Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: US Posession of Foreign A/C Message-ID: <1990Aug28.043312.823@cbnews.att.com> Date: 28 Aug 90 04:33:12 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 35 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Mary Shafer Dean Tabor (sxdjt@acad3.fai.alaska.edu) writes: >Has there ever been any public acknowledgement of the US "owning" aircraft from >other governments, ie; the Soviet Union? I am 99.99% positive that we have at >least one (I *thought* I saw something, but...) and logic would only say that >we must have more floating around somewhere, akin to the captured Zeroes and >various German planes in WWII. There were a number of MiGs flying here at Edwards AFB in the late 60s and early 70s--"souvenirs" of the Israeli war in 67. They flew out of North Base and were, of course, classified, but they looked odd and were easily noticed and identified. There was also a big scandal a couple of years ago, when a USAF general was killed flying a MiG. He ejected out of the envelope (supersonic) and was killed. The scandal entailed his being old and a general officer and flying a single-seat plane. (There's an age limit and a rank limit on flying without an IP, mostly based on lack of currancy.) The Taiwanese government has, I understand, a standing reward for pilots who defect from the People's Republic, bringing their planes with them. The reward is in ounces of gold, based on the aircraft type. Lots for the latest fighter, little for the ageing DC-3 knockoff. I'm sure we get at least a look at those. -- Mary Shafer shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA "A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all"--Unknown US fighter pilot