News of the day
It was a very difficult day today because of the cold temperature (around 20°F). The team had a lot of problems to get warm and work. If the men chose to wear gloves, their gripping was difficult and the bolts let out of their hands. If they didn’t their fingers began to be numbed and that was not better. The other difficulty today was with internet which did not work in all Bosnia. It’s why they could not send any picture.
For all that, the crew’s spirits are still high. They are famous in Bosnia, they are on the first page of the three daily newspapers of Sarajevo and the main one speaks about them on the double coloured central page.
Technically, the two engines were removed. It was a risky moment. Each engine weight is around 1,7 ton and when the fourth bolt is removed, if the crane doesn’t take it properly, it could swing and hurt somebody. Wood frames are being made for their transport.
The team began to work on the tail plane wich need to be unbolted outside and inside. Jean was the only one who could creep like a mole into the bottom of the Snafu because of his slimmer and smaller size. After that he could not go out and some friends had to tug at his feet. The elevator is removed. Tonight, they go on to work inside the hangar because it is less cold. They put each wing in two parts to transport them and they need to take out 1 000 rivets on each side, which mean 4 000 rivets for the two wings !!! During that time Jean is in the cabin disconnecting all the cables. So he goes on to do like a mole because a big part is under the floor. Other guys began to built frames to the transport of the wings. They also began to prepare the central plane to be removed on Friday because on Saturday, they will not have the crane to their disposal.
Hans does an important public relation job, he did the necessary hardware shopping and brought back the newspapers to the team. He also looked for a French flag for our Ambassador's visit tomorrow morning.
Claude, our professional engineer, will arrive tomorrow afternoon. He will bring also a French flag to put instead of the Italian flag because the Italian troops went away.
The young Germans soldiers enjoy to be on the pictures of the newspapers with our team. The Eufor office is also glad because they never had as much advertisement as for this event. Hans is making a board with all the newspapers articles to put it on the dining room.
 

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