Can you imagine how cool it would be to pull up on the ramp in that thing! Of course, the cost of an annual could be a little pricey. . Image Unavailable, Please Login
It will probably take a ton of money to get it up in the air again let alone maintain that thing. Makes an F50 look cheap.
Airworthy and US licensed examples are under $100K USD.......... http://www.controller.com/list/list.aspx?ETID=1&catid=10072&Manu=MIKOYAN&setype=1
Certification on the type will cost you more than the plane and first year's maintenance. Still, if you've got the loose cash, there isn't a better way to get some schwing at your local airport.
I'd get it to put in my driveway just to piss my neighbors off. Or take to the local dragstrip for import racing.
One of my co-workers has a MiG-17 that he flies regularly. The initial acquisition cost of a MiG (of any model) is usually very cheap. Maintaining a MiG in flyable condition, paying for the gas, and getting the blessing of the FAA to fly it, make owning a Bugatti Veyron seem like a bargain.
That is one mighty fine looking plane. However, there are so many other things that can make a man happy that does not require an airstrip, hangar, gas, a license, or making it on the FBI most closely watched list examples include: BMW Z4 Steyr AUG A yacht Playboy mansion one year exclusive pass
Where does one even begin for this part? What is the process? Also, being a single-seat aircraft, how do you go about getting your training/certification? I bet that first time, after your complete all your training, that you actually strap yourself in and realize you are all on your own is quite a rush.
Nathan...... Right here for example......there are other places as well. http://www.jetwarbird.com/training.html Potentially 1,000 hours at $2,450 an hour if you had no jet experience for example ($2.45 MM in total and I am sure a better discount could be negotiated)........but, as stated, you must have previous jet time to qualify for this particular FAA certification program..... I have a client with a hangar full of L-39's (amongst other civilian aircraft) and a couple of ex-Romanian AF techs on the payroll........he was looking at a multiple surplus MiG-29 purchase ($1MM each plus recon costs) but decided against it because, even as the jets were cheap, everything else added up pretty quickly, and while he can afford it, he felt it wasn't worth the fun factor.
I think that's probably the easiest and certainly the cheapest thing associated with this aircraft. Other than the initial purchase price, of course.
I would guess, if anybody wanted to fly a jet warbird on a budget, it might be a good idea to base the aircraft in a Central American country, with far less red tape. The project will never get off the ground in the U.S., if you do not have a lot of jet hours. The FAA would require a PIC, to have significant jet time, before you can solo in a Mig-21 or any other hi-performance jet warbird. I cannot remember, if it is 500 or 1,000 hours of jet time to meet the miniumum requirements for PIC, in a hi-performance warbird jet ? I read years ago, where a civilian pilot of a Mig claimed, you needed buckets of money, to operate this type of aircraft. The initial price of the aircraft, is not the big expense.
Some of those old MIGs look like they are held together with spit and scotch tape. I'd sure hate to crash in one of those things!!!
My co-worker with the MiG-17 told me one time that he budgets $5,000 per hour to fly the MiG and he keeps a factory trained MiG mechanic from Poland on his payroll.
I've seen some scooters (A-4's) available, can I assume that's as expensive to maintain and fly as the Mig?
If not more so...I can't speak from experience, but I seem to remember being told A-4s are pretty pricey to keep in the air I'm pretty disappointed...I misunderstood the training requirements. I thought you had to have 1,000/500PIC hours total time to BEGIN training for the warbird. Oh well. Really, though, how many people are out there who posses that kind of disposable income and a desire to train that hard for something that will only ever be a hobby?? I wouldn't want to operate a jet warbird school!!
