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Anyone know if this one was recovered?






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Warning this is a war grave if you are squeamish...

That is a truly remarkable find which I hope will be recovered and restored... and I have to note the incredibly high quality of the paint used for the insignia, which are still vivid and bright after 70 years in the forest near Archangelsk.

I hope they are able to identify the crewmen and give them the proper, respectful burial they deserve.

Thank you for posting this!

Lynn

My thoughts exactly. Amazing that it is that well preserved after 70 years in the wilderness.

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The aft fuselage was laying on its side all those years and that is why the red star is so vivid.The right side was facing up and had all the growth on it. I have been to Archangelsk and those woods are something else.It wouldn't be hard to get lost in all that.

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Hang The Expense

Looks like that doubles the surviving SB-2 population - any more pieces or wrecks known?

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Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Sadly this wreck (actually a even more rare Ar-2) no longer exists. It was recovered in the 1990s but was scrapped circa 2005. The owner of the saw mill where it was stored went bankrupt and those who bought it scrapped all the equipment therein to recover costs.

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Well that is extremely unfortunate. And it only reinforces the urgency to save everything that can be saved as quickly as possible before it is lost over the next several decades. The loss of everything on Morotai Island should have been a bigger wake-up call years ago.

Perhaps, as in typical Russia, this Tupolev may still be sitting in the local scrap yard if someone with access could investigate further.

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"They done it, they done it, damned if they ain't flew." December 17, 1903

This seems to be the case repeated many times. A lot of WW II aircraft were found and retrieved in the SOviet Union only to be sold to the smelters in the late 1980's because the people were starving and desperate for money. All this happened just before the Soviet Union dissolved.