At Sea Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 What are the rules, lets say, for instance, I won the euro millions a couple of weeks on the trot so no money worries what sort of ex-military aircraft could I buy? / What would I have to do to it to get it into civil hands? I know the Phantoms are not allowed to be sold airworthy to any NGO and that afterburner jets are frowned upon but could I buy a Tornado GR4 and have the techy war stuff removed and the afterburner de-activated? Of course I would paint it in an old RAF Germany green/grey camo scheme. Also, what you buy if you could? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 As I understand it anything with reheat is a no go as far as the CAA is concerned.Something to do with engineering complexity is the oft repeated mantra. The Harrier,although not reheated,falls into the same bracket.The Shackleton... I'd love to see a Javelin fly.Just once,or maybe twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 The CAA in the UK are very restrictive on this type of thing basically anything with an afterburner is a no no. A private company nearly got a Bucc flying again but to use with a military contract. never quite happened though, the CAA put to many barriers up. I know the Vulcan people had to jump through a lot of hoops. The FAA in the US are more accommodating. The collins foundation now has an F-4 flying. There are some civilian F-104;s and at least one F-100. There are though jets like the Sea Vixen, Hunter, F-86, Meteor flying. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'd love to see a Mig-21 over here on a civil register, fat chance though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark M Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hunter aviation have a airworth bucc, that passed all the CAA tests but they decided not to fly her because of costs, but shes still there and i believe does taxi's occasionally http://www.hunterteam.com/main.htm check half way down this page http://www.hunterteam.com/news.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I have seen several civilian aircraft at airshows here in the US including L-39, Mig-15, Mig-15 UTI, Mig-17, Jet Provost, Fj-1 Fury, T-33. There are also several Civilian operators that use planes for dissimilar training with the military. ATSI has a bunch of A-4 Skyhawks and ATAC has Skyhawks, F-21s and even a couple of Hawker Hunters. While none of these are Mach capable there have been some F-104s out there including the Red Baron which I kit in the stash to do someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 This chap has both an L-39 and a Sea Harrier (and a smaller fortune than he started with do doubt!!). Does a Bede BD5J count? I think one was nearly sold to the US military. Whilst it is undoubtedly very "cool" it seems to have quite a reputation as a widow-maker so is not high on my lottery wish list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I'd love to see an F-8 Crusader......................it could tangle with Radleigh's Mig 21 at airshows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkippyBing Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I know the Phantoms are not allowed to be sold airworthy to any NGO and that afterburner jets are frowned upon but could I buy a Tornado GR4 and have the techy war stuff removed and the afterburner de-activated? If you de-activated the after burner it may have problems getting off the ground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Starfighters Aerospace operate the single and 2 seater F-104, you can even have a go if you want "Pricing starts at $30,000 US for a single flight training program. Add a second flight for $23,000 more." The collins foundation have an F-4C/D, T-33, TA-4J, F-100D. It actually took them an act of congress to get the an an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill to make this happen, so they must have pwerful friends! Cant see the CAA ever allowing Afterburner jets in the UK. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xffw45343tg Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Cant see the CAA ever allowing Afterburner jets in the UK. Didn't both Thrust & Thrust SSC have reheat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Didn't both Thrust & Thrust SSC have reheat? Don't remember THRUST flying, so not CAA's domain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 It's not the Mach that's the problem, the 'Vixen can and occasionally does Mach 1.3 according to a conversation I had with the driver, albeit out at sea. The Shack is out of airframe life. IIRC BAe washed their hands of it due to the hours flown, which was way above the lifespan. The CAA would have to sanction a FULL rebuild. BAe no longer consider it a safe to operate airframe and withdrew their tech support and certification. It only flew for so long as the RAF took responsibility for maintenance. Never understand why the FAA let it fly in that condition Stateside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 If you de-activated the after burner it may have problems getting off the ground... Ahh, did not realise burner was necessary, just used to get it up quicker or for shorter runways. Oh well, guess I'll buy something with a bigger wing with my millions! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHull Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Not really into jets too much Wouldn't say no to my own Victor though with my winnings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Not really into jets too muchWouldn't say no to my own Victor though with my winnings! I concuur! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 At least two Su-27s made their way into private hands in the USA, albeit used for air combat training with US Air Force Pilots. Ex-Ukrainian I think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFT Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 So, how about a hawk? Could one theoretically buy a second hand (or even new) Demilitarised Hawk and fly it? has anyone tried? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu_davros Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 There are several Venom's in private hands I think. There was a company called Source aviation at Bournemouth airport that had Venom's for sale at about 30 grand each, but that was about 10 years ago now. Cheers, Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lufbramatt Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 All comes down to the complexity level of the aircraft and weather or not the support to maintain it to the right level is there. A buccaneer falls into the complex category because of the boundary layer control system on the wing and tail, so it needs a higher level of support than the Sea Vixen. Not many companies outside of the RAF that can provide this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 So, how about a hawk?Could one theoretically buy a second hand (or even new) Demilitarised Hawk and fly it? has anyone tried? I would imagine that one could probably buy a Hawk new from BAe as a private individual, they are a training aircraft after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 BAe will never sell a military jet to a private individual. Even if the Hawk is only a trainer, it's an aircraft currently in service with the RAF and the RAF would never allow this to happen. Not to mention all the legal issues with the sale of what is after all a military aircraft. The same occurs pretty much everywhere in the world. In several countries, the air forces are not very keen to let their aircrafts end up in private hands even after retirement. As a result, many of the former military jets flying today came into the country where they are based from abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatalbert Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 For me it would have to be a DH Vampire fb5.I just love the little jet ,it reminds me of an mg midget lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 There was a privately owned MiG-21 over in the hangar near the BCFT centre at BOH. Never saw it flying though. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Are there any Macchi MB-326 trainers on civil registers anywhere? With aircraft like the Hunter, Jet Provost and Gnat on civil registers, it does surprise me to not see MB-326s out there as warbirds too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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