Paul Allen has more airplanes than most countries Air Forces have, ranging from WW1 stuff on up. Several of them have been restored locally by someone I know...

No, the FAA demands that you disable the ejection seats... you ride the ship down if something happens.

There is a guy (Beachy Head) in Cape Town South Africa who owns the largest private airforce in the world, and has turned it into a very lucrative business model:

Welcome to Thunder City

Definitely on my bucket list!

Zeke, Joeaksa, everyone....
My late night typing was misleading. I meant to type, "I have flown in one". I do not have one, nor would I want one.

Thunder City is well known around the world in the pilot community! If I ever win the lotto... :)

I thought it was the BATF that demanded this.

Well, its a real mix of Govt agencies in the middle of this. Just did some research and it seems that the FAA has now relented and ejection seats are allowed but only under very stiff rules and regs. Most airplanes are still flying with the seats "pinned" or non-operational because its just too difficult to do everything the feds want to stay legal and still fly. The ATF is indeed involved as explosives and rocket motors are involved, but then the FAA gets in the mix as well.

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Aircraft Equipped with Ejection Seats, Ballistic Parachutes, or Jettisonable Stores

Former military aircraft with experimental airworthiness certificates for the purpose(s) of R&D, exhibition, or air racing, may be eligible to operate with functional ejection seats. Only aircraft certificated for the purpose of R&D may be eligible to operate with functional jettisonable external fuel tanks or stores. The following requirements must be met in order to have these systems operational:

- The applicant must provide objective evidence that the airport manager of the airport where the aircraft is based has been notified regarding both the presence of explosive devices in these systems and the planned operation of an experimental aircraft from that airport.

- Jettisonable external fuel tank(s) or stores systems must be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures and inspected in accordance with the provisions of the FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) approved inspection program for the particular aircraft. The FAA will verify that there is a record entry indicating current serviceability of the jettison system(s).

- Ejection seat systems must be maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures and inspected in accordance with the provisions of the FSDO approved inspection program for the particular aircraft. The FAA will verify that there is a record entry indicating current serviceability of the ejection system, including the status of any dated shelf-life items.

- The applicant must have provisions for securing the aircraft to prevent inadvertent operation of the jettison and/or ejection systems whenever the aircraft is parked.

- The applicant must have provisions that provide for clear marking and identification of all explosive devices used in ejection seats, ballistic parachutes, and jettisonable systems. Aircraft markings should be applied externally and indicate that the aircraft is equipped with explosive devices.

Experimental Airworthiness Certificates

A guy from Calif crashed his into the Washington Mountains near me a few years ago. Took them 8 months to find the remains.

He didn't understand "icing" conditions. His wife didn't understand the female passenger found with him.

This has been very interesting. Thanks guys.

Very simple.... its called "dual instruction" and "stick time"...

Did not say that wives or girlfriends would understand it...

I didn't think there would be any shelf-life items in an ejection seat. :confused:

Sure is... rocket motors in the ejection seats are a time life item in most cases.

There was a famous crash in Sacramento in 1973-74 when a novice pilot ran an F-86 Sabre through an ice cream parlor full of children celebrating a birthday party. His F-86 had its underwing fuel tanks bolted on (by regulation) and he had filled up with fuel for the ride back to Oakland. He attempted takeoff in the heat of the day on the shorter runway, aborted once, then taxied back and committed the jet to takeoff. He never attained sufficient flying speed and thus crashed through the perimeter fence, across a culvert and a busy boulevard, then crashed into the ice cream parlor, exploding all that fuel. I later heard Korean War F-86 ace Bob Love describe the event and that he had even told the pilot not to attempt the takeoff until later in the evening when temperatures were lower.

High performance aircraft ownership is a covert democratic plan to spread the wealth. Strap a wealthy middle- aged man into a WW2 fighter or some piece of sh## ex Soviet bloc jet and its only a matter of time before the government collects the inherence taxes in the estate settlements.

Nothing more dangerous than a 40- 50 year old guy after putting in a few hours into one of these planes...starts thinking they are a "25 year old" Chuck Yeager.

Bob Lutz has one. In fact, I think it is the plane he famously tried to land once without putting down the landing gear.

Crap. This airport is really near my house. :(

Heck, most doctors can't handle a Bonanza.

Crash at Farrell's

Not to worry, you are 3x more likely to get in an accident by driving your car on public roads...

This does really remind me of an old saying in the 1960's in Germany when the airplane's safety record was terrible.... Someone would say "I sure would like to have a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter of my own!" and the usual reply from someone who knew what they were talking about was "then buy a piece of land and wait, because chances are good one will be coming your way!"

If I ever hit the lottery, I would buy an F4. Finest looking fighter every made IMHO.

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4...oteamphoto.jpg