Originally Posted by sers

no. tony used to talk to them using an enthusiast radio setup.

he made good friends with russian cosmonauts, and later made contacts within the russian government. after putin seized control of the factories held by the red generals, tony was presented with the opportunity of cheap fabrication and materials. various military vehicles that were out of commision were excellent sources for 7005 aluminum and 4130 chromoly steel. it was also an ideal pr opportunity for putin, then at the beginning of his presidency, for the russian government to convert implements of destruction into bicycle frames. it also created a wealth of much needed jobs. the jamie roy, mia and rob roy - are white, red and blue, respectively, to correspond with the colors of the russian flag. the mark v, which came earlier than the others was black, for economical reasons. interestingly enough, the teardrop shaped tubing of the mark v and the jamie roy was a propriatery design used in the Mikoyan MiG-33 "Fulcrum-E" fighter jet. using existing tooling was a logical choice for many reasons.

only the mark v pro is manufactured in taiwan, due to the cost of importing reynolds 631 into russia.