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| Passion Investments: Aviation |
From Russia With Love
Douglas McWhirter
07/01/2005
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Not all of the MiGs
imported in the 1990s made it back into the air. In fact, Ball says, most ended
up in museums. “Probably 15 were restored and flown, and only four or five have
spent time on the air show circuit. There were also a couple that crashed, due
to pilot error.” Given that the MiG-17 is out of production and most nations
that flew it have either sold their fleets or scrapped them, would-be collectors
may have a difficult time acquiring one. The few jets that are airworthy do not
come on the market often. Yet, Redick says, there are still a few crated models
available. “The price range for a flyable MiG-17 that is well-maintained is
$120,000 to $150,000,” he adds. “You can also buy them disassembled in crates in
the $30,000 range, but by the time you take them out of the box and restore
them, you can spend upwards of $600,000.” The kind of ground, up restorations
these aircraft generally require take anywhere from eight months to four years,
depending on the condition of the plane.
Old Soldiers
In the current vintage military aircraft market, Soviet jets
do not command prices comparable to those of WWII-era planes, nor do they
appreciate at a similar rate. For example, in the mid-1980s, collectors could
purchase a restored Army Air Corps P-51 Mustang for as low as $100,000. “There
is a real nostalgia for propeller craft right now. Today, that aircraft is worth
$1.5 to $1.8 million,” Ball says. “But jets are next.”
While the
financial outlay associated with MiG ownership may give pause to even the most
enthusiastic collector, there are ways to manage costs. For example, owners of
vintage military aircraft can loan their planes to air museums and receive a tax
benefit. Reesman and Ball fly on the air show circuit, and both have corporate
sponsors: Red Bull Energy Drinks sponsors Reesman, while Marathon Battery and
Goodyear Tires, among others, sponsor Ball. Flying in air shows with sponsors,
says Ball, helps defray the considerable operation, maintenance and storage
costs of aircraft ownership.
Reesman stores his MiG in a cavernous hangar
that he and his wife, Julie, rent at the former Norton Air Force Base in San
Bernardino, Calif. Norton, like the MiG-17 now housed there, was constructed
decades ago as a defense against threats that no longer exist. The Air Force
closed it in 1994, the same year that Reesman bought his plane from
Dubaj.
From this location, Bill and Julie Reesman depart 10 times a year to
fly in air shows all over the United States. “To buy one of these fantastic
airplanes and keep it locked up in a hangar for your own pleasure would be a
dastardly deed,” Reesman chuckles. “We like to take it out and share it with
others.” But for this former fighter pilot, the MiG-17 has a much more personal
value, one that overwhelms any consideration of investment costs or, for that
matter, the sincere pleasure he gets from sharing his plane with others. As he
taxis down an empty runway toward the hangar at Norton, he says, “When I was
young and in the Air Force, it was the happiest time of my life. Now, in my
retirement, I’m lucky enough to own a plane like this and to recapture that
time. What could be better?”
Douglas McWhirter is a features editor for Worth. dougm@worth.com
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