US Civilian owned F-16's

**mack7.62** · 02-08-23, 22:00

So TOP ACES a US company bought 29 F-16's from Israel, they are flying as contract aggressor's against the Air Force, pretty cool. Sixteen of the 29 have 19 air to air kills plus a couple of helo kills.

**Hank6046** · 02-09-23, 11:53

I saw this already, my Step dad is a retired AF Colonel in the Phoenix who was trying to see how much it was to go for a ride with these guys

**john armond** · 02-09-23, 13:06

“If you wanted or if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons.”
FJB

In all seriousness, that’s pretty cool.

**chuckman** · 02-09-23, 13:08

There's a company in eastern NC who does the same thing, they fly A-4 Skyhawks, contracted with Seymour Johnson AFB (F-15Es) and Cherry Point MCAS (F-35). There's another company that flies a French aircraft, too.

That's a very cool gig.

**Johnny Rico** · 02-09-23, 13:33

That's crazy. I've heard of private armies, but private air forces?

**Det-Sog** · 02-09-23, 14:39

God, if I wasn't pushing 60 I'd quit my airline gig and go do that in a second.

**glocktogo** · 02-09-23, 14:41

Originally Posted by Johnny Rico

That's crazy. I've heard of private armies, but private air forces?

That's essentially what the Commemorative Air Force is.

https://commemorativeairforce.org/

**john armond** · 02-09-23, 15:17

Originally Posted by Johnny Rico

That's crazy. I've heard of private armies, but private air forces?

Howard Hughes had “the largest private Air Force in the world” in 1927 that he purchased for filming Hells Angels. Over 100 WWI military aircraft.

https://internationalaviationhq.com/...0for%20filming.