Jerry, the extraction was really quite simple. We used a 4' diameter "Torpedo" which was only a giant plumb bob made of coiled copper tubing to penetrate the main holes. A Hotsy steam cleaner provided the heat. We then used two steam cleaners to melt the ice off the planes and create a large cavern. A team of plane mechanics and a few German engineers for assistance??? could not figure out how to get the planes fuselages and wings out of the holes. Farm boy here just made a large wood A frame, and used the snow cats winches. They were surprised it worked.
While the planes were waiting flights out of Sondestrom, I had the job of cleaning up all the fluids that leaked out when they thawed out. Messy. Surprised that the 50 cals were still loaded and chambered-well it was wartime.
The first plane that hit the ice did it with wheels down, and flipped. All the others landed wheels up and slid to a stop. Very little damage to them actually.
The story we were told was-
The bad weather was actually a lie told by the Nazi's over the radio. The planes were headed to Europe, got lured into turning around; and were too low on fuel to make it to any base.
The intent was to dog sled fuel to them and recover them, but the seasonal weather changed and prevented that. So they sat.
BTW, you have never been in a sauna like those caverns around the planes. Solid ice walls and steam cleaners make a steamy mess.
We located 5 planes and dug a manhole to the 4 we did not remove. Only one was pulled out that year. They disarmed all planes and left electronic senders in each. Ran out of season time to get any more out but were supposed to later. Here is a decent link to the story of Glacier Girl.
http://p38assn.org/glacier-girl.htm