[.ca] Warbird Recovery: The Hunt for a Rare WWII Plane in ... (ISBN 0595354785)

Warbird Recovery:
If you love old aeroplanes, if you enjoy mystery, intrigue, danger, espionage, travel and adventure, then read Warbird Recovery by Gordon Page. It's all these things rolled into one exciting story with a liberal sprinkling of wry humour. After the fall of Communism, Russia opened its doors just a crack to foreign entrepreneurs. This was of especial interest to aviation collectors who had heard stories of whole squadrons of WWII aircraft abandoned in the late 40s in Siberia. Legend had it that these warbirds could be purchased for little money, fueled up and just simply flown away from their remote storage places. In the early 90s, author Gordon Page jumped at the chance to go there and fulfill a lifelong dream of acquiring a rare aircraft. Getting to Moscow was only the smallest part of the adventure; the exact location of the planes was unknown, but $10,000 to enter the area where they were supposed to be was the first of hundreds of pay-offs to the ever-mysterious Russians. From Moscow to Siberia in a dubious jetliner, the smell of the passengers, their drunkenness and chain-smoking were all taken in stride by Gordon, largely because of his good American sense of humour and determination to get to the stash of warbirds. The journey continued by helicopter with its two huge fuel tanks inside the cabin and the pilot and mechanic blazing their way through dozens of cigarettes as the Mil Mi-8 rattled aloft towards the final destination. With visions of flying away in a Zero or P-63 fighter, Gordon felt heartened to see a large abandoned hangar from the air, but throughout the travel from place to place, by helicopter and boat, no salvageable aircraft were found - only the picked-over rusted remains of once glorious warbirds. With odd characters coming and going, strange places, the KGB, the Russian Mafia and the mysterious Olga materializing wherever they went, Gordon and his party endured the danger and the intrigue but finally returned to the US disappointed and minus a lot of money. To the author's delight, later the same year, word was sent out from Russia by a former contact that there was a Messerschmitt Bf109 in relatively good shape in a frozen lake. A payment of $5000 would be needed before any photos could be seen and, although skeptical, Gordon sent the funds and eventually received enough photographic evidence to make a second trip to Russia worthwhile. The same conditions were endured with the same wry humour but the mystery, the intrigue, the KGB, and the bribes were all squeezed into three days as a deal was made for the Bf109. When it was finally shipped to the US and the crate opened, it was found to contain not one, but two Messerschmitts which had been shot down while patrolling northeast of St. Petersburg during the 900 day siege by the Germans. Check the progress of the Bf109 at www.warbirdrecovery.com

From Russia, Eventually!:
If you love old aeroplanes, if you enjoy mystery, intrigue, danger, espionage, travel and adventure, then read Warbird Recovery by Gordon Page. It's all these things rolled into one exciting story with a liberal sprinkling of wry humour. After the fall of Communism, Russia opened its doors just a crack to foreign entrepreneurs. This was of especial interest to aviation collectors who had heard stories of whole squadrons of WWII aircraft abandoned in the late 40s in Siberia. Legend had it that these warbirds could be purchased for little money, fueled up and just simply flown away from their remote storage places. In the early 90s, author Gordon Page jumped at the chance to go there and fulfill a lifelong dream of acquiring a rare aircraft. Getting to Moscow was only the smallest part of the adventure; the exact location of the planes was unknown, but $10,000 to enter the area where they were supposed to be was the first of hundreds of pay-offs to the ever-mysterious Russians. From Moscow to Siberia in a dubious jetliner, the smell of the passengers, their drunkenness and chain-smoking were all taken in stride by Gordon, largely because of his good American sense of humour and determination to get to the stash of warbirds. The journey continued by helicopter with its two huge fuel tanks inside the cabin and the pilot and mechanic blazing their way through dozens of cigarettes as the Mil Mi-8 rattled aloft towards the final destination. With visions of flying away in a Zero or P-63 fighter, Gordon felt heartened to see a large abandoned hangar from the air, but throughout the travel from place to place, by helicopter and boat, no salvageable aircraft were found - only the picked-over rusted remains of once glorious warbirds. With odd characters coming and going, strange places, the KGB, the Russian Mafia and the mysterious Olga materializing wherever they went, Gordon and his party endured the danger and the intrigue but finally returned to the US disappointed and minus a lot of money. To the author's delight, later the same year, word was sent out from Russia by a former contact that there was a Messerschmitt Bf109 in relatively good shape in a frozen lake. A payment of $5000 would be needed before any photos could be seen and, although skeptical, Gordon sent the funds and eventually received enough photographic evidence to make a second trip to Russia worthwhile. The same conditions were endured with the same wry humour but the mystery, the intrigue, the KGB, and the bribes were all squeezed into three days as a deal was made for the Bf109. When it was finally shipped to the US and the crate opened, it was found to contain not one, but two Messerschmitts which had been shot down while patrolling northeast of St. Petersburg during the 900 day siege by the Germans. See www.warbirdrecovery.com for more information on the Bf109 project.