun came back out and the cycle would repeat itself again.

And so the hours would pass, first it was nice, then it was foggy. We were about 20 miles from where we wanted to be and all the time wondering what it was like there. It never got really good where we were setting on KANAGA BAY. By 11:30am all agreed that we would just have to take a gamble and go look one more time. Getting the raft inflated and the Side Scan Sonar mounted would take a good hour. Imaging the lake would take a good hour, then we had to off load the Side Scan gear and suit up in dive gear to document the airplane with underwater cameras IF we found it. We would need a good hour in the water, then unsuit, deflate the raft and reload the airplane. Mark said he needed to be off the lake by 5:00pm so as to get back to Dutch Harbor at a decent hour, the GOOSE was scheduled for another party Monday.

At 11:45am we departed KANAGA BAY for the lake on TANAGA Island. Crossing the west end of KANAGA, the cloud cover was again about 350 feet and good visibility. We could see TANAGA in the distance but the clouds appeared to be hanging on the Island. As we approached TWIN BAYS, we had about a 350 foot ceiling and the visibility was holding good. Slowing down, Mark again hugs the right hand side of the valley and starts up into the canyon leading to the lake. The terrain tops on the right where obscured in the fog, the left side tops were partially obscured. The visibility was a good mile and we were able to see pretty much the full length of the lake. Mark committed himself and headed up the canyon. All eyes were glued out the left side of the airplane as we approached the lake, looking to see how deep the water was and if we could spot the P-38. Over the lake now, the first 50 yards or so we could see the bottom. It looked about knee deep with basketball sized rocks scattered randomly about. Then the lake got deeper. The bottom was no longer visible as the water was too murky to see very far.

The rock passed directly under us, fitting Franks description like he saw it only yesterday. The P-38 should about 50 yards west of it and just abeam or a little bit beyond. Nothing in sight. About half way up the lake now, the canyon is a bit wider than we expected it to be at the northern end. On the left side, a nice little notch came into view on the ridge and we could see a valley much like the one we were in. Great! Mark made a left hand turn through the notch, cleared the ridge into the valley, completed the turn and headed downhill back to the salt water. Everybody was talking and shouting, the adrenaline was really flowing!

Not knowing how deep the water in the lake was, our next pass went right up the middle of the lake. James in the right front seat, handed Mark four "water depth gauging devices", one at a time, which Mark pitched out his opened cockpit window. Reaching the end of the lake, he again made the turn through the notch in the ridge and headed back to the salt water. Once more we turned around, this trip up the lake to see if any of the "corks" were floating. As we got into the lake, we could see the far end had started to fog in. No corks were visible floating on the surface, which was good, but we were too high and fast to land on the remaining water. When we got up to where the notch was, the fog was obscuring the ridge tops and the notch, Mark had no good visual references to make a 180 degree turn in the lake. He bent the airplane around in a steep turn for a 90 degree heading change, the G load forcing us down in our seats. He rolled the wings level for a few seconds, cleared the ridge through the notch, then turned left an additional 90 degrees. The only real visibility was straight down. Now in the adjacent valley and headed back out toward the salt water, he let the nose down a bit and we began to pick up the ground. Arriving back out over TWIN BAYS, he made one more course reversal and turned up the valley towards the lake. Now the whole lake was becoming obscured by the fog but we could still see the rock and we knew the lake was deep enough. In a landing configuration, Mark set down in the lake in shallow water, but kept the power on so the hull would not settle. He ran out to where he knew the lake was deep enough and pulled off the power, the GOOSE fell off the step and settled into the water. WE HAD ARRIVED IN FRIEDMAN LAKE! It was 12:10pm.