I was actually being serious.

Granted, a person who has the financial means to buy a MIG-29 for personal use can probably also afford to purchase a variety of the highest-quality 3D printers available and a full-time staff to program and operate them. Beyond the fact, however, that I wouldn't trust a 3D-printed bolt in an aircraft capable of exceeding 9G and Mach 2.25, a number of practical considerations are raised, such as the fact that airplanes contain many electronic systems, parts made from non-printable materials such as glass and rubber, etc.

 

Home depot and a stick welder should keep you going.

 

Buy another one as a "parts plane"?

 

I'd buy an AH-64D in a hearbeat if I had the money.

Probably not a Fulcrum though, I always disliked the soviet aircraft (great looking [MIG29, SU-27] but poor technology, even though they are pretty maneuverable given that they are not FBW).

 

It seems where there's a will (and a wallett) . . . . Eastern block and Sino aircraft are actually pretty popular here, most popular being the Nanchang CJ-6 and the most popular jet being the Aero L-39. Spares don't seem to be an issue for those owners.

There are also early MIG jets flying in this country, 15s and 17s mostly. I know a guy in Boise with a MIG-3. With these older aircraft, spares/repairs are usually custom-made.

I think a MIG-29 would be a different animal. It's still a front line aircraft in a lot of places. There are probably treaties related to armament trading that would prohibit export of parts. But, again, see sentence #1.

 

Anything that was made once can be made again, for the right price of course.

 

Except for the ONE TRUE RING



that can't be re-made...

 

a close friend of mine works in an aerospace machine shop that does a large amount of parts for air frames that are long since out of production. and im sure if you know the right people, there is NOS to be had somewhere. in the case of parts like turbine blades that may be difficult or impossible to reproduce without the original tooling, i guess they could do retrofits.

 

Also buy one and keep it N/A for the track.

 

^