JP,
There are very few flyable Lightnings in the world and they're mainly (all?) in South Africa. I don't know what the going rate for a P-51 is but it's steep, last I heard over a million (and that was a long time ago). You utter swine, I want one or the other (though the sensible part of me says T-38 Talon) and you're trying to price me out of the market.

You should see the size of his retainer from Amazon too Nick!
Seriously though, the Not so Wild West one looks interesting.
The gunslinger myth is just that. Practically no-one had handguns back then, and couldn't hit anything with them if they had. They used to be used to bang in nails like hammers not blow away the bad guys.
In 1860 you were more likely to be shot in down town Merthyr Tydfill in Mid Glamorgan, than Tombstone Arizona!

The P-51 Mustang is still the best-looking, and baddest-ass looking, plane ever built, IMHO. The thing just screams "SPEED"!

Nah... Sea Fury

Crawford, you fool! It's the coolest prop plane (at least from the bubble canopy D plus models - was it the D-25 when they introduced it?).

But it's a prop and that just ain't as cool as a jet. No how, no way. Can it do this?

Can it go completely off-axis, can it super-cruise at Mach 1.5? Can it stand on it's tail? Does it howl like a panther passing a kidney stone? Does it hell. That's progress for ya.

RAB,
I prefer the Clint Eastwood West. "Not a hard man to track - he leaves dead men behind him..." Reckon so!

Perry's almost right because it must be pointed out that, when it comes to piston-engined fighters, the Sea Fury (awesome though it is) is up against the Bearcat, which I understand holds the speed record for anything with a reciprocating engine. The Fury has a better name. Perhaps the best name for a plane ever. Though I do think Supermarine Spitfire rolls off the tongue rather well and Supermarine Spiteful is really getting there but then I thought the Republic Thunderceptor was awesomely cool. I was vaguely dissapointed with Eurofighter Typhoon - should have been Tempest. I do like the follow on to the Predator drone's name, the Reaper. Pulled the iron out of the fire there after the pants "Global Hawk".

Campaign for Real Combat Aircraft Names.

No Ponchos in Pontypridd either , but you were much more likely to lose your sheep and your life.
I can see where this thread is going already.
The White hot afterburner Club has assembled ;-)

Campaign for Real Combat Aircraft Names

Scotland, in it's new found confidence is building a fighter.
Called the" See You Jimmy"

RAB I doubt there was much of town in Tombstone in 1860.

As for Wales - well yes like the rest of Britain firearms were very common at least till the First World War.

However, there did tend to be more violent crime in the United States than in Britain.

Although, yes, I would have much rather lived in the "Wild West" then in places like "Hells Kitchen" in New York - or even in the Barbary section of San Francisco.

Cities are fine if you are rich - but if you are not, stick to small towns in the country.

I would not have liked to have lived in the East End of London either.

By the way Kettering was a great place to live just before the First World War.

Gotch was building some of his best buildings, the boot and shoe trade was prosperious, and farming was doing fairly well (having recovered from the bad times of the late 19th century).

As for books.

"Blacklisted by History" (by Stanford-Evans - spelling alert) is on its way to me.

I am imformed it is a good defence of Senator McCarthy. A great fighter against the Nazis and the Communists.

Ideal Christmas reading.

As nice as the EE Lightning is, it is a complex aircraft requiring a dedicated maintenance staff and a very large bank account. There are also only a couple in flyable condition so you would have to take a decade and a bin of money to rebuild one... there is a group in Georgia doing just that I believe. Once you have it flying, it might be fun but does not have much endurance so you can't really go much of any place. it's a point defense fighter, basically. Take off fast, climb like a bat out of hell, shoot down a Bear and get back to base (if it is not yet a glowing hole) before you run dry.

For classics I'd say you are best off starting with the AT6/SNJ. If you can afford that and master it, then perhaps move up the next notch to a Spitfire or P-51. Both are reasonably maintainable airplanes that can take you somewhere. If you want to really go long distance, then the P-51 wins hands down. It's job was to support long range bombers all the way to target and back and that makes it a good mount for one person travel...

As to jets, I'd say if you really want one, go for the L-29. Maintainable, flyable, good range and lots of parts around.

And yes there is a trade-a-plane..

But if you treasure "the wind thru one's flowing locks" style of flying, may I suggest the B1-RD. Which is also affordable.

Chheers

"Propellerhead" by Anthony Woodward is the best flying book I've read. Wonderful stuff. Oddly out of print now, but you can still find it.

"And yes there is a trade-a-plane.."

Barnstormers.com

I could be wrong, but I'd bet there is no one here wealthy enough to own and maintain a combat jet of any sort (and I include the L-29 in this). Even the high-end recips are outrageous, and then we get to talk about flight proficiency maintenance in any of these types.

All this is very, very un-typical civil aviation.

Dale,
Seeing as we are talking about fighter planes which are clearly money-pits par excellence then quite frankly saying an EECo Lightning is expensive to run is a quantitive, not qualitative judgement. In short. If you can afford a fighter jet you can afford any fighter jet.

Billy Beck,
How about this? Now I know it isn't a warbird and 500kts is hardly hair on fire territory but... Otherwise it seems like a T-38 on the cheap.

If you liked Jamie Whyte's book, you should read the essay "What is Wrong With Our Thoughts?" by David Stove (online) which inspired it.