Anybody want to buy an F18 Blue Angel?

Something stinks about that. The only reason I can think of it is so cheap is becuase its in pieces I guees and needs to be assembled?

 

This looks legitimate and would not be the first fighter jet in private hands.

One of my customers just bought a Czech L-39 for $ 450K USD...........totally refurbished with a glass cockpit...etc.....etc.....

I think however that being in pieces at a price of $ 1 MM USD you'd have to have a pretty big checkbook to get this thing flyable again......multiple millions I would guess......if it's even permissible.

Might make a nice static display though.

 

Civilians can not buy F18's yet as far as i know. Infact, i dont even think some countries can buy it. Im not sure if this one is a superhornet, because i dont know if thats what the navy flight demonstation team flies. Also, why are there no pictures of it?
Seems odd to me. The gas turbines alone are worth a few million each, and there are two zero hour ones. If you think your ferrari is expensive to service, try paying a few hundred thousand for a service on just one of the engines.
This guy goes from selling light switches and camera lenses to selling F18's. seems odd to me. It could be totally legit though.

 

It's not the Super Hornet....it's an FA-18 out of the first block.

 

Something is not quite right about this.
That price is way too low, and the hours look a bit low to me for that age airplane. The 'has an N-number' statement is interesting. The plane could be bent and unflyable, suitable for static only.

 

He wants $10 million for this? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2458674216&category=26442

 

Why would the "N" number be interesting? after all,all US registered aircraft(apart from experimental&Military)have one,and I think it would be fair to say that this one has been struck of the military register.

 

I wonder how fast my daily commute would be? I could just land it on GA 400.

 

Wouldnt surprise me if its legit. Ive seen Mig-29s in flyable conditions with a spares package for sale for $600K.

If this thing has been allowed into private ownership.... it will surely take an FAA waiver to gain an airworthy certificate. The pilot will also have to be type certified.... and unless your an ex-Navy F18 pilot that will be a neat trick.

If you bought it for $1.2 million.... and spent another $200K getting it together and flying.... it would still not be cheap. It would burn hundreds of gallons an hour of jet fuel.... It would also need 3 hours of maintenance for every hour flown. You would need a full time crew, trained on the F18. Your not going to buy spare parts from Walmart and they are going to cost a fortune. All of these realities are what make the entry price into a hot, modern jet fighter often so cheap. Buying it is only the beginning of cash sucking black hole!

Most third world nations could not afford to operate this thing. If your Bill Gates.... sign up by all means! If your not.... keep on dreaming.


Terry

 

Terry,

Actually it's not Bill Gates, but Larry Ellison you should be using as an example. Larry bought a MIG 29 (maybe a 27??) and when asked why he bought it he replied, "......so I can bomb Bill Gates new estate" referring to Gates' 30+ million estate on some lake in Washington.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

Yes - the N number is the FAA 'registration' number. Military operated aircraft do not require one; Non-flying aircraft do not require one. Flying aircraft do not require one, unless they want to (legally) fly in this country. The history question to me is interesting: has it ever flown under its N-number, or did they just get one for it thinking it would fly again (or lead people to think it could)? Flyers also requires an airworthiness certificate - would be interesting to see how they (FAA) would do that. Will have to check, but if this airplane is not de-milled (i.e. has operational weapons systems) it is illegal to fly in this country. TSpringer already brought up type certification requirements, which significantly narrow the field of potential (legal) pilots.

The price is what is interesting -the engines and avionics alone....
I could be wrong, but I think this plane is a long way from flying, if ever. Nice static for a museum. Perhaps this is one of those planes caught up in the Naval Av Museum trading scandal a few years ago - that seems to be a likely avenue.

Did I mention insurance? I bet it would be uninsurable.

 

I feel your pain. I live right outside of CAFB. A lot of the pilots rent houses in my neighborhood. They like to do fly-byes to impress their live-in girlfriends/wives and kid(s).

To top it off their is a guy with a MiG that lives near by. Technically, it belongs to his corporation. He stores it next to his other corporate jet, A Lear. He has a nice runway on the grounds.

I have not heard him much since the no fly zone around the base has gotten bigger. I wonder if he got grounded. The FAA should have pulled his ticket along time ago.

Oddly enough, Eurocopter has a plant here and yet only one corporation has a helicopter, a Skikorsky.

 

Looks like it is SOLD for US $1,075,000.00 -- 1 bidder purchased it using the "Buy-It-Now" feature!!

 

It also looks like he hasn't paid a dime yet!

 

Snj5, what scandal at the Navy Air Museum? My Dad's old submarine hunter used to be there, but wasn't last time I checked. Did somebody steal a bunch of planes? My Dad died a while back, and I can't get my Mother to keep me informed.

Just curious, DrTax

 

Yeah Mr. Elison is amazing, I heard (crazy grapevine type stuff here, and an article in MotorYachts or something) that he is trying to convert an old WWII aircraft carrier into his own private yacht! If thats true... I think he just became my new hero.

As far as thrills for money is concerned... IMO, the F18 or any fighter for that matter is a bang for the buck! Historic racecars and amazing boats cost about the same and up. You mentioned the running costs etc but I don't see how you can have the desposible cash for the toy and not have a few hundred grand , pehaps a million or two, laying around to run it. Can't be a bad life though with toys like these!

 

WOW!! No wthats better than a Ferrari & would even kick the snot out of a Ferrari F1 . I'd love to have 1 of those babies to play with

 

Dr T,
it's been about 10 years and my memory is sketchy, but the Museum was getting pretty loose on the rules on how they traded for airplanes, showing favoritism and letting some pretty important ($$) planes go essentially trading way below value for junk. the rule was they could not sell a plane, but you could open auction (lots of scrutiny) or trade for it (much less oversight); same at AF museum. Example: trade a B-17 turret for a mothballed T-34. One example I think I remember is that a company ( a 'friend' of somebody on the museum staff ) got a flyable C-130 for commercial use in a trade for parts worth pretty close to nothing in comparison. Even as an AF guy, I heard a little as a member of the Museum living in Fla and was connected with some of the restoration folks, having restored a Navy plane myself (see avatar). It was also covered in the popular press (Pensacola) and the Warbird mags. Then I moved to Ramstein and lost touch. Sorry don't remember much more. What plane did your Dad fly? P-3? I'm sure he had some great stories.
best

 

The auction made CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/02/17/jet.fighter.ap/index.html

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3079149024
Whoever buys the F-18 should buy this mig to park across the hanger from it.

 

They relisted the F18 (double price btw):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3079057375

 

By the way, this is the actual plane. Below is some info I recieved, but can not assure it's accuracy.

"It turns out that the F-18 aircraft for sale on eBay was obtained at a scrap auction, because the government officials failed to cut up the parts and render the aircraft unflyable. An aircraft collector (Ken Bryant of Air Capitol Warbirds Inc., in Wichita, Kansas) bid 25 cents a pound, and scared away the usual gang of scrap dealers that were expecting to pick up the aircraft for a less than a nickel a pound. The aircraft went through several owners before the current one (via broker Landa and Associates of Arlington, Washington), put it up for auction on eBay. The current owner says the aircraft can be restored to flying condition for $9 million. A meeting with government officials (including representatives from the State Department, the Department of Defense and the FBI) left the owner in legal possession of his aircraft.

But he had to promise not to sell it to anyone but Americans, and to keep the F-18 in the United States. The FBI advised that the aircraft not be sold at all. The eBay auction ended without a sale, mainly because no one could come up with the cash (at least one check bounced.) The owner is now tying to sell it directly (via the broker). Given the publicity he has gotten, that would be possible.

There is still a risk that the government might decide to sue to get the aircraft back. Anyone who does get it flying again will have to spend at least 40,000 a month on maintenance. And that's only if the aircraft is only flown 2-3 hours a month."