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| Our Fairchild C-123 was a part of one
of the biggest scandals in the mid 1980's. During this time,
the Reagan Administration had set up a bizarre network of
arms sales to Iran designed to win release of US hostages
being held in Lebanon and raise money to fund the Nicaraguan,
counter-revolutionary guerilla fighters, commonly referred
to as the "Contras." By artificially inflating
the prices of the arms, NSA official Oliver North, was able
to reap profits that could be diverted to fund the counter-revolutionaries
of the Cuban allied Sandinista government.
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Of the $16 million in profits raised,
only $3.8 million actually funded the Contras. With the
CIA's help, they purchased several items, including two
C-123 cargo planes (one of which is our plane), two C-7
planes, a Maule aircraft, spare parts, and munitions. They
also built a secret airstrip on an American-owned, 30,000
acre ranch in northwest Costa Rica. On October 5, 1986,
a US cargo plane (the twin sister) of El Avion's own Fairchild
C-123, was shot down over southern Nicaragua. One of the
crewmembers, C.I.A operative Eugene Hasenfus, parachuted
to safety and was captured by the Sandinista army. Led out
of the jungle at gun point, Hasenfus's very existence set
in motion an incredible chain of cover-ups and lies that
would mushroom into one of the biggest scandals in American
political history known as the Iran-Contra Affair. As a
result of this successful Sandinista strike on our Fairchild's
sister plane, the cargo operation was suspended and one
of the C-123s was abandoned at the International Airport
in San Jose.
In August 2000, we purchased the abandoned
Fairchild for $3,000. We then disassembled and shipped the
pieces of the Iran-Contra relic to Quepos. From San Jose,
the fuselage was shipped via ocean ferry (from Caldera to
Quepos) because it was 10 inches too wide for the antiquated
Chiquita Banana railroad bridges! After hauling all seven
aircraft sections up the Manuel Antonio hill, the C-123
finally found its current cliff-side resting-place. |
Our Pub Plane
Monica Quesada, Tico Times
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Now, our C-123 has been retired to less risqué
endeavors as a restaurant, bar, coffee store, and an enduring
Cold War relic.
Now El Avion is ready to serve up a food, drinks
and beautiful sunsets!
Join us under the wing at our restaurant or in the
fuselage at our pub.
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Sunset Dining at El Avion
Monica Quesada, Tico Times
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Manuel
Antonio, Costa Rica
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