I was thinking about the Yalta conference that is an extraordinary journey for the Americans and British to take. I know the Luftwaffe was largely defeated by that time, but it seems like so many things could have gone wrong in transit and two war time leaders could have been killed or captured. Even Mechanical problems, was there opposition to the meeting, and what type of precautions were taken to keep the leaders safe?
I believe Winston Churchill used his regular aeroplane to go to Yalta, it was called the ''commando''. This was a Consolidated Liberator Mk.II, AL504. It is surprising to see how unprotected some high official transports were. When inspecting the normandy beaches Eisenhower would use a regular P-51 with some modifications: ''They moved up the pilot's seat and crammed in a modified folding chair in the back. To fit Ike in, they removed armor and flak protection. Basically, a few lucky shots from an AA gun would have been disastrous.'' (Source warbirds forum) Another good example would be the BOAC Flight 777 where several notable people were killed when their aeroplane was shot down by the Luftwaffe over the gulf of Biscay. P.S. you might like this photo of Churchill for the occasion http://img65.photobucket.com/albums/v198/baclightning/Commando_closeup.jpg
