Tuesday, Mar 19 2024
All Cities
Choose Your City
'The possession of Siberia's natural wealth has become vital in determining Russia’s position in the world'
0

America and Russia work together to recall wartime flights over Siberia

By 0 and 0 and 0
24 July 2015

0

Soviet and american pilots at the airfield Ladd Field, Fairbanks, 1944. Picture: RusAvia

The Alaska-Siberia Air Route (ALSIB) operated between 1942-1945 and stretched thousands of miles from the US, via Canada into the Soviet Union.

Some 7,926 combat warplanes were sent by America to Siberia on this major supply route in World War Two - and in the coming weeks aircraft from the era will fly again to recall this momentous achievement. 

The planes will fly from Great Falls, Montana to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk recreating precisely the wartime route.

On 17 July, three World War Two warplanes, the AT-6 Texan and two Douglas C-47 Skytrains, will take off in Great Falls, Montana, fly over Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, and land in Krasnoyarsk.

The pilots will make stops in Anadyr, Magadan, Yakutsk and Bratsk. The flight is scheduled for completion on 4 August, but later the pilots will continue to Moscow. 

ALSIB

On 17 July, three World War Two warplanes, the AT-6 Texan and two Douglas C-47 Skytrains, will take off in Great Falls, Montana, fly over Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, and land in Krasnoyarsk. Picture: BRAVO 369

From 25-30 August the warplanes will be displayed in the International Aviation and Space Show (MAKS) in Zhukovsky, Moscow. The two Douglas C-47 Skytrain planes will be donated to Russia's Central Armed Forces Museum.

The routing will be Great Falls - Edmonton - Calgary - Fort St.John - Watson Lake - Tok Junction - Fairbanks - Nome - Anadyr - Magadan - Yakutsk - Bratsk - Krasnoyarsk - Moscow.

The flight is due to reach Anadyr, in Chukotka, on 28 July and remain there until 1 August. 

The project is known as 'Warplanes to Siberia', and follows an agreement between BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation, RUSAVIA (Russian Aviation Company), which suggested the idea, with the participation of  online game developer and publisher 'Wargaming. 

The pilots comeprise three Russians (among them CEO of 'Rusavia' Sergey Baranov) and three Americans (among them Jeff Geer, founder and Executive Director of BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation).

ALSIB

The monument to ALSIB aviators in Fairbanks (Alaska). Picture: R.T. Wallen

The US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said the ALSIB project was an example of co-operation between the two countries regardless of current tensions over the Ukraine crisis. 

'The Alaska-Siberia air route is a historic example of how Russians and Americans can work together,' he said. 'During World War II and many times before and since then, our countries have cooperated to bring the world of peace and prosperity.

'Initiatives like this serve as an important reminder that our countries can, have, and do work together. Let us commit ourselves to ensuring that this will always be the case.'

He added: 'Despite the current tensions in our relationship I am confident that Americans and Russians will continue to find common cause on issues of mutual interest.'

ALSIB


ALSIB

Senior Lieutenant N.F. Kuznetsov after successful sortie in his P-40K (top). North American AT-6 Texan (bottom) Pictures: lend-lease.airforce.ru, RusAvia

The aircraft were delivered to the USSR in the war under a Lend-Lease agreement. The project demanded the reconstruction of airports in Yakutsk and Krasnoyarsk. 16 special airports on the Soviet territory and 15 on the North American side were constructed for this air road.

Severe weather and hostile conditions meant flying conditions were sometimes treacherous. There were 39 air crashes, the largest in November 1942 near Krasnoyarsk when 30 people were killed.

Tags:

Comments (1)

What is their detailed Flight Path and arrival times? I would like to see them if they fly over Grande Prairie. Wow. What a wonderful journey. They should come here. We have a better airport than Fort St. John BC. If I know when they fly over and its not too high I will take a picture if it is by day.
Walter Andreeff, Grande Prairie, Northern Canada
31/07/2015 04:40
0
0
1

Add your comment

We welcome a healthy debate, but do not accept offensive or abusive comments. Please also read 'Siberian Times' Privacy Policy

Name

Town/Country

Add your comments

The views expressed in the comments above are those of our readers. 'Siberian Times' reserves the right to pre-moderate some comments.

Control code*

Type the code

* obligatory


News

Features

Business

The Bank of Russia official exchange rates of foreign currencies
EUR100.24USD91.98GBP117.19Other...