The Everett Historic Flight Foundation’s former Ukranian MiG-29 fighter takes off on Jan. 23, 2011 from Arlington Municipal Airport. (Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Historic Flight Foundation)
Posted on 03/17/2011 6:17:16 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Paul Allen buys restored MiG
Russian-made jet carefully restored, flown over county
By Debra Smith, Herald Writer
EVERETT -- Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is the new owner of a restored Russian-made fighter jet.
Vulcan Warbirds Inc., a corporation associated with Allen, closed the sale on the MiG-29 on March 9.
The jet is temporarily on display at Allen's Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field.
As soon as the weather is right, paperwork is completed and a qualified pilot can travel to the area, the jet will be flown to an undisclosed location, said Liz Davidson, manager of the collection.
The MiG-29 is the same former Ukrainian air force jet that entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast John Sessions purchased and painstakingly restored with Morgan Aircraft Restorations in Arlington.
The Herald chronicled the yearslong project and first flight of the iconic Russian warbird over Snohomish County in Feb. 6 story.
"I think it's fair to say the purchaser is Vulcan Warbirds and behind all that is Paul Allen," Sessions said. "They've been interested in a MiG-29 for a long time."
Allen followed the progress of the jet through its restoration and recent test flights. Those test flights resulted in "no squawk" -- in other words, nothing needed to be repaired, Sessions said.
The Flying Heritage Collection filed a lien in 2009 on the aircraft through the Federal Aviation Administration so they would know if it was sold to someone else, Davidson said.
Allen started collecting aircraft in 1998 and the collection's museum includes mainly World War II planes. He became interested in MiG-29s around 2002, when it became possible for private citizens to purchase them on the open market, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldnet.com ...
The Everett Historic Flight Foundation’s former Ukranian MiG-29 fighter takes off on Jan. 23, 2011 from Arlington Municipal Airport. (Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Historic Flight Foundation)
I wonder what Paul Allen’s take is on the Second Amendment for us little people?
Is that the Soviet attempt at an F-14?
It’s apparently very, very good to be rich.
“I’ll see you the yacht, and raise you 2 Helicopter ports and a submarine”
You GOTTA see the ‘barge’ he uses for puttering around in. There is very little I wouldn’t give for a lifestyle like that. Makes James Bond look like a pauper.
www.dieselduck.ca/images/power%20points/MY%20Octopus.pdf
If I had Paul’s money. I would own and fly one myself!
Us little people can fly in one for as low as $1,490.
http://www.flymig.com/packages/MiG-23.flight.htm
Much smaller aircraft, similar to our F-16.
He plans on strafing Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?LOL!
In collage I had a professor who loved to say “ doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, it’s always nice to have money”
Looks like he was right
I’m thinking I read somewhere our F-15 Eagle was a MIG knockoff.
He should have gotten a restored P-51 or some neat WWII US fighter. Unless he has some of those already.
Good luck buying missiles for it.
Every time a Windows blue screen rings, a lucky elitist gets his wings.
Vietnam-era plane, like an F-4. I heard you can get MiG-29 ride for around $10,000.
Saw one up close at an air show back in the 90’s. Very beautiful bird that could pull some interesting aerobatics. Soviet aircraft designs always had a certain aesthetic that set them apart from what we, the British, the French, and the Swedes came up with.
F-15 Eagleski
Less than halfway down the page linked above:
MiG-23 Flight with Izmailovo Hotel accommodations in Moscow US$1,490
I think they had their hits and misses. This is a beautiful bird, so is the Sukhoi of the same generation. It's quite a bit different than the MiG-25's concept of "Let's slap a cockpit and wings onto a couple really big engines." But even that is more elegant than the butt-ugly MiG-23.
Maybe they just had some different designers in the Vietnam era, because I've seen a MiG-15 up close, and it looks very nice.
Sounds cool to me.
But, if I were a pilot, I’d want an AN-2 Colt... Biplane, big radial, short field performance, what’s not to love?
I wonder if they make an amphibian / float plane version?
You should get your money back from your collage...
Buying a MiG-29 to Paul Allen is like the average person buying a cheeseburger.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.