Jerry buys F-16 Fighting Falcon

  The story is that he got the plane for $8 million from the Marines.    A
handful of F-16s were apparently used in the latter half of the 1980's at the
U.S. Navy's famous Top Gun aerial combat school- and one of the planes belonged
to the Marines.  The report says that after Top Gun closed due to budget cuts,
the F-16s were set aside with wing damage from wear and tear that was not
within the Navy budget to fix, so the F-16s were slated for the bone yard.
   Apparently Jerry has been turned on to sport flying by John Travolta, who
was responsible for the arrangements to purchase Jerry's jet and also now owns
one of the F-16Ns himself.  Both planes have been restored and are reported to
be airworthy.
  Jerry has hired two ex-Israeli fighter pilots to train him to fly the jet,
and reportedly has set aside a cool million for operation of the jet for 1,000
hours of flight time over the next year.  It is reportedly still armed:  fitted
with a 20mm Vulcan cannon- although reports are that no ammunition came with
the plane, and Jerry has no plans to obtain ammunition for it,  because of the
lengthy red tape that would be involved to obtain the necessary federal
permits.
   John Travolta has denied and laughingly dismissed a report by the National
Enquirer that Travolta has mulled plans to start a private Air Force of
Scientology.
    In the wake of the strange Enquirer report, Jerry Seinfeld's publicist
distanced his employer from the Travolta camp, saying they were only slight
acquaintances and that Mr. Travolta had merely helped in an unspecified vehicle
purchase for Mr. Seinfeld recently- but would offer no other details,  nor
would he confirm that the vehicle in question was a retired Navy fighter jet.

1. Top Gun did not close. It moved from Miramar California, to Fallon, Nevada.

2. If, and I stress "IF", he did have the plane, no way in hell would it be allowed to have a 20 mm cannon, or any armaments whatsoever.

• I have an extremely difficult time believing this story.

I'm no fighter pilot or admiral: just passing the story along--

A U.S. Marine F-16N that now belongs on a confidential basis to one Mr. Jerry
Seinfeld, thanks the intercession of his well connected fellow performer Mr.
John Travolta.
   Jerry is said to be little embarrassed about the extravagance of the
purchase ("more than twice the value of his entire Porsche collection, and a
million dollars a year to fly")   and also its military nature and doesn't want
it to be widely known he owns the aircraft.    Apparently he was taken up on a
VIP ride by the Blue Angels recently and described the experience as unlike any
other- and "sex-like-  in the supermodel sense".   A sky diving/bungee jumping
friend of Jerry's who also went along confirmed that he had never experienced a
thrill like it.  It apparently  addicted Jerry with one taste.
    He reportedly wears a disguise at all times at the small airport in New
York State where he is training to qualify as a private F-16 pilot with two
"famous ex-Israeli aces who have been retained at half a million dollars
apiece.
   The source reported the jets are a blast to fly:   F-16Ns are reputed among
Navy and Marine fighter pilots as the highest performance aircraft in the
history of the Naval Service from a pure thrust to weight ratio standpoint as
well as maneuverability-  and also the nature of the wide open bubble canopy
which makes you forget you are in an aircraft almost, the report says.
   The source report said Top Gun, the Navy's Fighter Weapon School at Naval
Air Station Miramar has been closed due to budget cuts.        Navy fighter
pilots and their aircrew now train at an interservice program at Air Force Base
Fallon, Nevada,  home of the Air Force's lesser known, "Red Flag" .
   It went on to say that all of the USN's F-16N formerly used as dissimilar
tactics aircraft have been replaced in favor of F/A-18s due to budget
considerations which would not allow for the repair of stress cracks on a
special squadron of  F-16Ns, now deactivated.
    Amazingly the report also did continue to talk about a Vulcan canon still
mounted on a number of F-16Ns sold to private collections and private parties,
and to say that a variety of very heavy machine guns and cannon are perfectly
legal to own in operating order in the U.S.   Its just that the permits entail
very long processes, are very hard to get, and you need to be willing to part
with an extremely large amount of money along with an unusually rigorous
background check.   On an aside, the report went on to mention a Colorado
Springs, Colorado gun dealer who is regularly seen driving around that town
with a four wheel drive vehicle mounted with operational and fully loaded .50
caliber machine guns as part of an advertising gimick to promote his large gun
dealership.

Just an update:

In the wake of the F-16 report, another report: public relations people for Jerry Seinfeld have stated that for security reasons they "never confirm or deny details about Mr. Seinfeld's arrangements for personal transportation, including specific vehicle descriptions he might own for his private use." And also that they "cannot comment on speculation about and in fact deny any recent aircraft purchases by Mr. Seinfeld."

A second follow up, citing an unnamed New York State aviation mechanic, says that an angry Mr. Seinfeld has ordered that his new airplane be moved this morning to a secluded offshore private airstrip. Pilots in the employ of Mr. Seinfeld reportedly ordered long range fuel tanks be mounted on the aircraft when they filed a last minute flight plan early today. Another anonymous source speculated the Woody Allen himself had made arrangements for the distraught Mr. Seinfeld to base his new airplane on Marlon Brando's private island in the South Pacific for the time being.

Where the hell did this story come from? The weekly world news?? For one, the F-16 has not been around for THAT long, and is an AIR FORCE airplane, not a navy. The navy has F-18's and F-14's. Plus, the US government has not been selling us aircraft to private citizens for at least the '70's. If he did buy it, he would have to buy it overseas, but that might piss off the US government and relations with that country. Does Jerry even know HOW to fly an airplane needless to say an f-16?? This thing is not a cessna 152. Pilots go through rigorous instruction on how to fly such a high performance aircraft. Get your facts straight. Frank

HannSC wrote:

!Frank wrote in message ...

the

navy.

I almost typed exactly the same thing but "the US Navy operates 26 Falcons, comprising 22 F16Ns and four TF-16N two seaters" from The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft" a book thicker than the Impressionist art book that George got stuck with (which I have too).

However, IF Jerry has an F-16, I still doubt it's of US Navy heritage.

Craig

Well, my father is retired Air Force. I asked him to explain that one to me. (1) The united states DOES NOT sell aircraft to civilians (2) Every foreign country we sell military aircraft with agrees not to sell that aircraft back to American citizens. (3) It is ILLEGAL to import anymore American warcraft.

In conclusion, even if Jerry managed to buy an F-16 from a citizen of another nation which bought that from the country which bought it from the us, he still couldn't import it. Plus, does anyone realize how complicated an F-16 is?? You don't have like an auto mechanic working on it. You have to have an electrica mechanic, structural mechanic, hydrolic specialist, etc for every part of the plain. Whoever originally posted this thing is a fucking moron. Frank

Ahem... You got a F-16?... You gotta question?

You ask the 8-Ball.

NO, I don't, but my dad is a retired Air Force fighter pilot. I think he would know a *little* about this. Frank

Y'see, Frank, what's going on here is that someone has made up a silly post about Jerry Seinfeld buying an F-16, basically as a joke. The idea is that people will read the post, knowing full well that it isn't meant seriously, and get a little chuckle out of it. The fact that the whole joke aspect went right over your head makes me wonder about you.

Johnny Pez

I want to thank your family for inventing Pez Johnny. We are all enjoying it enormously! It's a fine product I recommend daily to at least 5 people.

I doubt Jerry has an F-16 fighter.....period! Can anyone refer us to an article from any publication that tells the story? No? I didn't think so. It seems to me that for as long as this thread has been dragging on that those making the claim would have been able to substantiate it.

Jeff

DETROIT RED WINGS! STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

Well, my father is retired Air Force. I asked him to explain that one to me. (1) The united states DOES NOT sell aircraft to civilians (2) Every foreign country we sell military aircraft with agrees not to sell that aircraft back to American citizens. (3) It is ILLEGAL to import anymore American warcraft.

In conclusion, even if Jerry managed to buy an F-16 from a citizen of another nation which bought that from the country which bought it from the us, he still couldn't import it. Plus, does anyone realize how complicated an F-16 is?? You don't have like an auto mechanic working on it. You have to have an electrica mechanic, structural mechanic, hydrolic specialist, etc for every part of the plain. Whoever originally posted this thing is a fucking moron. Frank

The U.S. government does not sell to private parties any type of tactical aircraft that is still currently in service in this country. These are sold only to nations that are our allies. Does the term 'urban legend' mean anything to you people?

Jeff

DETROIT RED WINGS! STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

   But the report said he bought a 1980's vintage F-16   -a special naval model
that is NO LONGER IN SERVICE.   I know of other military fighter jets that have
been owned by guys with a lot less cash than Jerry Seinfeld has under his
control.

The story should sounded convincing to me.   I mean where would you go on the
heels of Seinfeld if you were Jerry?   Disneyland wouldn't cut it.

aircraft that is still currently in service in this country. These are sold only to nations that are our allies. Does the term 'urban legend' mean anything to you people? Jeff DETROIT RED WINGS! STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!

On 15 Jul 1998 17:34:15 GMT, [email] (JW3045) wrote:

Do the words "Democratic National Committee" mean anything to you?

By the way Mr. Seinfeld, for an extra hundred thou we'll throw in floor mats and a cup o' coffee with Al Gore.

Dexter wrote:

Floor Mats! That's a scam Jerry, don't get the floor mats!

Its just that the permits entail very long processes, are very hard to get, and you need to be willing to part with an extremely large amount of money along with an unusually rigorous background check.>>>

a permit for a destructive device (which a 20mm cannon would be considered, anything with a bore over .5 inches) are only $200. The background check for the form 4 would only take a few months, which is just a standard FBI check. I very much doubt that he got the cannon however. It would be cool, but I doubt it.

Now, if it were say a MiG-29 or another model MiG that would be more believable. Anyone with hard currency can pick one up these days--armaments and all, I'm sure (at the right price--which ain't too high). And I'm sure he could find pilots to train him from any of the number of countries that have MiG-29s. (He wouldn't have paid less than $8 million, too.)

   We had a guy near where I'm from that owned his own F-86
(which was Korean War).   But it was a fighter jet.   He used to fly it in
airshows.
   Also I know the F-16 was always meant to be a basic, cost-effective
dogfighter and everybody in NATO uses it and some other countries make it
besides us.
---Also I know a brand new F-16 cost about 12 million bucks just a few years
ago-  so I believe he could get his hands on a used one for the right price.
And Jerry's got money to burn.

high). And I'm sure he could find pilots to train him >>>from any of the number of countries

I wonder if he'll do airshows over Mets games when he gets more confidence as a pilot?

LOL! I sure wish the old jerry come back down to earth to entertain us again in the near future. He is starting to sound like Howard Hughes. alt showbiz gossip

I dunno...for a guy who's sounding like Howard Hughes, he sure is around a lot, and doing a lot of the things he always did (ball games, plays, films, hanging out with friends, etc...) I get the impression that if you're around Manhattan enough this fall, you'll probably be more than likely to run into him someplace...

  Speaking of which  ("coming back down to earth to entertain us again")   -
talked to a friend in Denver yesterday.   There was a surprise commercial
during Thursday night's rebroadcast episode about tickets going on sale the
next morning for another one of Jerry's live summer performances in that town
next week .
   Blew everyone away in Denver and around the region-  I guess no one knew it
was coming.   Cool.
   Tells NBC to kiss his ass and then casually takes off on tour.  There is no
cooler man in the history of American performing arts.