Got $20? Buy a MiG!

[KingYaba]

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/10-08-2009/108720-fighters-0

Russian officials from the Federal State Reserve Agency sold four interceptor aircraft for 612 rubles (about $20). The Police Department in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod filed investigation into the illegal sale of the four MiG-31 aircraft.

Recently this list has been supplemented with four MiG-31 interceptor fighter jets. The inspection, held in cooperation with Federal Security Service of Russia, showed that the quirky officials from the Federal State Reserve Agency had sold the four jets (only the hulls without engines and electronic equipment). The airframes were stored at the Sokol Aircraft Construction plant. The interceptor aircraft were purchased by Metalsnab (Metal Supplies). The firm, the police said, did not have a right to purchase military hardware.


Funny yet disturbing at the same time. No engines, though.

 

[runplaysleeprun]

Sounds like, from the name, they were just bought for scrap.

 

[irishgrizzly]

Would make for a great set piece in a Russian themed bar.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Nice. At least they got $20. Ours just sit and disintegrate in giant piles wrecking up the soil & water supply, happily costing us insane $ year after year.

As for your signature, the only people I've ever met that admired Texas were from there, and of those, only the ones that still lived there. I got to spend a few years in Houston, Austin & San Antonio, and there was all this secession blabbering. ...are you guys gonna secede already or what?

I'd get a kick out of seeing that fence moved to your northern border instead, just to see how long you last against Mexico. Especially when we pull our military assets back out of your territory. Not so boastful anymore, are ya.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Seeing as the MiG 25/31 series was made out of a kind of stainless steel, the scrap value is going to be quite a bit more than $20 per airframe.

I know you can occasionally buy demilitarized aircraft hulks from the US government for scrap. Usually the fuselage in front of the tail and just behind the cockpit have been cut. I know someone who bought an F-4 this way, and made a pretty penny on the scrap.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Seeing as the MiG 25/31 series was made out of a kind of stainless steel, the scrap value is going to be quite a bit more than $20 per airframe.

I know you can occasionally buy demilitarized aircraft hulks from the US government for scrap. Usually the fuselage in front of the tail and just behind the cockpit have been cut. I know someone who bought an F-4 this way, and made a pretty penny on the scrap.

Kind of sad when you think the 31 was built to fend off the SR-71... or was that the Mig25. Mig25 was Foxbat and 31 was Foxhound wasnt it?

...

Shut up boobs your full of crap. The Mig25 Foxbat was built as a deterrent for the SR-71 (Foxbat very fast).

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Kind of sad when you think the 31 was built to fend off the SR-71... or was that the Mig25. Mig25 was Foxbat and 31 was Foxhound wasnt it?

The 31 was an updated version of the 25. The 25 (Foxbat), was, as you said, originally designed to intercept and shoot down the A-12 (which became the SR-71). There is a lot of debate among aircraft buffs (well, dorks) about whether the Foxbat could have successfully intercepted the Blackbird. IIRC the MiG 25 topped out at something like Mach 2.8 or so, whereas the SR-71 is said to have been able to exceed Mach 3.

On an interesting tangent, the MiG 25 is the reason we have the F-15. As the story goes, a MiG 25 flying in the Middle East was clocked by the Israelis traveling at over Mach 3 (it turns out that this particular MiG had suffered from an engine overspeed and the engines were destroyed in the process) Faulty intelligence convinced the US that the Foxbat was not only a Mach 3 interceptor, but also an agile dogfighter as well.

As a result, the Air Force set about designing a cost-no-object air superiority fighter and came up with the F-15. When a Soviet pilot defected to Japan with his MiG 25 some time later, they discovered that the MiG 25 was much less sophisticated than they had thought. It's very heavy and uses powerful but crude engines originally designed for large missiles, and has an enormously powerful radar. The aircraft will overheat if it flies over Mach 2.8, although the engines are powerful enough to exceed that speed. The avionics used vacuum tubes rather than solid state electronics. It's a pure interceptor, not a dogfighter. The F-15 can only fly at around Mach 2.5 or so, but can also turn on a dime and accelerate faster, as well as carry more diverse weaponry. Even so, the F-15 has had a hard time shooting down the Foxbat in combat, even when flown by less-experienced Iraqi pilots.

Ah, and I had to check on the airframe composition. I thought it was stainless (nickel steel), but it's actually Inconel, which is a mostly nickle-chrome alloy. Even more valuable than stainless. A lot more than $20 for sure!

 

[MacBoobsPro]

The 31 was an updated version of the 25. The 25 (Foxbat), was, as you said, originally designed to intercept and shoot down the A-12 (which became the SR-71). There is a lot of debate among aircraft buffs (well, dorks) about whether the Foxbat could have successfully intercepted the Blackbird. IIRC the MiG 25 topped out at something like Mach 2.8 or so, whereas the SR-71 is said to have been able to exceed Mach 3.

On an interesting tangent, the MiG 25 is the reason we have the F-15. As the story goes, a MiG 25 flying in the Middle East was clocked by the Israelis traveling at over Mach 3 (it turns out that this particular MiG had suffered from an engine overspeed and the engines were destroyed in the process) Faulty intelligence convinced the US that the Foxbat was not only a Mach 3 interceptor, but also an agile dogfighter as well.

As a result, the Air Force set about designing a cost-no-object air superiority fighter and came up with the F-15. When a Soviet pilot defected to Japan with his MiG 25 some time later, they discovered that the MiG 25 was much less sophisticated than they had thought. It's very heavy and uses powerful but crude engines originally designed for large missiles, and has an enormously powerful radar. The avionics used vacuum tubes rather than solid state electronics. It's a pure interceptor, not a dogfighter. The F-15 can only fly at around Mach 2.5 or so, but can also turn on a dime and accelerate faster, as well as carry more diverse weaponry. Even so, the F-15 has had a very hard time shooting down the Foxbat in combat, even when flown by less-experienced Iraqi pilots.

Ah, and I had to check on the airframe composition. I thought it was stainless (nickel steel), but it's actually Inconel, which is a mostly nickle-chrome alloy. Even more valuable than stainless. A lot more than $20 for sure!

Is the Berkut (Su-47?) a prototype or in service? It looks pretty mental but I question its performance being so unconventional.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Is the Berkut (Su-47?) a prototype or in service? It looks pretty mental but I question its performance being so unconventional.

No, it was always intended as a technology demonstrator rather than a prototype for series production. Russia's best front line fighter continues to be variants of the basic SU-27, supplemented by MiG 29s.

 

[iShater]

No, it was always intended as a technology demonstrator rather than a prototype for series production. Russia's best front line fighter continues to be variants of the basic SU-27, supplemented by MiG 29s.

I got a couple of decent looking models of those, I should put them back up on my desk.

 

[Counterfit]

Ah, and I had to check on the airframe composition. I thought it was stainless (nickel steel), but it's actually Inconel, which is a mostly nickle-chrome alloy. Even more valuable than stainless. A lot more than $20 for sure!

Wow, that must have cost a buttload to manufacture. Inconel is not easy to work with...

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Wow, that must have cost a buttload to manufacture. Inconel is not easy to work with...

The Soviets used it because it had the heat-resistive properties they needed, but was easier to work with (apparently) than titanium. According to what I've heard, at the time the MiG 25 was designed, the Soviets simply did not have the metallurgical capability to mass-produce a titanium airframe. This seems reasonable, since the SR-71's titanium needs stretched US capabilities to the limit. Like I said, a lot more than 20 bucks!

 

[Consultant]

Sounds like someone took some under table payments.

I'll take one and make it into a bed:

star wars Y-Wing Bunk Bed
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/08/spoiled_dad_makes_son_ywing_bu.php