Private Fighter Jets?
 

I saw something odd landing at the local civilian airport, so I went looking for it. Parked at the very edge of the airport was this. Can anyone tell me anything about it?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1346712886.jpg

think it's a czech L-39

bunch of boy billionaires got tired tired of listening to the other boy billionaires drone on about how fast their veyrons were. they looked around and found surplus eastern bloc jet trainers for sale.

it is combat capable. i heard they were being used to strafe civilians in syria right now.

Here awhile back there was a post about enough parts to assemble 10 migs sitting at an airport in west Texas..... Just saying go big or go home....

I have one....

Yeah, that was from me and those were Migs, but the above plane is an L39 albatross. . As stated. They are actually quite common. I see them all over the place. They are not really that expensive in those terms, there are many for sale in the low 100,000s..

How about a video?

Every couple months you read about some rich dude who got killed in his L-39. It's a soviet era trainer. If they considered their cosmonauts expendable what does that make first year air cadets? 5 have crashed so far this year.

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/1280852.html


Only 95k....

What are the maintenance and running costs for one?



I know, I know. If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Where are you based? There are 5-6 of them here at KDVT along with some other "sporty" types. Outfit here specializes in them from what I hear.

Friend of mine has one, name is Mike Farrell. Know him?

These L-39's are really high performance training aircraft, not really fighters but still fun airplanes. They do have hard points but not much useful load so cannot carry much.

I knew a guy who had a Mig, his biggest problem was finding asphalt thick enough to support the weight. Too thin and it would sink right in, they were meant to operate on cement, think cement.

Joe, I never see those ones by us moving. They seem to be stationary and I drive by them all the time. I like the paint jobs though.

If you have ever been in Eastern Europe or Russia, the airports are (or were) almost always the same, being built with typical combat methods. The runway is made out of slabs of reinforced concrete and that measure 10 by 10 meter sections. You want it wider, put another slab or two on there. Longer? Pour another 20 slabs and extend it by another 600 feet or so.

This made it easier to repair combat damage by just removing the debris and so on and replacing that section with fresh and you were once again able to fly off of the airport.

Hard stands (parking areas) were the same materials. The MIG airplanes have the typical high pressure (200-300 Psi min) tires that do not do well on anything other than concrete...

Only problem with runways like this is that they are rougher than a cob and get worse with time. Water gets under the section and then they go up and down with each freeze, so that touching down during landing and you can have a 1"-2" bump at each joint. Some airplanes handle it well, while others not so good.

The L-39's do not seem to move very much right now but the turboprops inside the hangar are flying from time to time. No one knows much about the operation and they are pretty secretive, so who knows whats going on there.

Back when the wall fell a bunch of Migs came on the market. They were selling for 20-25K depending on the hrs. A buddy looked into buying one.

last time over there and into the north hangers, i saw a slew of them, no not the ones on the south side that ya see from the road. are they one in the same operations?

a few also up by reno i saw last time.

One of my cousins has a Mig-17 and does show with it. MiG-17 - FIGHTERJETS INC. - Randy Ball

He tells the story about when he found someone selling the cannons that came on the plane. While he was driving back with them, he got pulled over by a state trooper. He said it was pretty tense for a while. They are inoperable, and I think the trooper had someone come out to inspect them before he released him.

He did a flyover then went ballistic for a party my grandfather was having at his ranch. Pretty awesome.

Just a few years ago, he was flying to an air show and had a heart attack. Thankfully, he was able to land the plane and get in the ambulance. I think he went under a knife that day. He says the fact that he was in the plane saved him since he was on oxygen.

Just saw this on the news.

Pilot was local, from Frisco.

After retiring, pilot focused on collecting, flying vintage planes

Looks like he was flying the same plane as in the OP.

are the L-39's ejection seats operational? Or do they disable them. I always wanted to know if a private aircraft is allowed to have operation ejection seats...

Paul Allen (Microsoft) has a flyable MiG-29 in his collection.

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.

~~~~~

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.

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