Ya think maybe this is why it's illegal for civilians to own former U.S. Military aircraft?
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Private ARMED jet fleet! Missed it by that much.
- Thread starter mikea
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Ya think maybe this is why it's illegal for civilians to own former U.S. Military aircraft?
Witmo
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Tim
mikea said:
Ya think maybe this is why it's illegal for civilians to own former U.S. Miliatary aircraft?
It's only illegal if you don't have the resources to comply with the law. The guy who founded an ammunition reloading company owns several former military aircraft and has a collection of fully automatic heavy machine guns. At least one of his planes is also armed and he owns a huge ranch that he uses to practice air to ground gunnery. It's nice to be rich!
They weren't automatic weapons. They were air-to-ground missles.Anthony said:
As we saw in that story about Perot, Jr. you have to be associated with a museum. I think the law doesn't affect WW II era planes (maybe non-jet?) so the guys who own a P-51 or T-6 are legal. I think most Stearmans would be considered military, too.
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Steve
En-Route
What I read in the referenced article was the subject rocket launchers were designed for air-to-ground missiles, totally unsuited for the proposed air-to-air defensive mission. They wouldn't have worked even if they were installed.
The DoD has repeatedly pressed for legislation to make private ownership of surplus military aircraft untenable. EAA, through the Warbirds of America division, and various other aviation interests have thus far been successful in garnering Congressional support in preventing it.
November 19, 2003 - EAA and EAA Warbirds of America (WOA) led a strategy session on Capitol Hill with Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and key members of his staff to discuss recurring demilitarization proposals and develop a strategy to ensure that historic warbirds would not be threatened by future legislation. Joining EAA and WOA in the session were representatives from the Classic Jet Aircraft Association (CJAA), Commemorative Air Force (CAF), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and the National Association of Aircraft and Communications Suppliers, Inc.
Over the past several years, numerous efforts have been launched by the Department of Defense to broaden their legal powers to reclaim former military hardware from civilian hands for the purposes of demilitarizing (often destroying) certain artifacts. Ostensibly the effort was intended to give DoD the ability to take back items that should not have been released into civilian hands in the first place. While warbirds, their parts, and supplies were not specifically targeted by DoD, the previously proposed legislative language always left the door open for confiscation, and even destruction, of historic and valuable military aircraft.
With the help of friends in Congress like Sen. Inhofe, military aircraft enthusiasts have been successful in fighting such attempts in each of the last few defense appropriations cycles. But the effort is costly and not always assured of a positive outcome. At Tuesday’s meeting on Capitol Hill, aviation representatives discussed language that could be inserted into upcoming appropriations bills that would prevent de-militarization efforts from unduly impacting existing and future properly disarmed military aircraft.
This meeting demonstrated excellent cooperation between the participating industry representatives ensuring that a unified position is presented to Congress by the warbird and aviation enthusiast communities for the protection of America’s military aviation heritage.
The Perot situation was a case of misrepresentation by various parties involved, imho, which, by not obtaining the proper authorizations to begin with, resulted in an outcome somewhat exploited by the media.
It is not illegal for civilians to own and operate surplus high performance military aircraft.
http://www.starfighters.net/
http://www.flyingfossilsairshows.com/theaircraft.swf
http://www.ccminc.com/vintage/index.html
and many others...
There are some pretty high performance aircraft out there for sale.
http://www.thorntonaircraft.com/body/body.cfm?page_name=mil
http://web.archive.org/web/20050305014229/www.mig-sabre.com/msdetails2.html
http://www.sijet.com/aircraftSales_aircraftDetails.aspx?goto=9&cat=4&page=1
to list a few.
The DoD has repeatedly pressed for legislation to make private ownership of surplus military aircraft untenable. EAA, through the Warbirds of America division, and various other aviation interests have thus far been successful in garnering Congressional support in preventing it.
November 19, 2003 - EAA and EAA Warbirds of America (WOA) led a strategy session on Capitol Hill with Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and key members of his staff to discuss recurring demilitarization proposals and develop a strategy to ensure that historic warbirds would not be threatened by future legislation. Joining EAA and WOA in the session were representatives from the Classic Jet Aircraft Association (CJAA), Commemorative Air Force (CAF), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and the National Association of Aircraft and Communications Suppliers, Inc.
Over the past several years, numerous efforts have been launched by the Department of Defense to broaden their legal powers to reclaim former military hardware from civilian hands for the purposes of demilitarizing (often destroying) certain artifacts. Ostensibly the effort was intended to give DoD the ability to take back items that should not have been released into civilian hands in the first place. While warbirds, their parts, and supplies were not specifically targeted by DoD, the previously proposed legislative language always left the door open for confiscation, and even destruction, of historic and valuable military aircraft.
With the help of friends in Congress like Sen. Inhofe, military aircraft enthusiasts have been successful in fighting such attempts in each of the last few defense appropriations cycles. But the effort is costly and not always assured of a positive outcome. At Tuesday’s meeting on Capitol Hill, aviation representatives discussed language that could be inserted into upcoming appropriations bills that would prevent de-militarization efforts from unduly impacting existing and future properly disarmed military aircraft.
This meeting demonstrated excellent cooperation between the participating industry representatives ensuring that a unified position is presented to Congress by the warbird and aviation enthusiast communities for the protection of America’s military aviation heritage.
The Perot situation was a case of misrepresentation by various parties involved, imho, which, by not obtaining the proper authorizations to begin with, resulted in an outcome somewhat exploited by the media.
It is not illegal for civilians to own and operate surplus high performance military aircraft.
http://www.starfighters.net/
http://www.flyingfossilsairshows.com/theaircraft.swf
http://www.ccminc.com/vintage/index.html
and many others...
There are some pretty high performance aircraft out there for sale.
http://www.thorntonaircraft.com/body/body.cfm?page_name=mil
http://web.archive.org/web/20050305014229/www.mig-sabre.com/msdetails2.html
http://www.sijet.com/aircraftSales_aircraftDetails.aspx?goto=9&cat=4&page=1
to list a few.