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Anyone want a Bear?


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Assuming one has somewhere around $20m... I wonder what the import process for something like that would be like? There's 6 inches worth of paperwork to bring an exotic car into the country, I can't imagine how much hassle a Soviet Bomber would be.

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Sadly, the current director (or rather, Emperor) of the National Museum of the United States Air Force TURNED DOWN the offer of a FREE - AIRWORTHY - Tu-95MS Bear H some years ago. Why, you ask? Lots of people have that exact same question.

J

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Sadly, the current director (or rather, Emperor) of the National Museum of the United States Air Force TURNED DOWN the offer of a FREE - AIRWORTHY - Tu-95MS Bear H some years ago. Why, you ask? Lots of people have that exact same question.

J

Where would they have put the dang thing? Only now is the USAF Museum gathering funds to break ground on a hangar that could be used to house a space shuttle and a Bear is MUCH bigger then that. No matter if Russian aircraft are notorious for their robustness, park it for a few years outside and it will begin to deteriorate like anything else due to the seasonal weather changes.

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Sadly, the current director (or rather, Emperor) of the National Museum of the United States Air Force TURNED DOWN the offer of a FREE - AIRWORTHY - Tu-95MS Bear H some years ago. Why, you ask? Lots of people have that exact same question.

That question has been asked in the past - and answered. Jay hit it on the head in his post. Their dance card is full.

Given their request for a Shuttle, and with the XC-99, two B-17's, and countless other aircraft in restoration. Plus they have wanted for some time to have ALL (including a future C-5) displayed indoors...that's a lot. I think the Tu-95 is one of the coolest planes ever and I'd love more than anybody to see one down there.....but I also understand those guys have limitations.

I just figured If I wanted to see a Tu-95 here, I'd just have to buy it myself....but those stoopid powerball numbers just won't cooperate with me! :lol:

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I love how their website proclaims "Your first choice for Russian military trucks and military vehicles". Damn right! I'm never buying my Hinds from the local supermarket again!

On a (slightly) more serious note, if my numbers did come up I'd be tempted to buy a Soko Kraguj, that aircraft looks like a lot of fun. I'm also wondering if SWMBO would let me plonk a Orao in our back garden...

Vince

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That question has been asked in the past - and answered. Jay hit it on the head in his post. Their dance card is full.

It wasn't the case 12-15 years ago when the thing was offered. There was a plan to incorporate it into the Cold War exhibit, nose to nose with a B-52, and it would have fit. Space was not the issue stated for the refusal of the offer. The refusal was "we never went against the Bear in combat". Oh really? If that's the criterion, then we'd need to get rid of a whole bunch of artifacts in the collection. And I'd also argue that the F-15s I saw taking off from Galena sure appeared to have live AIM-7s and AIM-9s under their wings. Luckily they didn't have to fire them, but they were live missiles and the USSR was our stated enemy at the time.

No, it was a political decision that was just dumb, like many other decisions made at that institution.

J

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I wonder if a private museum like the PIMA one in Tucson would be a place that could pick it up? They have a bunch of really large airframes sitting outside AND it is the location our govt decided AMARG should go since the weather was near perfect for long term storage of aircraft.

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No, it was a political decision that was just dumb, like many other decisions made at that institution.

J

I must admit, looks dumb to me, I would have loved to see that nose to nose with a B-52!

Going back to the russian guys I definatly want a Hind!!

As for the tracks, some of these actually come over on our ship at work, some look ok, but some in pretty bad condition. mainly seemed to be ex Czech stuff.

Julien

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