i got this from the net
Abandoned Soviet Air Tanker Is Not Just an Ilyushin
By Keith Barry September 18, 2009
A massive Soviet-built air tanker impounded at a tiny Michigan airport for almost three months may be sold as abandoned property if its owner doesnt claim it soon. An abandoned Soviet-built air tanker? In Michigan?
Supposedly, a company called Tactical Air Defenses was to use an Ilyushin Il-78 tanker similar to the one in the pic to fuel planes in war zones and fight fires in Southern California. According to a press release, the plane was to be the only Il-78 actively flying in the United States. Missions included refueling during air combat training sessions and for contract refueling of military squadrons and helping state and local authorities combat the increasing threat of wildfires.
After being serviced by Air-1 of Denison, Texas the plane took off for Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 17 enroute to parts unknown. Some say it was headed to Europe, others say it was going to Pakistan. Wherever it was going, it was diverted to Sawyer International Airport in Marquette County, Michigan, reportedly after being denied entry to Canadian airspace.
Thats when things really got interesting.
The Il-78, first flown in 1983, can hit 460 knots and carry 18,000 gallons in its giant removable tanks. Of course, when a Soviet tanker ends up in small town America and the crew is sent back to the Ukraine, rumors abound. We know for sure the plane has been in the United States for at least three years, it is owned by TADS and it is leased by Air Support Systems in Newark, Delaware.
And it has been parked on the tarmac at Sawyer since July 17.
The first sign of trouble came when immigration authorities in Michigan detained the Ukrainian crew for administrative violations. Their visas had expired, and all five voluntarily returned to Kiev via commercial flights on July 23rd. Witnesses reported the airplane had been blocked in with snow plows and, later, concrete barriers.
According to FlightAware, shortly after the crewmembers went home, someone filed a flight plan to fly the plane to Keflavik, Iceland. It never left. The Marquette County Mining Journal says the plane was impounded after Air-1 filed a lawsuit alleging that the planes owners owe more than $62,000 in unpaid bills for all the work Air-1 did on the plane back in Texas.
Tactical Air Defenses has not responded to the lawsuit, so a hearing has been scheduled to see about selling the plane in order to pay for what the Mining Journal says are numerous months of hangar rental, more than 1,500 gallons of jet fuel, preparations to start and move the aircraft and maintenance for such things as reinstalling some of the planes instruments, recharging batteries and rewelding a metal fence at the Texas airport blown down by the jets exhaust.
That lack of interest is in stark contrast to the glowing press releases in which TADS trumpeted its tankers capabilities and said as recently as May that it anticipated lots of mid-air refueling and firefighting contracts. We dont see TADS getting much business, but well keep you abreast of developments.
In the meantime, we suggest that anyone interested in buying a 202,821 lb aircraft should start saving their pennies.