Military Aircraft That Can Be Purchased By Civilians (Part 3)
We present another list of the famed military aircraft that were once used by the world militaries. Some of these aircraft were used as the training aircraft while others were used for performing multiple roles as the bomber, reconnaissance or fighter aircraft.
Some of these aircraft were the result of the cooperation between many of the world’s mighty military powers and served their roles well. After decades of the service, these aircraft were then put p for sale to be purchased by ordinary civilians.
With this being said, enjoy our list of military aircraft that can be purchased by civilians (part 3)
Dassault Alpha Jet
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is another joint product which was manufactured due to the efforts of Germany and France. Both of these countries joined hands for creating a jet to fulfill 2 different roles. France had in mind to use it as a training aircraft while Germany needed the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet for use in the light attack missions.
The model for France was named as Alpha Jet E while the model for Germany was named as Alpha Jet A. France was very satisfied with the role they had intended from this aircraft but still, some pilots complained that the aircraft had maneuverability issues.
As for Germany, they soon started to sell their fleet of ‘Alpha Jet A’ back in the 90s to most of the world militaries as well as civilians. Four of these ‘German Alpha Jet As’ were purchased by the aerial demonstration groups The Flying Bulls which sues it on a regular basis in their demonstrations.
The aircraft with raging popularity has been available for purchase for a sum of about 1 million dollars.
Lockheed T-33 “T-Bird”
With the creation of the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, a lot of changes came for the pilots of USAF. They were used to propeller-driven aircraft and these new aircraft had none of it. Pilots had trouble in landing and takeoffs and the propeller-driven ones were not at all training these pilots effectively. So in order to train the pilots, USAF came up with the design of elongating the P-80’s fuselage section for adding another seat. The result of this redesign was an aircraft known now as Lockheed T-33 “T-Bird” or also known as T-33 Shooting Star which became the first ever jet fighter trainer for USAF.
Only 1700 of these Lockheed T-33 “T-Birds” were manufactured but on a larger scale of the world, nearly 7000 of these fighter jets were manufactured and sold to various world militaries. Many of these aircraft are still in use of militaries and 50 of them are in private collections.
The price of a recently sold Lockheed T-33 “T-Bird” was about 100000 dollars.
Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 is the result of the efforts of the Hawker Siddeley aircraft company which developed it for the RAF back in the 60s. At that time, there were tests being carried out on V/STOL (vertical/short take-off lading) and the first ever successful aircraft that carried out this concept was the Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3.
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.3 was a single engine and a single seat jet fighter with a length of 45 feet and a wingspan of 25 feet. It was powered by a single Rolls Royce Pegasus 103 turbofan engine. The aircraft used the puffer jet made use of the engine’s bleed air which was mounted in the nose, tail, and wingtips to carry out its vertical flight.
The aircraft with its V/STOL ability was able to take off or and on short runways and proved itself to be highly effective in the Falklands War. The aircraft was formally retired from the RAF’s service back in 2011 and these days many of them can be seen available for purchase by civilians in the aviation market.
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is the aircraft which was designed to replace the aging A-1 Skyraider that was in use of US Navy. The chief designer of the Douglas Aircraft on this project was Ed Heinemann who developed the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk to be a small In size and light in weight aircraft which was highly effective in maneuverability. The avionics of the aircraft were installed in the nose section while the engine was placed in the fuselage and fuel section under the wings.
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was nicknamed as the “Heinemann’s Hot Rod” due to its compact size. US Navy made use of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk during the Korean War and they were also delivered to the US Marine Corps. These army sections used at least 2 of these Douglas A-4 Skyhawks for their light attack missions in each of their squadrons. It was also the first aircraft that presented the buddy air refueling system.
The aircraft is still in use of many world militaries and is also available for purchase by many civilian buyers.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG is just like the Sukhoi Su-27 and was developed by the Soviet Union for being an air superiority aircraft to keep up with the West’s air superiority fighter jet F-16. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG is one of the largest fighter jets with a size of 57 feet in length and a wingspan of nearly 37 feet. The aircraft had in its 2 turbofan engines which allow it to have a top speed of Mach 2.25 which allowed it to be capable of performing many roles and most importantly the air-to-air roles.
The aircraft also had precision air-to-surface strike capability. With the Soviet Union dissolving, many of its former members had numerous aircraft lying in storage. These nations decided to export them to other 30 nations across the world with India being the largest importer of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 29.
As for the USA, they also bought a small fleet o the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 29 from Moldova in order to better understand the capabilities of the MiG. Nowadays, these aircraft are also available for civilian sale and purchase and single one of these Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 29s can be bought for a sum of 5 million dollars.
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