Douglas McWhirter
07/01/2005
In the skies above Southern California, Bill Reesman points the nose of a 50-year-old, Chinese-built MiG-17 down toward the snowcapped peaks of the San Bernardino Mountains. The restored, fire engine-red war bird, one of a breed of Soviet-designed military aircraft that once terrorized American pilots over Indochina, screams into a 6G loop powered by its earsplitting turbojet. Reesman pulls back on the stick and the MiG catapults skyward.
 |
| A MIG-17 owned by Randy Ball. |
Indeed, for Reesman and a handful of other enthusiasts, the MiG-17’s remarkable place in aviation history makes it a highly desirable collector aircraft. The deadly reputation the jet and its pilots forged in dogfights against the American F-100 Super Sabre and the F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War prompted the Navy to establish its fabled Top Gun program to better prepare pilots for combat.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, roughly 30 MiG-17s have found comfortable retirement in air shows, museums and in the hangars of private collectors around the United States. A few are in mint flying condition, while others are suited only for display. Like the cannons at Shiloh and Gettysburg, these planes are now primitive military artifacts that serve as reminders of power struggles that are fading in the world’s memory.
| VALUE JUDGMENT Once the frontline attack fighter for more than 30 nations, the Soviet-designed MiG-17 jet is, for many collectors, a prized possession. In the vintage military aircraft market, this fierce veteran of the Vietnam War does not command prices comparable to more popular WWII-era planes, but its role in aviation history—and its scarcity—lend it a promising investment potential. |
The Soviet Union’s Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau built the MiG-17 fighter as a replacement for the rather primitive MiG-15 of the Korean War era. With its distinctive snub nose, swept wings and heavy armament, the MiG-17 went into production in 1951, and within a few years became the workhorse of nearly 30 air forces worldwide. “It was a very simple aircraft, which made it easy for less advanced countries to support in primitive conditions,” says Terry Aitken, senior curator of the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
According to Reesman, who as a young USAF fighter pilot in Vietnam often flew against the MiG-17, this airplane leveled the playing field between the North Vietnamese and American air forces. “In Korea, we flew the F-86 against the MiG-15. We shot down 10 MiGs for every one fighter we lost,” he says. “In Vietnam, we flew against the MiG-17, and the kill ratio dropped dramatically. For every one plane we got of theirs, they got three-quarters of one of ours.”
The MiG-17 had the tightest turning radius of any fighter jet
of the period. It had three cannons on its nose, a near-smokeless Klimov VK-1
engine and, according to Reesman, unparalleled visibility. “It was so effective
against us that it actually changed the way we built fighters in the United
States,” he says. “The next generation of U.S. fighters—the F-15, F-16 and
F-18—all encompassed a lot of the characteristics of the MiG-17.”
Although
Soviet production of the jet ended in 1958 with more than 6,000 manufactured,
the USSR licensed production to nations such as Poland and China well into the
1960s. By the end of the Cold War, seven countries had built nearly 10,000
MiG-17s. Though it was eventually replaced by more sophisticated aircraft, this
fighter continued to see service in various nations well into the 1980s. Today
the MiG-17 is considered an antique. Only North Korea still uses it as a
frontline attack fighter.
Red Flight Special
BILL REESMAN, who has bought and refurbished two MiG-17s, flies his
single-seater at air shows throughout the country. Sponsors help defray the cost
of the hobby.
After the collapse of communism in the late 1980s,
members of the former Warsaw Pact suffered a period of crippling financial
turmoil, a situation that led to a veritable fire sale of military equipment. In
countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Russia itself, anyone with
hard currency could buy just about anything. Though a few Chinese and Bulgarian
MiGs ended up in the United States during this time, most came from Poland via a
Polish aircraft broker named Chester Dubaj. “We started importing these planes
in 1992,” says Dubaj, who lives in Phoenix. “From a fleet of 250 aircraft we
bought 50, and imported 36 of them to the United States.” Even though the planes
had been disassembled and demanded a considerable investment to restore them to
working order, collectors quickly snapped them up.
Around this time, Reesman
paid $150,000 for a restored Chinese MiG-17, but shortly after delivery, it blew
up; he left it burning on a runway. Undeterred, he turned to Dubaj, who, Reesman
says, was making a killing on the resale of his newly imported MiGs in the
United States. “He sold them at quite a markup from what he purchased them for.” Reesman paid Dubaj $35,000 for the single-seater that he flies today in
air shows.
 |
| RANDY BALL, president of Fighterjets, flies his MiG-17 at air shows. The number of airworthy MiG-17s is dwindling. |
According to Alby Redick, president of Aviation Classics, a firm
in Reno, Nev., that brokers and restores classic aircraft, the mid-1990s also
saw other American collectors go to Europe in search of surplus military
aircraft. Many of them came home with only empty pockets. “They paid deposits to
unscrupulous people and never got their airplanes. There are black hats in this
business,” he warns, “though most of us play by the rules.”
For those who
bought their planes from Dubaj or other legitimate brokers, the airplanes
arrived in crates, looking more like scrap metal than ferocious fighter
aircraft. “Back then, these planes didn’t cost much more than a car,” Ball says.
“The problem was that a lot of guys who wrote checks didn’t understand that they
would have to invest six figures into the planes before they would actually
fly.”
Restoring a disassembled military aircraft, particularly one for which
manuals, parts and mechanical expertise are not readily available, is no small
task. Both Reesman and Ball hired teams of mechanics to reassemble the aircraft
and, to the extent possible, restore them to their original condition. “It was
in decent shape when I bought it, but it had been in storage in Europe with the
wings and the tail off,” Ball says. “We worked on it for over a year.” Reesman’s
team of 10 mechanics worked around the clock to restore his acquisition in
roughly two months, at a relatively low cost of $50,000.
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