Rau

Plaintiff Victor R. Miller brought an action for money and an accounting against defendant-appellant Jack L. Ran (individually and as trustee of Aviation Export Company, Ltd., Inc.) as well as against other defendants who are not involved in the instant appeal. While there is no real disagreement between the parties as to the facts involved, it is the proper legal significance of these facts which forms the basis of the disagreement on appeal. The dispute arose out of the results of several years of commercial activity involving some World War II airplanes; in substantially chronological order, the facts may be summarized as follows:

During World War II, plaintiff Miller, an employee of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in England, became familiar with an aircraft designated as “AT-6.” In 1947 he entered Cambridge University to study law, and while there learned that there were some AT-6 aircraft at an airbase in Africa. Beginning in 1947, and continuing through 1953, Miller continued to inquire as to the availability of the AT-6’s for purchase. In 1953, the British Air Ministry advised him that the planes were to be sold.

In September of that year, respondent and Aviation…