Fighter Jets For Sale

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I know it is illegal to buy fighter aircraft that exceed the speed of sound.

There was a guy who bought a MiG-23 from Finland - complete with cannon - and it was seized by Customs agents and is now on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

There was also a movement by groups who were trying to buy CF-5s from Canada under the guise of museum static displays, and then try to get them flying again.

I believe the laws were that you couldn't buy an ex-AF plane, such as an F-4, and fly it within the US. However, there was loophole in the rules that allowed you to import one, provided it was demilitarized (which is why the MiG-23 was seized).

I believe that loophole was closed around 2000 (it was before 2001, so it was closed for nothing to do with terrorism).

As for procuring a C-141, I believe there is one down at Kelly AFB that some investors were trying to procure for flying. However, if I remember, that one was parked there for loading training because of wing cracks. Last time I checked out at the C-141 website, it was being dismantled, so it might not be long for this world.

But, if ever in the San Antonio area, there is an F-101 and a Convair 240-type aircraft (C-131? I can't remember the mil designation) out at Stinson Field that a guy bought from Kelly and wants to get flying again, or at least restored to some decent state besides the graffiti fodder that they currently seemed to be.

BTW, there was an XC-99 (cargo version of the B-36) parked over by the C-5s at Kelly Field, although there was talk of either restoring it or scrapping it, so I don't know if it is still there or not.

I found this article that was pretty interesting. Don't know how he managed to buy and import these fighters - with their militarized capabilities in place, no less - but I assume the fact that he works with the Pentagon supplying aggressor aircraft might have something to do with that.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.10/kirlin_pr.html

I remember there were some rules about purchasing a military aircraft for personal use within the US. In fact, the rules were such that Darryl Greenamyer secretly built his own from spare parts and set a record back in 1977 I think, before he had to punch out of it. And I believe after that, the government went even farther in trying to stop the practice.

But, after the fall of the Soviet Union, there were all sorts of ex-fighter planes like MiG-15s, 17s, and 21s making it into the US. Since you couldn't just purchase an F-4 or F-15 from the US because of the rules regarding the sale of ex-US military aircraft (for example, all those aircraft you see on static display at places around the country are all still officially owned by the Air Force and loaned to various institutions; when I was at ERAU, I was trying to get one for the campus. If I could raise the money to transport it and house it, the AF could have given us one. But, if you don't take care of it, the AF can come along and take it away too.).

And, the rules even go so far as to keep you from importing US hardware from another country (so you couldn't just go buy an F-104 from Germany and import into the US, becuase it was built by the US). When the US sells fighter planes to another country, part of the deal stipulates that the US retains the rights to determine what that country can do with those aircarft. It's why the brou-haha is going on with Peru wanting to sell their F-16s to Cuba or China; the agreement with the country is that they can't just resell them to whoever they want. Subsequently, they can't resell them back to US civilians without getting US State Dept approval.

But that is where people started using the loophole. The CF-5 was built by Canada under license, so it was not an American built plane, it was a Canadian built plane and thus, not covered by the import rules regarding US-made military hardware.

I also know that any aircraft here prior to the changes in those rules are grandfathered (which is why you can still find ex-military aircraft for sale), but I know they were trying to clamp down on the import before every Fortune-500 CEO started having his own fleet of supersonic Soviet fighter jets (but, according to the article I posted, those government clamp downs clearly have not been effective).