Ex-mil a/c in pvt ownership

[Richard]

Something I don't get: how is it there are at least two F-4s, even a F-104, on FAA civilian registry, I know they're flying, but to get the OV-10 for the museum we had to agree to never make it airworthy?

Could it be that these aircraft were acquired from foriegn entities, therefore the US mil has no say in the matter?

 

[T Bone]

Yes, I think you are correct. I think anything like the jets you mention must've come from a foreign entity. And I think there are more than that. There are two (maybe three) F104 Starfighters that toured as part of a display team (not sure if they're still around...).

I shot this pic at the Selfride Air National Guard Base air show in 2003. The day before, one of the teams pilots was killed while ferrying a Hawker Hunter to a new owner ion Canada. There is also the CJAA (Classic Jet Aircraft Association). Browse their galleries and you can see many other high performance decommissioned warbirds. http://www.classicjets.org/

Glad to hear the US military is still putting some aircraft into museums. We had a very nice OV10 Bronco at the Yankee Air Museum, but unfortunately it burned up in a hangar fire in October of 2004. The museum was completely destroyed, but saved were our still flying B17, B25 and C47. Efforts are underway to rebuild. It will be a slow process.....

 

[RallyeDriver]

Something I don't get: how is it there are at least two F-4s, even a F-104, on FAA civilian registry, I know they're flying, but to get the OV-10 for the museum we had to agree to never make it airworthy?

Could it be that these aircraft were acquired from foriegn entities, therefore the US mil has no say in the matter?

Last year there was an ex-Blue Angel F/A 18 on eBay. You did have to put it together!

 

[fgcason]

Something I don't get: how is it there are at least two F-4s, even a F-104, on FAA civilian registry, I know they're flying, but to get the OV-10 for the museum we had to agree to never make it airworthy?

Could it be that these aircraft were acquired from foriegn entities, therefore the US mil has no say in the matter?

In the 90's and probably up to 9-11 there was a group in Kansas selling assorted ex US military jets and quite a few prop aircraft. You could buy project or fully airworthy planes. They demilitarized the planes (no weapons, disabled bomb releases, etc, but external fuel stores were ok as were functioning ejection seats). They even had qualified ex-military instructors on hand. Lots of A6's, A4, F5, F16, F18, F14, F4, T-33, assorted trainers, a handful of starfighters, etc. www.airwarbirds.com use to be the site but it's inop now. I'm guessing the DHS/TSA probably did a hostile takeover. I distinctly recall their pricing page stating Deposits: $100,000.00+ non-refundable (higher for some planes), "Insurance: Your problem, not ours" followed by "Pricing: If you have to ask how much..."

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

Saw the Starfighters do their show at Reno Air Races in 2002 I think it was.

The announcer was amazed that on the control panel, there's a big display that just says "SLOW DOWN" when MACH speeds start to heat the windshield frame metals near melting !

Yes, I think you are correct. I think anything like the jets you mention must've come from a foreign entity. And I think there are more than that. There are two (maybe three) F104 Starfighters that toured as part of a display team (not sure if they're still around...).

I shot this pic at the Selfride Air National Guard Base air show in 2003. The day before, one of the teams pilots was killed while ferrying a Hawker Hunter to a new owner ion Canada. There is also the CJAA (Classic Jet Aircraft Association). Browse their galleries and you can see many other high performance decommissioned warbirds. http://www.classicjets.org/

Glad to hear the US military is still putting some aircraft into museums. We had a very nice OV10 Bronco at the Yankee Air Museum, but unfortunately it burned up in a hangar fire in October of 2004. The museum was completely destroyed, but saved were our still flying B17, B25 and C47. Efforts are underway to rebuild. It will be a slow process.....

 

[fgcason]

Saw the Starfighters do their show at Reno Air Races in 2002 I think it was.

The announcer was amazed that on the control panel, there's a big display that just says "SLOW DOWN" when MACH speeds start to heat the windshield frame metals near melting !

I just remembered this: AOPA Pilot Nov 2000 Page 86

http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2000/rocketing0011.html

 

[T Bone]

Yeah, I actually saw them earlier in the year I took that pic. It was at an airshow at KONZ and they just blew me away! Pitty it looks like their site may be gone too. I have video footage of the team with interviews from Speed Vision, before they were sold and disregarded aviation (they used to have some great programming!).

In the 90's and probably up to 9-11 there was a group in Kansas selling assorted ex US military jets and quite a few prop aircraft. You could buy project or fully airworthy planes. They demilitarized the planes (no weapons, disabled bomb releases, etc, but external fuel stores were ok as were functioning ejection seats). They even had qualified ex-military instructors on hand. Lots of A6's, A4, F5, F16, F18, F14, F4, T-33, assorted trainers, a handful of starfighters, etc. www.airwarbirds.com use to be the site but it's inop now. I'm guessing the DHS/TSA probably did a hostile takeover. I distinctly recall their pricing page stating Deposits: $100,000.00+ non-refundable (higher for some planes), "Insurance: Your problem, not ours" followed by "Pricing: If you have to ask how much..."

This site may be gone, may not (?). Currently it says something about being unauthorized to view.... I watched these guys, and especially after 9-11, there certainly was a change to the site. They switched their emphasis (and changed names!) to Canadair T33's, and were touting sales and training in specifically those aircraft.

As to the F16 and F18, they claimed either was available (as the only privately held example) for from 5 to 7 million dollars.... And the former Blue Angels F18 that was listed on eBay was in fact the one they had listed for well over a year. There were some disassembled pics on their site, wiith a bit of Blue and Yellow still showing. I visited their site at the time of the eBay listing, and it (the F18) was still there.

I was also surprised when I revisited the CJAA site (link in my earlier post here) that many aircraft formerly listed as being restored for flight and/or flying were not present. These included an F100 Super Sabre, an F4 Phantom and a Harrier......

 

[Richard]

Its who you know that counts. Sometimes it takes an act of Congress.http://

That reminds me, in the quest to get the T-38 tweet airborne again some members of the museum have requested our local Congressman to introduce a bill... So far, it looks good.