BajaNomad

Mystery Aircraft

Marc - 9-5-2010 at 04:38 PM

I was in BOLA back in April 2000 when I saw a really ratty looking biplane sitting at the side of the airstrip runway. Flat tires, no windows. no door, and the wing covering material in shreds (fabric?) The interior was stripped. It was a fairly large aircraft and my first thought was it would be a good sky diving plane because of the door location. I took pics and showed them to my brother the pilot. He said it was a Russian Anatov-AN-2. I don't remember seeing it before and have not since then. I have often wondered about it.
Question for you BBP's. What is the story behind this plane.

Pompano - 9-5-2010 at 04:45 PM

Did it look like this?


capt. mike - 9-5-2010 at 05:04 PM

BBPer Dave has a AN-2 and flies it from AK to and around Baja a lot.
they are spendy - i don't think the plane you saw at BOLA was an Anotov.

only a wrcked one would get left, and you can't legally leave a wrecked plane in Mexico.
Insurance would have brought it out.
BTW - an AN-2 takes nearly 50 gals in its 1000 HP radial to go 110 miles.
2 MPG at $4 / gal... a toy for the rico y famosa, no?
you can pack a party in one though.

Marc - 9-5-2010 at 05:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pompano
Did it look like this?




That's it exactly!:o

Marc - 9-5-2010 at 05:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by capt. mike
BBPer Dave has a AN-2 and flies it from AK to and around Baja a lot.
they are spendy - i don't think the plane you saw at BOLA was an Anotov.

only a wrcked one would get left, and you can't legally leave a wrecked plane in Mexico.
Insurance would have brought it out.
BTW - an AN-2 takes nearly 50 gals in its 1000 HP radial to go 110 miles.
2 MPG at $4 / gal... a toy for the rico y famosa, no?
you can pack a party in one though.


That was an AN-2. See Pompano's image. The one I saw was painted a two tone camouflage. It was not wrecked.

capt. mike - 9-5-2010 at 05:21 PM

"Flat tires, no windows. no door, and the wing covering material in shreds (fabric?) The interior was stripped. "

that description reads like wrecked to me.
sorry - if you say it was an AN-2 then i give you that. But that one was not flying. it had to get there somehow - and to leave it to go to the dogs tells me a few things.

capt. mike - 9-5-2010 at 05:23 PM

Google Private Explorer - there were only about 5 kits sold.
i have wanted one ever since after i saw the factory demo fly into the EAA's copperstate rally a few years ago.

Marc - 9-5-2010 at 06:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by capt. mike
"Flat tires, no windows. no door, and the wing covering material in shreds (fabric?) The interior was stripped. "

that description reads like wrecked to me.
sorry - if you say it was an AN-2 then i give you that. But that one was not flying. it had to get there somehow - and to leave it to go to the dogs tells me a few things.


That's the question...how did it get it get there and where did it go. I will try to post an image.

Oggie - 9-5-2010 at 07:10 PM

The plane was an Antonov AN-2. It was owned by a Long Beach seafood import/export company. They were flying from Bahia Tortuga on the pacific side when Mechanical problems grounded it in Bahia de los Angeles. The seafood business went bust before repairs could be made. The plane sat there for a number of years, until it was sold to an Air Museum in the US for one dollar. The ejido in Tortuga claimed the plane as payment for debts owed to them and sued the ejido in Bahia de los Angeles, they arrested the ejido president at the time, Antonio Resendiz. He sent almost a month in jail in Ensenada before the case was thrown out as frivolus.

capt. mike - 9-6-2010 at 06:14 AM

i now recall that story.
the engine was worth big $$ for salvage. so it got taken out then?

Oggie - 9-6-2010 at 10:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by capt. mike
i now recall that story.
the engine was worth big $$ for salvage. so it got taken out then?


The plane was disassembled and put on trucks and trailers and taken to a air museum near Chino for static display.