William R Thompson wrote:

My Dad served in Alaska during the war (he drove a
mail truck along the AlCan Highway for APO 985).
From what he said, I doubt that a Soviet pilot would have
had the time for a romance. Russian pilots evidently had
orders to get home as fast as they could; Dad saw a few
P-39s crash on take-off, and heard from American ground
crew that their pilots sometimes ignored instructions to
warm up the engines in cold weather.
/snip/

There is still wreckage of what I think was a P-39 along side the
Anchorage-Fairbanks highway. It's located near Cantwell, about
half-way, just a few hundred yards east of the road. This is at the
highest elevation of the highway, I imagine some pilot was trying to
sneak his way through the pass, and didn't make it. Not much left but
the half melted hulk of an engine, and what looks like wing
center-section structure.

Happy Flying!
Scott Skylane