And 23 thousand bucks doesn't sound expensive

TOG@toil, ,

Interesting.

Myself and a colleague went along to one of the Farnborough Airshows,
about '93 or 'possibly '94 - it was the year that that Kamov unveiled
its Ka-50 attack helicopter - and there were a number of ex-Soviet
aircraft on display; Su-25, Mig-21, the huge Antonov transport among
others.

In the shelter of the Mig-21's wing, a chap was selling Russian/Soviet
badges, laid out on his jacket.

I walked up to him, and seeing one or two of these that looked
interesting, I said "How much?"

In a heavy Russian accent, he replied "Million dollar".

I kid you not.....

 

Alison Hopkins coughed up:

"Mi casa, sur casa"

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

<snort> I have a nice collection of Russian badges and hats, bought when we
went to East Germany just after the Wall came down. They cost a few DM. That
was the Grossenhein airshow where we got the joy ride in a Mil-8 for about a
tenner. The Russians were selling anything they could before they were
shipped back home. Good lads: they'd tell you almost anything about the
aircraft and were happily getting ratarsed with a few stray USAF people.

At one of the Farnboroughs at the time, a Russian lad was selling his
uniform. He got down to his underwear, at which point our MPs politely
covered him up with a spare jacket.

Ali

 

<checks post>

Ah, I didn't snip properly.

<closes eyes; wishes hard>

No, the damn footnotes are still there. Pretend they aren't.

 

How may times d'you reckon he did that?

 

There's a Spitfire on a plinth at RAF Uxbridge -- I'll wager it's
not airworthy, tho'...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Dr Ivan D. Reid coughed up:

IIRC the vast majority of display spitfires adorning the entrances to
various airbases have been plundered of useable spares for their flying
counterparts.

I wonder what happened to the one that used to be on the A40 entrance
to RAF Northolt years ago.

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

I'll bet it's plastic. A number were replaced with fakes because they
wanted to either strip them for spares or put them indoors before
rotting.

 

I'll bet. I think all real gate guardian Spits have been replaced by
fibreglas replicas.

 

I recall reading an account of a couple of East European Fishbeds
being met and escorted to the UK after the Cold War: apparently they
had no modern navigation aids at all. The RAF blokes were impressed at
how well they found their way around.[/QUOTE]

Look at the cockpit shots - it's not much more sophisticated than a W2
fighter.

 

The Older Gentleman says...

I once had an appointment with a company on an industrial estate in
Lowestoft, when I turned in between two rows of units I was confronted
by the sight of about 15 fully painted up Spitfires sitting there all
parked up neatly. Glorious it was, even if they were fibreglass ones
being built for film use. They looked very impreesive and appeared
authentic, even close up.

 

I was crewing at a balloon fiesta (Metz) about the same time, and the
first Russian balloonatics were there. Like all balloons and crews, they
had their pins, badges and stickers, and the scrum to buy and trade was
massive, as none of us had ever seen Russian balloon regalia before.

They were seling them at 5 francs. initially Next day the price went up
to 10F. Then 20F. Capitalism was unfamiliar to them, but God, they
caught on fast.

 

No I am referring to ex military supersonic jets

 

Well, I'm fairly sure that the owner of the Tornado I was talking about
up there was allowed to fly it. It's just that it was a tad expensive
to fly.

This is what the CAA has to say:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=393&pagetype=90&pageid=1475

 

It got moved behind the services block when they extended the carpark.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38219192@N00/259193199/in/set-72157594272469759/
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..87918../..23274.../..31893.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

I was pretty sure that private individuals could fly military jets.
IIRC, there are some things like Jet Provosts and Hawks in private
hands.

 

<squints> Is that you just below the cockpit?

 

If you look at the original size pic, you'll indeed see that it's our
national treasure.

 

Aye. Taken at the change of CO.

That's practically the whole unit. Except LAC Wegg, I notice.

There are:

2 Wg Cdrs; 6 Sqdn Ldrs; 9 Flt Lts; 5 Fl Offs; 2 Flt Sgts; 7 Sgts; 6
Cpls, and a grand total of 14 ORs[1] in that picture.

Top heavy?

[1] Including 3 LACs from my intake.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..87918../..23274.../..31893.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 WG*
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 PM#5
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 YTC#4 two#11
'^' RBR Clues: 00 Pts:0000 Miles:0000

 

Perhaps it was something peculiar about soviet kit. Is a hawk
supersonic?