legal to fly?

Hi folks.

I’m posting this as the result of one of those “in the pub” conversations.

A friend has flogged a house and we were discussing the best ways of getting rid of the cash. As the night progressed, the ideas got wilder and wilder.

The culmination of this line of thought was to blow the cash on an old jet-trainer, something like an A-4 Skyhawk or a Folland Gnat.

Anyway, wonderful though the thought is, it isn’t really what I want to ask.
What I really want to know is;

What laws specifically control what aircraft a civilian can or cannot purchase and fly?

I’d guess that there are 2 separate issues here. Firstly if it’s legal to own the aircraft and, secondly, if it’s possible for a civilian pilot to be rated for the aircraft.

The extent of my knowledge on this subject is that I seem to recall reading, in Flypast, a couple of years ago, that a bunch of Brit’s were forced to pass up the opportunity to buy an ex-saudi AF Phantom because it was “illegal” to own in the UK.

on the other hand, I also recall that a bunch of Brits DID manage to import a german F-104 Starfighter. I have no idea if it ever flew though, or if it was for static display.

I can’t imagine that I could drive across to Moscow with a suitcase full of money and an ex-RAF pilot and buy myself a MIG 29 to fly home in. There must be some laws dictating what aircraft can be flown by civilians?

Oh, one last point is that we’ll asume that any military avionics and weapons systems have been removed.

So, can anybody tell me the law degarding this, or where, on the net, I can see the laws for myself?
Are these laws international or could an American, for example, buy that Phantom that a Brit’ could not?

Incidentally, I don’t think there is any serious danger of my friend buying a trainer, this is just something that has now caught my interest.

Thanks for any help.