The Aviation Thread [Contains Lots of Awesome Pictures]

Which is sad because the US has a massive graveyard of hundreds of planes just chilling out, those lucky enough not to get chopped up (like F-14s).
 
The only US info I could find from Airliners.com was that the US can't sell current generation stuff. But I don't see civilian F-15's for sale. :(
Others state, the US will never sell any fighter jet.
 
Bullshit on that last point. The US sold a whole bunch of A-4s to a private company who then were hired by the USAF and USN to fly as aggressors during war games.
 
The only US info I could find from Airliners.com was that the US can't sell current generation stuff. But I don't see civilian F-15's for sale. :(
Others state, the US will never sell any fighter jet.

The F-15 could be considered current generation as it is still a significant part of the current USAF inventory. And, while not currently for the USAF, new ones are still rolling off the production line.
 
The US has sold Migs too. The Federal Government auction site has lots of neat stuff if you watch it long enough.
 
Going back further theres 1 F-4 in civilian hands.

As I recall, the people who own that particular F-4 had to jump through all kinds of legal hoops, not only from the FAA, but also from the Pentagon and the State Department.

Beyond that, I can't see how a civilian could own and operate something like an F-16 from a technical standpoint. There are systems onboard for which there is little knowledge and no infrastructure in the civilian world. For example, where are you going to get the hydrazine to service its EPU? Who in the civilian world is certified to overhaul an F100 or F110 engine? Who do you call when the flight control computers act up?
 
I'm not saying people should, but I don't want to live in a world were people can't.
 
Now, this is just sad. Pictures are taken at MAKS-2011. This is a Buran space shuttle, as the visitors get to see it:

6049370481_f715ef02bb_o.jpg


This is the same Buran, as more meticulous visitors may see it:

6049923460_425ba09b0f_o.jpg


...
 
I thought the Buran got all smashed up when the building it was in collapsed?
 
On the subject of buying military plane, there are a few OV-10 Broncos in civilian hands.

I also read the story many years ago of how the first civilian AH-1 Cobra was born (now RedBull operate one).
 
I would love to fly a Bronco or a Dragonfly as a private plane.

I mean, flying is so cool, why settle for a generic white Cessna?
 
I also read the story many years ago of how the first civilian AH-1 Cobra was born (now RedBull operate one).

No link to the article? :(
 
No link to the article? :(

I am talking YEARS ago, before the tubes where invented, and we actually had to buy magazines :p

(actually, the web existed, but was far from the popularity and accessibility of today, we are talking CIRCA 1995).

Basically bought as scrap, and rebuilt from the ground up. Reading the history of the RedBull AH-1F, it looks like it was built by the same guy:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/06/red-bull-chuck-aaron/?pid=1079&viewall=true

Aaron started his flying career as a crop duster flying helicopters over the cotton fields of South Carolina. The son of an Air Force pilot, he's been around aircraft his whole life.

After selling his helicopter flying business, Aaron got into the business of rebuilding helicopters. After several years spent overhauling various civilian machines, he "tripped over a Cobra helicopter for sale."

It was a former U.S. Army Bell Cobra attack helicopter that had been damaged on the ground and sold for scrap. Aaron managed to repair the fuselage, round up the missing parts and build himself a refurbished Cobra.

This prompted him to rebuild a few more Cobras, the last of which Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz bought because he had a pilot who thought it would be cool to have a Cobra. Mateschitz befriended Aaron and eventually approached him about doing an aerobatic routine in a helicopter.
 
:blowup:
 
Now, this is just sad. Pictures are taken at MAKS-2011. This is a Buran space shuttle, as the visitors get to see it:
This is the same Buran, as more meticulous visitors may see it:
...

We did that when I was in the Navy, the side the Admiral saw was the side that got painted the most often.
 
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