Meanwhile, back at Preque Isle, another radio operator is catching up on his technical reading... very studious, those guys:





The C47 captain has decided that with the worsening ice situation, they must fly NW (towards slightly better weather) until their fuel runs out, then make an emergency landing in the wilderness. The radio man in the shack at Presque Isle will relay the message to the ATC commander at the airfield.
     




Good to have a plan, but executing it safely will be a challenge... the copilot tries to find clear ground as the fuel dwindles and the ice keeps building up.
     




Interesting belly-mounted cam shot as they skim the trees- there's no digital magic or even matte-screen stuff in this film.
     



Finally they spy a decent-sized frozen lake, and the captain eases her down onto the snow...
     



A search party is organized... they only have a vague position report to go on, and although they can guess roughly how far the ship got on its NW heading before landing or crashing, the entire area up there is uncharted. They'll be hunting for a needle in a haystack.
     


Meanwhile, the crew of the "Corsair" have survived their bush landing, but now they have another problem: temps as low as -70F, no rations, little survival gear, very little fuel for fire-making, and they are smack dab in the middle of nowhere, with no ELT, of course...




Next: part 4