A VINTAGE biplane that disappeared from its storage place in west Cork has turned up in a farm machinery yard 80km away.
An investigation is under way into how the Antonov 2 biplane changed hands twice before it was bought and relocated from lands near Bantry to a farm machinery outlet in Courtmacsherry.
Robert Bennett of Bennett Tractor Sales said he bought the 60ft plane and transported it from Bantry in daylight. “We didn’t steal the plane, we bought it in good faith. It took us six hours to move it from Bantry, and we have it parked here on the side of the road for everyone to see.”
The biplane was reported stolen three days ago by Les and Deirdre Carter, who emigrated to Queensland, Australia, five years ago. They claim they are the rightful owners of the biplane and plan to turn it into a “living art project” as a holiday home.
The biplane had been housed on the Carters’ lands at Ards in the Mealagh valley near Bantry.
“We are delighted the plane has turned up, it’s fantastic news,” Mr Carter said last night.
The biplane was in two vintage fancy dress parades in Cork recently, said Mr Bennett, who bought the stripped down shell two months ago. “It won first place in the Bandon parade and came third in Kilbrittain. We would not have been entering it into public events had we stolen it.”
He said he bought the biplane for ornamental purposes. Its gauge settings and inner workings have been removed and the wings detached for transport purposes.
“It’s not going to fly, all the workings have been taken out, it’s only worth its weight in aluminium. We thought it was a shame to let it go for scrappage.”
It is understood the plane changed hands at least twice before it was sold to Mr Bennett.
“It was bought and paid for by two other men before I bought it. How that happened is under investigation,” he said.
Mr Carter said he was hopeful some arrangement could be made to return the aircraft to his land.
“Its whereabouts came to light thanks to some detective work by friends, through Facebook and a couple of incredible coincidences. West Cork being such a small place, as soon as my call went out people got in touch to say ‘I’ve seen that plane’.”
Mr Carter said he and his wife intended to return to Ireland and continue to refurbish the biplane.
Gardaí in Bantry confirmed yesterday they were investigating the matter.
AT 60ft long it’s hard to imagine it would be easy to hide a vintage Soviet troop-transport plane.
At least, that is the hope of a couple who have asked the gardaí to investigate its disappearance from their land in West Cork.
The Antonov 2 biplane is believed to have been taken in the past few days from Les and Deirdre Carter’s land at Ards in the Mealagh Valley near Bantry.
The couple, who live in north Queensland, Australia, were notified of the plane’s disappearance by a friend and immediately contacted the gardaí.
Thousands of this type of plane were manu-factured in the former Soviet Union between 1947 and 1991.
The Carters got the biplane as a present from a friend in 2006.
After putting it in storage for a while they decided to remove its wings and transport the fuselage to Bantry, where they had been working on converting the biplane into a holiday home.
Les, who works as a truck driver, had already put windows into the fuselage and was refurbishing the interior.
Speaking from her home in Australia last night, Deirdre, a nurse who was born in Ireland, said whoever had taken the old aircraft must have put a lot of effort into it.
"When we moved it from Cork Airport to Bantry we had to engage low loaders and a lot of workmen, all at considerable expense," she explained.
"Whoever took it had to have done a lot of organising. It is a very big structure."
She said it had always been the couple’s intention to return to Ireland and finish the refurbishment.
"I can’t imagine why anybody would want to take it and we’re hoping that people will assist us with its return," said Deirdre.
A Garda spokesman in Bantry confirmed that they had received a complaint from the couple and are in the process of investigating it.
"Whoever did this would probably have had to have used a crane and a big truck to take it away," the spokesman said.
Anybody with information on the former plane’s whereabouts is asked to contact Bantry Garda Station at 027-20860.
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, August 18, 2011
Source: http://www.examiner.ie
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