Military Aircraft That Can Be Purchased By Civilians (Part 4)

We are back with another list of the military aircraft that can be purchased by civilians. This is a list of the Military aircraft that can be purchased by civilians (part 4) is consistent of the aircraft that have served extensively for their respective militaries during the World War II sortie ad Vietnam war.

Grumman F9F Panther

The aircraft named as F9F Panther is the first ever fighter jet that was developed by the now renowned Grumann aircraft manufacturing company. The aircraft was single seated and a single-engine aircraft with straight wings. It was one of the most capable fighters of its era with an ability to carry a wide range of weapons for both air and ground attacks. The aircraft was developed to be the first carrier-based aircraft for the US Navy.

The aircraft’s primary use was in the Vietnam War where it served for both the US Navy and the Marine Corps. In actuality, the Panther has also a long range of being the first in many ways. It was the first fighter jet of the US Navy to get the first kill in Vietnam. It was also the first fighter jet to be sued by the famed flight team named Blue Angels.

Although most of these aircraft were pulled from active duty back in the mid-50s, they were still sued for training purposes. While they are nowadays on sale to be purchased by civilians, there only exist 2 privately owned Grumman F9F in entire UDS region.

Grumman OV-1 Mohawk

The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk was developed back in the 50s in order to replace the Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. At that time, US Army was in need of an all-weather aircraft that could carry out both attack and observation missions. The aircraft in question also needed to have faster speed as well as a powerful armor as compared to the Bird Dog. The contract of such aircraft was won by Grumann and they presented the aircraft known as Grumman OV-1 Mohawk. The aircraft proved itself to be one of a kind with being the first turboprop aircraft of the US Army.

The aircraft was equipped with a floor made of aluminum alloys as well as had bulletproof windows that made it impervious to small arms. With its oversized finned tail as well as its mounted engines, the aircraft had superb maneuverability. Only one variant of the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk came with an internal camera as well as a SLAR radar system that allowed it to scan the ground below it and provide the tracking information that no aircraft at that time could provide. The aircraft retired officially from the service of US Army back in 1996. These days if someone has enough funds and contacts and even are civilians, then they can purchase one of these Grumman OV-1 Mohawks.

Douglas DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 is the aircraft that changed the course of the commercial air travel with its advent. This was a cargo and a transport aircraft that was able to carry a maximum of 32 passengers at a time or a cargo weight of about 6000 pounds for a range of 1500 miles without refueling.

Although the production line for the Douglas DC-3s closed down back in 1942, there are still hundreds of these aircraft still available in operational capability. Even with such a long time of being out of service and still being operational, it is the testament of the aircraft’s superior quality and the engineering of its creators.

The DC-3 was reduced to ake a variant named as C-41 which served the VIP transport for the military officials. The C-41 was often sued by the Secretary of War. In the past recent years, many of these aircraft have been sold with the last being sold for a sum of about 250,000 dollars.

Supermarine Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most manufactured aircraft by the British during the era of WWII. It was also the only aircraft that was in continuous production line throughout World War 2. Many variants of this Supermarine Spitfire were manufactured with tweaks made in their wing designs. Still, nearly 50 of these esteemed Supermarine Spitfires remain able to fly in the skies.

The aircraft is considered to be the most important aircraft in World War II as it was the fighter plane that helped Allied forces to win the Battle of Britain.

Nowadays, these fighter planes are available for purchase by civilians. In a recent auction, one Supermarine Spitfire sold for a sum of 2.5 million Euros which amounts to nearly 3 million dollars.

Vought F4U Corsair

The F4U Corsair is an aircraft that is based on any of the three manufacturers; Vought, Chance, and Goodyear. The first fleet of the Vought F4U Corsairs was delivered for service to US Navy back in 1942 and they were also responsible to help turn the situation of the war for the Allied Forces in the Pacific Theater. The major success of the Vought F4U Corsair was against the Japanese Zero fighters during eh air-to-air combat missions.

Nearly 12000 of these America built aircraft were manufactured and nowadays only an estimated 50 of them remain throughout the USA. Later the Vought F4U Corsair was also built under the license of Goodyear and estimated the sum of a single Goodyear FG-1D Corsair is about 4.1 million dollars.

Hawker Sea Fury

The Hawker Sea Fury is the very last propeller-driven fighter plane to be used by the Royal Navy. The aircraft mostly saw the action during the Korean War. Although the initial plan was t introduce these aircraft during eh World War II but by the time it arrived, the war had already concluded. The Hawker Sea Fury was also used by the Royal Navy during the invasion of Bay of Pigs back in 1961.

The aircraft was also exported to many other world militaries. It entered the service back in 1947 and officially retired from the last military back in 1968. Many nations that flew it in their air forces include Pakistan, Canada, UK, and Australia. The price of a single Hawker Sea Fury with the crown of being “Fastest Sea Fury Ever” back in 2006 was an estimated 750,000 dollars.