On an island among the swamps in the Novgorod region, search engines accidentally discovered a combat aircraft that has been preserved since the Great Patriotic War in almost perfect condition. The location of the aircraft is kept in the strictest confidence, since the combat vehicle is of great interest to "black diggers": an artifact can cost 500 thousand dollars on the smuggling market.
In the Novgorod region, they found a combat aircraft from the Great Patriotic War, which has been preserved almost in its original form. The location of the unique find is kept in the strictest confidence: such an aircraft is of great interest to "black diggers", since half a million dollars is worth on the smuggling market.
The plane - presumably a single-engine Yak-1 - was lost in the swampy area for almost 70 years. Despite this, the combat vehicle survived completely, it did not even have a damaged engine. This makes it possible to assume that the pilot managed to land the plane after his engine simply failed. In the cockpit, the search engines also found the remains of the pilot.
We deliberately keep the name of the territory where the find was found secret. And we decided not to post in the public domain the photos that we managed to take where we found the military aircraft. I'll explain why. The combat vehicle is in almost perfect condition, only covered with moss. This find should remain in Russia, become an exhibit of one of the Russian museums of military equipment and not go beyond the borders of our country. Now on the black market, where illegal diggers operate, such a find would be valued at 500 thousand dollars.
Information about their find, the searchers passed to the Center for Civil and Patriotic Education "Synergy", which is located in Moscow. Its employees have already thrown a call across Russia, inviting the best specialists to take part in the restoration work. It is assumed that the restoration of the military aircraft will take place in two stages, each of which will be very difficult.
The plane is still where it was found. The car is completely covered with moss, the search engines did not touch the plane, so as not to damage the metal structures. It is known that he was not shot down - the plane's engine failed, and the pilot managed to land it. It can be stated with absolute certainty that there are only a few such finds all over the world. Most often, search engines manage to find fragments of any military equipment.
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The Synergy Center for Civic and Patriotic Education was created on the basis of the Moscow Financial and Industrial University in order to combine the educational process and the civic educational mission. The head of the center, Mikhail Kudinov, takes an active part in search expeditions, and university students and participants in the center take an active part in restoration work.
According to Mikhail Kudinov, the process of working on the discovery will take place in two stages. The first stage will last until June 9, at which time the aircraft should be “anchored” and relocated to the restoration workshop. The plans are to publicize the discovery of the aircraft and hand over the pilot's relatives to his personal belongings.
We are planning to involve one of the leading federal television channels in order to hand over to the relatives of the pilot, whose remains were found on the plane, his personal belongings on the air. First, we will search for the relatives of the pilot and hope that they will be crowned with success.
The second phase of the operation will run until June 22. The search engines will involve the leading restorers of Russia, who have been restoring military equipment from the times of the Great Patriotic War for many years.
Many restorers have already expressed a desire to take part in the work. Russian specialists have an excellent reputation. For example, in the military melodrama Pearl Harbor, all the aircraft that we see on the screen were literally assembled from nothing by Novosibirsk specialists. We also invited them to work on the find - the Yak-1 aircraft. Unique masters are ready to restore the car to the point that it will be possible to fly on it.
Expert opinion
historian, Veliky Novgorod
- The Yak-1 was developed in the design bureau of A.S. Yakovlev as a front-line fighter, had a lightweight design due to a small supply of fuel and weakened weapons. Adopted in 1940. By the beginning of the war, there were about 800 Yak-1s in the units of the Red Army Air Force. The aircraft was equipped with an M-105PA engine with a maximum power of 1100 horsepower, had a practical range of 650 kilometers, armament consisted of one 20 mm ShVAK cannon and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns mounted in the nose of the aircraft. Most of the fighters were lost in the first weeks of the war.
Gallery
3 photos
Historical finds of the Synergy Center
In the period from 1945 to the present day, parts of that very bloody war, the war for human ideals, are found all over the earth. Summer residents find unexploded shells, grenades and mines in their gardens. Search teams, divers, fishermen and simple mushroom pickers find tanks and planes. Let's remember what was found and raised.
The aircraft P-39Q-15 "Aircobra", serial number 44-2911 was discovered at the bottom of Lake Mart-Yavr (Murmansk region) in 2004. The fighter was spotted by a fisherman who reported seeing through the water, on a muddy bottom, the outlines of the aircraft's tail. When the plane was raised from the bottom of the lake, it turned out that both cockpit doors were blocked, although usually, in a hard landing, one or both were thrown to give the pilot an exit. Presumably, the pilot could die immediately from the strongest impact of the aircraft on the bottom or from the flooding of the cabin.
The found remains were buried with full honors on the Walk of Fame in Murmansk.
Wing 12.7-mm machine guns on the aircraft were dismantled. The fuselage armament and the 37 mm Colt-Browning M4 cannon were not subjected to any modifications.
Also, stocks of ammunition and stew were found inside the cabin. In a separate case were found, heavily washed out by water, a flight book and other documents.
The aircraft was built in 1939 and before being sent to the Eastern Front, it took part in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. On April 4, 1942, the German ace fighter Wolf Dietrich Wilke, piloting this aircraft, was shot down and forced to land on a frozen lake. Wilke escaped death. The plane remained almost unscathed after a near-perfect crash landing until it plunged to the bottom of the lake. There it remained untouched for more than six decades, until it was finally picked up in 2003. The countless bullet holes located on the wings of the plane and on the horizontal stabilizers were one of the main causes of the plane's crash, but one large hole in the right wing attachment site may have been what killed the fighter.
"Brewster F2A Buffalo" - "BW-372". The plane was found in Lake Bolshoye Kaliyarvi at a depth of 15 meters in a depression in the middle of the lake. The underwater environment ideally contributed to the preservation of the machine. The fighter, which had lain for 56 years at the bottom of the lake, completely sank into silt, which slowed down the corrosion process, but became an obstacle during the ascent, complicating separation from the bottom. Its pilot, the Finnish fighter ace Lauri Pekuri, was shot down on June 25, 1942, during a fight with the pilots of the 609th IAP in an air battle over the Soviet airfield Segezha near Murmansk. Pekuri had already shot down two Russian planes before he was forced to land his own. The pilot left the stricken Brewster and made it to his position.
F6F Hellcat crashed on the morning of the fifth of January in the last year of the war. Pilot Walter Elcock, who was sitting at the helm, lost control during a training flight and fell into the icy water of Michigan along with the plane, but managed to swim out.
The only Dornier Do-17 bomber that has survived to this day was raised from the bottom of the English Channel. The aircraft was shot down during the Battle of Britain in 1940. This is one of the one and a half thousand built by Germany, and the only one that has survived today. Dornier Do-17 stood out among contemporary bombers with its high speed. It was originally designed as a fast reconnaissance aircraft, but was redesigned as a bomber in the mid-1930s. The plane was trying to attack airfields in Essex. It was possible to restore the call signs of the lifted aircraft - 5K-AR. The aircraft with these callsigns was shot down on August 26, 1940. The pilot and another crew member were captured and sent to a POW camp. Two other crew members died
Soviet attack aircraft Il-2 was found by fishermen. The plane lay relatively shallow. Apparently, the plane was badly damaged during the battle, it went under water, breaking into pieces. Fortunately, the marauders did not get to the plane - evidence of this is the surviving remains of the pilot: no one entered the cockpit.
The front part and fender are well preserved. The tail number of the aircraft could not be found, but the numbers of the engine and propeller were preserved. By these numbers they will try to establish the name of the pilot.
A B25 bomber salvaged from the bottom of Lake Murray in South Carolina.
This P-40 "Kittyhawk" in 1942 fell three hundred kilometers from civilization, in the heat of the desert. Sergeant Dennis Copping picked up from crashed plane the little that could be useful to him, and went into the desert. Since that day, nothing is known about the sergeant. Seventy years later, the plane was found almost intact. Even machine guns and their ammunition survived, as did most of the instruments in the cockpit. The plates with the passport data of the car survived, and this makes it possible for historians to restore the history of its service.
Focke-Wulf Fw-190 "Yellow-16" Designed by German aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank, the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 "Würger" ("Strangler") was one of the most successful fighters of World War II. Introduced into service in August 1941, it was popular with pilots and was flown by some of the Luftwaffe's most select fighter aces. During the war years, more than 20,000 of these aircraft were produced. Only 23 complete aircraft have survived, and all of them are in various collections around the world. This remarkably wrecked Fw-190 was salvaged from the frigid waters off the Norwegian island of Sotra, west of the city of Bergen.
In the Murmansk region, near the village of Safonovo-1, an Il-2 attack aircraft from the 46th ShAP of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet was raised from the bottom of Lake Krivoe. The plane was discovered in December 2011 in the middle of the lake at a depth of 17-20 meters. On November 25, 1943, due to damage received in an air battle, the Il-2 did not reach its airfield for about three kilometers and made an emergency landing on the frozen Lake Krivoye. The commander, junior lieutenant Valentin Skopintsev, and the air gunner of the Red Navy Vladimir Gumyonny got out of the plane. After some time, the ice broke, and the attack aircraft went under water, only to reappear on the surface after 68 years.
Lake Krivoye turned out to be rich in found aircraft. The Yak-1 aircraft from the 20th IAP of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet was also raised from the bottom of the lake. On August 28, 1943, the fighter made an emergency landing on the surface of the lake during a flight and sank. Piloted by junior lieutenant Demidov. To date, there is only one Yak-1 in the world out of more than 8,000 vehicles built. This is the Yak-1B fighter of the Hero of the Soviet Union Boris Eremin, which was transferred to the homeland of the pilot, to the local history museum of the city of Saratov. Thus, the raised Yak-1 fighter will be the second in the world today.
On a hot Monday morning, July 19, 1943, Sergeant Paul Ratz, sitting in the cockpit of his Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5 / U3 WNr.1227, "White A" from the 4./JG 54, took off from the Siverskaya airfield. The departure was made by a pair of Staffel cars, it was about 15 minutes of flight to the front line, crossing the front line on the Dvina River, the pair moved further east. In the Voybokalo area, aircraft attacked a Soviet armored train. During the attack, the car was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, one of the hits pierced the tank and wounded the pilot. The pilot pulled to the base until the last, but having lost a lot of blood, he went for an emergency landing. The plane landed in a clearing in the middle of the forest, after landing the pilot died.
The Aviation Museum in Krakow carried out an operation to raise the wreckage of the American bomber Douglas A-20, which sank during World War II, from the bottom of the Baltic Sea. For the museum, this exhibit is a real treasure, as there are only 12 such aircraft left in the world.
Fighter Hawker Hurricane IIB "Trop", Z5252, airborne "white 01" from the Second Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Northern Air Force. Pilot Lt.P.P. Markov. June 02, 1942 made an emergency landing after the battle on the lake west of Murmansk. In 2004 raised from the bottom of the lake.
This I-153 Chaika fighter was lost near Vyborg on the last day of the Winter War.
B-24D "Liberator" lies on the island of Atka in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, where he made an emergency landing on December 09, 1942. This aircraft is one of the eight surviving "Liberators" in the performance of "D". He was flying for the purpose of meteorological reconnaissance when inclement weather prevented him from landing at any of the nearby airfields.
Junkers Ju-88. Svalbard. The early versions of the German Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-88, which entered service in 1939, underwent many technical improvements in the course of their development. But once they were eliminated, the twin-engined Ju-88 became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of World War II, serving in a variety of roles from torpedo bomber to heavy reconnaissance fighter.
An IL-2 aircraft was raised from the bottom of the Black Sea. Presumably, he was shot down in 1943, when there were fierce battles for Novorossiysk. Now the historical find has been delivered to Gelendzhik.
The German Ju 52 aircraft was raised from the bottom of the sea by the staff of the Greek Air Force Museum on June 15, 2013. During the siege of the island of Leros in 1943, the plane was hit by anti-aircraft guns off the coast of the island. Since then, it had been at the bottom of the Aegean Sea for over 60 years when local divers, with the help of the Greek Air Force War Museum, discovered it again.
The German military raised the remains of the Nazi bomber JU 87 Stuka from the bottom of the Baltic Sea. At the moment, there are only two original copies of this military aircraft in the world, which are presented in museums in London and Chicago. Ju-87 "Stuka" at the bottom of the Baltic Sea was discovered in the 1990s. However, work on lifting the aircraft started much later. According to experts, the plane has been preserved in good condition, despite the fact that it lay at the bottom of the sea for about 70 years.
The 70-year-old plane got lost in impenetrable forest jungle somewhere on the border of the Pskov, Novgorod and Leningrad regions. A search party from Novgorod accidentally discovered it on a patch of land surrounded by swamps. By some miracle, the plane survived completely, but neither its history, nor the model, nor the fate of the pilot have yet been clarified. According to some signs, this is the Yak-1. The car is completely overgrown with moss, and the search engines do not touch it yet, fearing to damage the rarity. It is known that the plane was not shot down, it simply had an engine failure.
Curtiss-Wright P-40E airborne "white 51" from the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. Pilot Second Lieutenant A.V. Pshenev. Shot down on June 1, 1942. The pilot landed on the lake. Found in 1997 at the bottom of Kod Lake west of Murmansk.
The twin-engine long-range bomber - DB-3, later named Il-4, was used as a long-range reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bomber, mine layer, and means of landing people and cargo. Il-4 carried out the last sorties in the Far East during the war with Japan. It was found by search engines in the swamps of the Kola Peninsula.
Messerschmitt Bf109 G-2/R6 In “Yellow 3”
German fighter Messerschmitt Bf109 G-2. which made an emergency landing in the sea near Nereus Norway on March 24, 1943. It was raised in 2010 from a depth of 67 meters.
Henkel He-115 salvaged from the bottom in Norway.
The semi-submerged Flying Fortress No. 41-2446 lay in the Agaimbo Australia swamp since 1942, where its captain, Frederick Fred Eaton Jr., made an emergency landing after his aircraft was damaged by enemy fighters over Rabaul in East New Britain. Despite a few bullets, shattered plexiglass and bent propellers, the B-17E barely corroded 70 years after it hit the ground.
This Midway veteran Douglas SBD Dauntless was raised from the waters of Lake Michigan in 1994. In June 1942, during a raid on Japanese aircraft carriers west of Midway Atoll, the Undaunted was riddled with 219 bullets and was one of eight aircraft that returned to base out of 16 that took off. The aircraft returned to the United States for repairs, where it crashed during a training flight to the USS Sable.
Half-buried at an abandoned military airfield in the shadow of the mighty Mount Pagan volcano, the skeletal skeleton of a Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero fighter jet is the remains of one of two Japanese aircraft that crashed on the western side of Pagan Island, part of the Mariana Islands.
Unfortunately, most of the aircraft found in Russia have long been sold abroad, where they were restored and put on the wing. It's a shame that we, even for a lot of money, gave valuable exhibits of that Great War into the wrong hands. But even so, how would they perish in the dark waters of lakes and swamps forever.
Found near Lake Terskeljaur. Removed, location unknown
2. Stormtrooper IL-2 No. 305490 from the composition 17th Guards Assault air regiment 261st assault air divisions
Pilot Deputy Air Regiment Commander Guards Major A.V. Kharitonov
Shooter guards foreman Mazurov M.N.
Shot down on 10/11/1944 south of the Salmijärvi airfield during an assault attack on the airfield.
Ignited by a direct hit. Fell and exploded. The remains of the crew are buried in Nikel.
3. IL-2
Found near Lake Chapr, near the Titovka River (engine, cannon, fuel tank, other parts) 
4. Amphibious aircraft engine MBR-2 from the 118th reconnaissance regiment of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet.
Found in Gryaznaya Bay near the village. Safonovo in 2011.
5. Fighter MiG-3 head No. 3457 from the 147th Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Pilot Colonel Mikhail Mikhailovich Golovnya, commander of the 147th IAP
On September 23, 1941, after an air battle, he made an emergency landing near Lake Nyalyavr. The pilot arrived at the unit.
Found in 2000, restored in Novosibirsk, Allison V-1710 engine installed, first flight in 2007
Sold in the USA. Owner Jerry Yagen (Fighter Factory, Virginia Beach, USA)
You can read about the history of the raising and restoration of this MIG-3
6. MiG-3 head No. 4958 from the 147th Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Lost in 1941-42. After an emergency landing, equipment and weapons were removed from it. Found in 2000 in the Kandalaksha region. Refurbished in 2005 in Novosibirsk, waiting for an engine ordered by a Russian buyer 
7. AM-35 engine of the MiG-3 fighter.
Raised from the bottom of the lake in the Murmansk region in the winter of 2001.
8. Seaplane MP-1
Found in the late 1980s. Taken to Taganrog to the manufacturer for exposure.
Presumably, in 1938, an international women's record for the flight distance along the route Sevastopol - Kyiv - Novgorod - Arkhangelsk was set on it, having covered 2416 kilometers without landing in 10 hours. In the photo "record" aircraft: 
Skeleton: 
The remains of the pilot: 
9. dive bomber Pe-2, head No. 6-95 from the 29th Bomber Sulinsky Aviation Regiment
Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Ivlev Georgy Vasilievich, navigator Sergeant Serebryakov Thomas Vasilievich, gunner-radio operator Red Navy Filonenko Anatoly Vasilievich.
On September 11, 1942, he was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery during a bombing and assault attack on the Luostari airfield. The crew died. Found in the area of Lake Santayarvi (Pechenga). The remains of the crew are buried in Zapolyarny.
Drop location: 
10. Pe-2 from the same air regiment of the 5th mine-torpedo air division of the Northern Fleet Air Force (watched the film "Torpedo bombers?")
Pilot junior lieutenant Libakov Arkady Alekseevich, navigator junior lieutenant Oleinik Viktor Ivanovich, gunner-radio operator Sergeant Grishin Ivan Vasilyevich.
On August 23, 1943, during a bombing attack on an enemy convoy, he was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery from guard ships. The plane caught fire and crashed on the Musta-Tunturi ridge. The crew died. Found in the early 1990s near the height of the Border Sign on Musta-Tunturi.
The history of the board and crew at the link
11. Pe-2. Found near Titovskaya height (engine parts, brake grille).
Impact location: 
More photos at the link
12. heavy fighter Pe-3 No. 392014 from Namwara.
13. Pe-3 from the 95th bomber regiment
Commander Captain Starikov Alexander Petrovich (Commander of Flight 2 Esq. 95 BAP). Radio operator-gunner senior lieutenant Penkovsky Leonid Ivanovich (air gunner 2 squadron 95 BAP).
Did not return from a combat mission in April 1942. During a bombing attack on the Hebugten airfield, seven Pe-2s were attacked by the 25th Bf 109.
The remains of the crew were found in 1989 near Lake Voyavr. Buried in Kolya. Description from the book "wings over the sea"
“... The situation was different when attacking the Hebugten airfield. This large air base periodically received up to a hundred German aircraft and was a tempting but dangerous target. The seven Pe-3s that attacked the airfield were met by a large group (more than two dozen) of German fighters, which, however, could not disrupt the bombing. In an effort to gain time, the leader of the group, Captain B. Shishkin, maneuvered and met the enemy fighters with a salvo launch of rockets. The unexpected use of the RS-132 and RS-82 played a role and delayed the attack of the fighters for a while, allowing the Soviet pilots to bombard the aircraft stands and hangars with precision. However, when the Petlyakovs retreated, the German fighters literally tore the group to pieces. Only one Pe-3 returned to its airfield, another one landed on the neighbors' airfield. The pilot of the third "Petlyakov", who escaped by parachute, was the last of the survivors "
14. Pe-3.
Found on the Musta-Tunturi ridge 
24. Fighter Curtiss-Wright P-40 C-CU Model H81 A-3, serial 41-13390, constr. 16194, airborne "53" from the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Pilot Major Ermakov
Shot down on September 27, 1942. The pilot made an emergency landing on his belly in the hills, survived.
Found near Murmashes in the suburbs of Murmansk in 1993. Taken to the UK at Duxford Museum, Cambridgeshire.
25. Curtiss-Wright P-40E, serial 41-13570, constr. 16814, airborne "White 51" from the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Pilot Second Lieutenant A.V. Pshenev
Shot down on June 1, 1942. The pilot landed on the lake, but later lost his leg during the bombing of the hospital.
Found in 1997 at the bottom of Kod Lake (near Pya Ozero) west of Murmansk. Exported to the UK, put up for sale (as of 2006)
The history of these two boards is at the link
26.
Curtiss-Wright P-40
27. Remains of the bomber crew Handley Page HP.52 Hampden TB Mk I, serial AT138, onboard "PL-C" from No. 144 Squadron RAF
Pilots Sgt JCR Bray (1384708) OK/POW, Nav Sgt JD Smith (920973) KIA, WO/AG Sgt GD Kirkby (1181778) KIA, WO/AG Sgt RS Otter (950301) KIA, G/C AC2 L Mallinson (1476073) ) KIA
Shot down in September 1942 while flying from Great Britain to Russia
Found in the 1990s, 15 km from Alakkurtti. Crew history link
28. Handley Page HP.52 Hampden TB Mk I, serial P1273 from No. 144 Squadron RAF
Shot down by mistake on September 4-5, 1945 while flying from Great Britain to Russia
In 2002, the back of the fuselage and tail were found near Pechenga
Exited to the UK to the Wings Aviation Museum, Surrey.
29. Handley Page HP.52 Hampden TB Mk I, serial P1344, onboard "PL-K" from No. 144 Squadron RAF
Pilot P/O Esmond HE Perry (110845) OK/POW, Nav Flight Sgt Gordon E Miller (R.88850) KIA, WO/AG Sergeant James Morton Robertson (1021461) KIA, WO/AG Sergeant Daniel C Garrity (1061251) KIA , G/C (Engine fitter) Corporal George Shepherd (1009075) OK/POW.
Shot down on September 5, 1942 while flying from Great Britain to Russia by two Messerschmitt Bf.109 fighters. Three crew members were killed, one pilot and technician were captured.
Found in 1989 20 km south of Pechenga. In 1991 it was exported to the UK to the Cosford Museum of the Royal Air Force, Shropshire.
III. Aircraft of the Luftwaffe
33. Arado Ar 199 V-2 plant 3673, onboard "NH+AM"
A rare aircraft, only three of these were built: 
37.
Messerschmitt Bf 109
38. Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 W.Nr.3523
Pilot Wulf-Dieter Widowitz
Raised in 2003
39. Messerschmitt Bf 109F
Found in the 2000s
Removed, aircraft fate unknown
40. Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2
Gradually pulled apart
41. Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, W.Nr. 15597, onboard "yellow 2" from 6./JG5
Fw.Christian Stolz pilot
Shot down on August 18, 1943 near Mount Matert near Pechenga. The fate of the pilot is unknown.
The aircraft was found in the 1980s. In the 2000s, it was handed over for metal.
42. Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6, W.Nr. 411768, onboard "black 1" from 11./JG5
Shot down 23 August 1944.
Found in 1999 at the bottom of Lake Tulyavr. Raised in 2000. Refurbished. Exhibited at the Museum of Vadim Zadorozhny.
