MiG-23 Flying in America

Sorry to go off thread, but in relation to the last posting, was it true that when ‘The Right Stuff’ was filmed, circa 1983, no flying F-104’s were available in the USA and an F-104G had to be borrowed off the Luftwaffe, who were on exercise in the US, in order to film Yeagers NF-104 altitude attempt.
Back to Mig-23’s, has one ever flown at an airshow in the UK, I notice a picture of one being escorted by RAF Phantoms in the ‘Smokey Jets’ thread, where was he off to then.
Personally, I’ve seen few former Soviet fighters flying in the UK, the DX Mig 15, a stunning display by Hungarian Mig 21’s at Fairford many years ago, various Mig 29’s, the Russian Knights flying Fulcrums at Finningley and an unforgettable week of Polish Sukhoi air combat affiliation at Coltishall when I was on holiday nearby at the same time.

Sorry about the quality, my missus couldn’t cope with the noise when she took the picture, mind you, nor could anyone else, you should see my video footage go mental when their reheat kicks in.

J Boyle,

I agree that does seem strange. I guess that it’s mostly a matter of economics. There have been quite a few MiG 15’s, 17’s, 19’s, 21’s, and 23’s available from many of the former Soviet states over the last 20 years or so, and often at a very good price. The U.S. on the other hand, often de-milled and/or scrapped their aircraft or sent them to museums, and there just weren’t as many available to buy. When they were for sale, I think they were substantially more expensive to buy and restore. I’m curious as to how many F-86 Sabre’s currently flying even came directly from the U.S. inventory. Most of them that I have seen were purchased from Canada or other U.S. allies, even if they did serve with the U.S. originally. I still remember Darryl Greenamyer building his F-104 Starfighter from de-milled pieces of several aircraft in the 1970’s, and up until that point I can’t recall any U.S. jets more powerful than a T-Bird in civilian hands. Things are a little different now.

Newforest,

Sorry about the picture link. I tried to follow the directions in the FAQ for posting pics, but when I do all I got was the link instead of the picture or a thumbnail. The link works for me but I suppose that’s because I uploaded the picture. If anyone can direct me to more specific instructions or tell me what I might have done wrong I will correct it. I did upload the picture and it is under the 300k limit for jpeg’s, but obviously I didn’t do something right. Thanks.

R/

Dave

With more MiGs flying than American/allied combat jets in the U.S….what’s wrong with that picture?

Keypublishing link not working.;)

There are 4 or 5 MiG-23’s registered in the U.S. these days, depending on which database you check.

There are 2 registered to Warbirds of Delaware, and there are pictures and video at their website: http://www.warbirdsofdelaware.com/html/mig-23.html

They have N51734 and N5106E based at New Castle Airport (ILG) and the site says N51734 is available for purchase. The lease rate is $6,800.00 per hour dry!

The Texas MiG-23 is N923UB and is registered to MiG 23UB #22 LLC of Dallas, Texas. It is serial # A1037622.

The 2 MiG-23’s in Sarasota, Florida are N223ML and N23UB, and were bought by Doug Morgan from the former Czechoslovakia several years ago and shipped to the U.S. for restoration and sale. There is a short article and video about them here:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/Sarasota_man_buys_rebuilds_MiG_fighter_jets

I first saw them at the Sarasota Airport in December of 2006 and was told they had recently completed engine runs. I believe some ex Czech technicians had been there to assist in the overhauls.

This is what they looked like on December 23rd, 2006, sitting outside at SRQ.

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=169971&stc=1&d=1235493103

There were two ex Czech ones in Florida and I think there is one flyable one in California. There were some pictures the other year of one at an airshow.

there are a few that are airworthy and one that is being restored to airworthy. The one you are talking about is the only one that flies regularly I think. I seem to remember it being for sale?