Rich Russian tries to buy U.S. bomber at air show

[warthogmadman987]

Found this story intresting and thought it was worth sharing here.

 

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Rich Russian tries to buy U.S. bomber at air show Fri Aug 24, 5:32 AM ET

 

 

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A wealthy Russian tried to buy a U.S. B-52 bomber from a group of shocked American pilots at an air show near Moscow, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday.

 

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The unidentified Russian, wearing sunglasses and surrounded by bodyguards, approached the U.S. delegation and asked to buy the bomber, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said.

 

An astounded member of the U.S. delegation said the bomber was not for sale but that it would cost at least $500 million (249.5 million pounds) if it were to be sold on the spot.

 

"That is no problem. It is such a cool machine," the Russian was quoted as saying by the newspaper, which said its reporter overheard the conversation. The bomber was not sold.

 

Russia's new rich, who built fantastic fortunes trading commodities and contacts after the fall of the Soviet Union, have made a name for themselves as ostentatious purchasers of everything from British football clubs to Faberge eggs.

[Laud]

LOL! Beeeing able to spend $500million the B-52 wouldn't be my first choice. Maybe this guys should visit his russian friends and go for a Su-35! ;)

[Deadman]

Are you going to tell me if you won the lotto like 144,000,000 you would not try to buy a Hog hell i would cauz you know its such a cool machine.:thumbup:

[3Sqn_Fudd]

The idiots over at Yahoo have the headline as this ...

 

"Pilots were shocked when a Russian offered to buy their B-2 bomber for $500 million"

[Scart]

LOL

[nscode]

LOL! Beeeing able to spend $500million the B-52 wouldn't be my first choice. Maybe this guys should visit his russian friends and go for a Su-35! ;)

 

Or the Buran :))

[plug pray]

the pilots could get rich.. imagine, what is a $5*10^8 in some african country))

[Raised_Dead85]

He probably trying to say something to the world in his own way.

[Groove]

500 million for a B-52 is too expensive !

[Slaunyeh]

LOL! Beeeing able to spend $500million the B-52 wouldn't be my first choice. Maybe this guys should visit his russian friends and go for a Su-35! ;)

 

Su-35 ain´t confortable enought to fit your whole family for a nice trip ! :D and comercial airlines are too common to be cool.

[Slaunyeh]

500 million for a B-52 is too expensive !

 

Not expensive enought for this guy it seems.

[Groove]

I meant a b52 must be cheaper. What is worth 500 millions on this thing ?

[Slaunyeh]

I meant a b52 must be cheaper. What is worth 500 millions on this thing ?

 

Its not about money.. its about being unique....

Buying a B52: 500.000.000,00;

Reforming it for X millions;

 

Seeing the face of your billionaire "friends" turn to ashes of envy have no price.

 

If your rich as this guy there´s nothing that can be bought that you can´t buy, so you seek what the others couldn´t do.

 

I know of a guy that used 2 millions USD just to make a wine degustation, he sought the wines during 5 years....

[Groove]

Slaunyeh, you dont understand what i meant ;)

 

No problem !

[nscode]

Mostly avionic I would guess.

[Specter1075]

I suspect the pilots just made up some large number as a way to disuade the guy, rather than out-right tell him that he cant buy it. I guess they just didnt choose a high enough number.

[Force_Feedback]

500 mil for a 50 year old refurbished rustbucket with stone age jet engines that produce thrust by expelling unburnt fuel? I'd say a huge rip-off, no more than 20 mil for such a flying museum piece. Is this part of the 'Moscow is for people from Moscow, and Russia is for Russians' kind of mentallity that it deserven enough press coverage to appear all over the world? Go ahead, make your city expensive, you still don't get the service for your money, so why bother? Instead you can go to, let's say Dubai, get all the stuff you wanted, and still have 5 mil to either wipe your ass with it or burn it in front of a crowd or something. Funny that the Americans follow suit in such approach, things are starting to adapt to the 'Russian' (ex-Soviet) luxury model; pay a lot, and get the same treatment as you would in some other country, but for 3 times the price. If you're lucky.

I still remember ice cream that costs like €25, which had ice crystals in it for cryin out loud, and I got these small chunks of it too. Man that blows, I can get really good icecream here for like €2, and it will be more, and actually taste good with no ice. So, what did those €23 buy me? Not taste, not service, not a quality environment, neither quantity. Again, expensive has no correlation with quality over there at all :/ The problem is that the few that do pay don't care, as long as they can spend money in front of others and 'impress' them. Pathetic if you ask me. 500 mil for a B-52, pfffft, jokers. And why not buy the ISS for that money, or 10 SR-71s, but one ugly dirty and outdated airframe, that's just not right.

[Slaunyeh]

The answer Groove, its nothing is worth the price given... your question is irrelevent here ;). Its just what FF said: they shooted high just to bug off the wanna be, and they ended in the wrong end of the stick.:D

Where i there i would have burst in laughter if i had overhead the conversation.:megalol:

LOL i would have payed some to see the faces of the crew and RP, and even more to know what raced in theyr mind!!!

They probably had to mutter some "This plane ainґt for sell" and bug off..

[Avimimus]

Su-35 ain´t confortable enought to fit your whole family for a nice trip ! :D and comercial airlines are too common to be cool.

 

But the Su-32FN...

 

Anyway, I would go for the utopian colony (or a specially maintainable rigid airship with sails)

 

P.S. I know that putting sails on a rigid airship is a stupid idea but there is a way to make it feasible (using aircurrents at different altitudes and the planing of the ship to adjust the downwind course)

[tflash]

he guys, what would you have bought at Maks 2007 (since BS was not available yet?)

 

I guess, given my favourite, the ekranoplane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE0H-NFupqY

 

wasn't on the show either, I would have bought myself an Su-35 of course!

[Groove]

The answer Groove, its nothing is worth the price given... your question is irrelevent here ;). Its just what FF said: they shooted high just to bug off the wanna be, and they ended in the wrong end of the stick.:D

Where i there i would have burst in laughter if i had overhead the conversation.:megalol:

LOL i would have payed some to see the faces of the crew and RP, and even more to know what raced in theyr mind!!!

They probably had to mutter some "This plane ainґt for sell" and bug off..

 

 

Ah, now i understand ! They just said 500 millions even they knew it cost less than that ? ...

 

Thanks for explaining it for me ;)

[Slaunyeh]

This ekranoplane is one of the ugliest military invention ever made even if the concept is cool...

They would have done nice ducks on a pond as targets...

[leafer]

I think going into the event, he knew that it's not for sale and wanted to show-off.

 

Larry Ellison tried to buy an F16 from the AF and in the process, a magazine picked up on the story. In the article, he said he wanted to buzz Bill Gates' mansion with it. :D

 

There are quite a few Russians living in Bangkok and I'd say just about all of them drive around in luxury car. The funny thing is, Bangkok is hot and humid and polluted, yet, these guys drove around with the windows rolled down. LOL That's like a HazMaz guy walking into a radioactive site with a thong.

 

I'm just saying, ok. Don't hate me because I often say the same thing about Asians. Show-off bunch of...