Well I was on my way to get my flight instruction done and lo and behold look what was waiting to leave. It is the Ferrari of the sky. Way cool. Oh yeah This was at KSFB in Sanford Florida. Photos with an elph s400 on lowest setting. thad brown Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hey thats awesome! You are right burnout, its an L-39 im pretty sure. It is indeed the Ferrari of the sky For a relatively reasonable price, you can pick one up and use it as your private jet! They are quite fast and a bit more fun to fly than Cessnas Thanks for the pictures! I love to see those things flying.
Are you referring to private planes or commercial? Either way both are great with their own advantages.
i was more on the topic of private.also are you into military aircraft like the old corsairs or anything.
The initial cost may be low but maintanence requires cubic dollars. And then you have to deal with regulations. I don't have the time to look it up right now but Art has made some posts on the subject. A good friend tells me that Bill Gates owned an F-5 for a while and hired test pilots at Edwards AFB to give him supersonic rides.
That's an L39C. You can get them for about 250 - 350k. Entrance exam is cheap. If you fly it, figure about 750/hour, maybe 1000. Problem is that the feds tightened up the requirements for their operation because the F16s had difficulty in getting to them in what was perceived as an emergency, so the use of such a plane has been restricted, generally to with 50 - 100 miles of your home base. In addition to the flight restrictions, you must get what is called a letter of authorization. That allows you to fly the plane, but limits the use. You must show proficience in the flying of the plane, and I believe sufficient economics to operate it (they justify that on the safety issue). You can get real deals on these obsolte Soviet style planes, but the cost of operation is significant. You can buy current Soviet planes, Su-35s are offered for sale, as are Mig 29s (I'm told that Ellison wanted an F18, couldn't get it, bought a 29 instead). The initial price is low, but the cost of operation is ball breaking. Myself and some friends were going to buy one, but when the restrictions went in and the cost went up, we decided to pass. Art
Art is on target, and I'll just add that those LOAs have turbojet PIC minimum times that are mountainous for a part time pilot to get over unless with pro or mil background. The privately owned F86 plowing into the Swenson's Ice Cream store a few years ago certainly got the insurance companies and the FAA's attention. And like he said, the running costs are astronomical. Like I always said, a T-6'll do almost everything that plane will, just 25000 feet lower and 300 mph slower, and at only 30 gph. And with an open canopy and better sound.
hey jordan. if you were actually interested i have your barf bags and airbus a340-300 safety card (747-400 one is identical, even in the airbus the example is a 747!). let me know by pm, im, email whatever...