By BERNARD ORSMAN
Want to buy a couple of MiG 21 fighter planes to take over the defence of New Zealand skies?
On the day that Helen Clark will declare New Zealand's air combat force of Skyhawks redundant, a Ponsonby real estate agent is doing some arms dealing on the side with a couple of the deadly Russian jet fighters on his books.
For $500,000, or goods to the same value, David Northfield will arrange delivery of two of the jets, promising twice the performance of the Skyhawks, "no spares but heaps of missiles."
The missiles bit is an exaggeration, but David Northfield thinks it is a good way to "buck up" an advertisement in the Herald.
The owners' identities remain a mystery but in the late 1990s one of the twin-seater fighters was owned by the late Neil Roberts, the flamboyant television man and speed freak who never got himself airborne at Mach 2.2 (2253 km/h) in the ultimate toy.
The two aircraft were imported from Poland in 1992 and last flown when they came through Australia to rest on a Pokeno farm and in Queenstown.
An Auckland company, Adventure Fighter Flights, toyed with the idea of getting one of the jets in the air to sell supersonic joyrides at $7000 a trip but was scared off by the $250,000 cost.
It is understood the jets - both 1969 models - are in storage in South Auckland.
One of the men involved in their ownership, Richard Glasson, yesterday refused to discuss the aircraft.
The president of the Warbirds Association, Trevor Bland, said there was no reason why the MiG 21s could not be made to fly again.
But he said his association was more interested in the Air Force Skyhawks.
"The Skyhawks have been in New Zealand for 32 years and are part of our aviation history," he said. "Our aim is to keep them flying so the public can keep enjoying them."
Herald Online feature: Our national defence
May the force be with you - for a mere $500,000
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