Warbird Information Exchange

A mystery behind the history plane
WWII aircraft from Gulbarga lands in Europe

Manu Pubby

Posted online: Saturday, November 04, 2006 at 0000 hrs

PUNE -- November 3 -- It has all the makings of a classic mystery -- a World War II German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter which flew in the Battle of Britain vanished into thin air from the storage yard of a college campus in Karnataka's Gulbarga town, where it lay forgotten for over 60 years. Four years and an unsuccessful police investigation later, aviation experts hunting for clues on the priceless aircraft have stumbled upon it in Europe.

Research by aviation enthusiasts based in India and the U.K. points out that the vintage aircraft has re-emerged on records of the United Kingdom civil aviation register as belonging to a mysterious company in the Channel Islands.

The single-seat fighter aircraft, gifted to the Nizam of Hyderabad by the British Empire in 1941 for sponsoring two RAF squadrons, was rediscovered at PDA College in Gulbarga by an Indian expert in 2002. While the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian collectors dilly-dallied over procuring the aircraft, it disappeared from the college campus -- apparently picked up by a millionaire British aircraft collector. The plane was valued at over Rs 7 crore in the antiques market. Police investigations hit a wall as they could not trace Girish Naidu, a Bangalore-based scrap dealer who brokered the deal.

However, aviation enthusiasts took up the hunt and traced the manufacturing number of the Bf 109 through photographs taken before it was stolen. Using the markings and registration numbers on the aircraft, England-based expert Lynn Ritger found that it belonged to German pilot Xavier Ray who crash-landed during a raid on the outskirts of London in 1940 after engine failure.

The breakthrough came early this year, when experts discovered an entry in the U.K. civil aviation registry in December 2005 matching to the stolen Messerchmitt.

"The manufacturer and construction number of G-CDTI (the new entry) is the same one traced by Ritger to the Gulbarga aircraft. As two aircraft cannot have the same construction number, it is the missing Bf 109," Jagan Pillarsetti, whose website www.warbirdsofindia.com, keeps track of vintage aircraft in the country, told The Indian Express.

Ritger, a Bf 109 historian, also confirmed the identity of the aircraft.

"The WNr 4034 [manufacturing number of the Bf 109] was indeed registered on the civil register as G-CDTI and it appears to be in Europe," Ritger confirmed. The aircraft has been registered to Rare Aero Ltd, based in Jersey, Channel Islands.

Efforts to trace the owners of Rare Aero Ltd have been unsuccessful. The buzz in international aviation forums is that Guy Black, a millionaire British aircraft collector who was rumored to have bought the aircraft in 2002, owns the company.

However, Black denies that he owns the plane. "There are all sorts of rumors about me but I do not own the company. I have heard about the aircraft and am very interested in buying it," he told The Indian Express over the phone from England.

The Corps of Detectives (CoD) of the Karnataka police, which is investigating the case, is unaware that the aircraft had been registered in Europe. " Investigations are still on but we cannot trace the main accused in the case. We know that the plane was taken out of the country but do not know where it is," says B K Singh, SP (Special investigations), Corps of Detectives, Karnataka Police.

So how does one go about stealing something as big as a Bf-109 from plain sight and smuggle it out of India?

Since yet another informative thread regarding this aircraft was pulled from the Flypaper forum......

The breakthrough came early this year, when experts discovered an entry in the U.K. civil aviation registry in December 2005 matching to the stolen Messerchmitt.

Who Stole the Indian Me-109?

November 6, 2006: Five years ago, a German Me-109 fighter was discovered, in the storage yard of an Indian college, by an Indian amateur aviation historian. A year later, the Me-109 disappeared, but now it has been found, flying around Europe. No one will admit to owning it, or say anything about how the valuable (worth over a million dollars) aircraft got from India to Europe.

Until 1961, the vintage (it was brought down during the Battle of Britain in 1940, without major damage) aircraft had been given to an Indian prince, in 1941, for raising enough money to equip two fighter squadrons for the Royal Air Force. The Me-109 was displayed at a south Indian college until 1961, when it was moved to another college, and left in a storage yard. There is was discovered in 2001. Word got around. The Indian Air Force found out about it. This was the only Me-109 in India, and considered a national treasure. By law, the Antiquities Act, it is illegal to take vehicles, more than fifty years old, out of the country. The Indian Air Force asked the local government, which, technically, controlled the college storage yard containing the Me-109, and thus "owned" the aircraft, if a trade (for another, but more presentable, antique item) could be arranged. Then, the Indian Air Force would undertake restoration of the aircraft, and display it in a national museum. This would, among other things, honor the Indian pilots who participated in the Battle of Britain.

But before those negotiations were complete, the Me-109 disappeared. Well not exactly disappeared, the college trustees said they had accepted another trade offer from an Indian gentleman (Girish Naidu, a scrap dealer from Bangalore). The air force generals were furious, but the college trustees said the aircraft would be restored and displayed in India. That quieted things down for a few years, until some Indian aviation enthusiasts began to wonder where the Me-109 was. Turns out the aircraft was nowhere to be found. No one knew anything. The college trustees were rather mortified to discover that their trade items (an antique car, bicycle and an antique aircraft that wasn't) were worth about $2,000.

Another investigation commenced, but neither the aircraft, nor Girish Naidu, who had arranged the trade, could be found. Bribery, or simply fast talking and some deception, were suspected. The aircraft had been shipped out of the country in 2002, about the same time the deal was made. Apparently, there was never any intention of keeping the aircraft in India. It also turned out that the trustees of the college that traded away the Me-109 didn't legally own it. The college where the Me-109 had been until 1961 was still the owner of record.

The missing Me-109 was found in Europe, in flying condition, because the Indian aviation buffs, who originally discovered the Me-109, had taken many pictures, including shots of serial numbers on several aircraft components. These serial numbers were not changed during the restoration. European aviation magazines mentioned these serial numbers in stories about eh newly restored Me-109. The European owner of the Me-109 was a shady corporation. No one could find who owned the corporation (which was registered in the Channel Islands, where shady corporations are legal, and a major part of the local economy).

The Indian government has not yet decided what should be done. There w as apparently some bribery and corruption involved, and officials are apparently checking to see who might get hurt if the investigation goes too far. Meanwhile the local police of Gulbarga, are investigating the HKE Society, which controls the college that didn't own, but "sold", the Me-109. There may yet be justice, or maybe not.

Wasn't there a P-51D stolen from an museum in Israel a while back?
Has I recall a IAF reserve pilot flew it out under the pretenses of getting it painted but actually sold it and the flight was for delivering it to a new owner in Europe? Am I correct here?
The name "Twilight Tear" comes to mind.