$70 Million Jet Reportedly Sells For Under $20k
Is there anything you can't buy on eBay? A UK aircraft
enthusiast scored the bargain of a lifetime when he bought a
military fighter plane on the internet auction site -- for less
than $20,000.
Neil Banwell, 39, of Wedmore, Somerset, was the winning bidder
for a 1979 Sea Harrier ZX494 jump-jet (file photos above and
below). The 46-foot long aircraft came complete with two 30mm
cannons, but minus its Pegasus engine and computer systems. Even
the original ejector seat is still in place, though the explosive
charge had been removed.
"I didn't plan to buy it," Banwell said. "It was just a spur of
the moment thing and I didn't really know what I'd done. It was my
daughter Jess's 14th birthday and she put the bid on for me. We
then went out to a barbecue and the next morning we found out we
owned a Sea Harrier."
"We have got quite a bit of land so I knew I'd have somewhere to
put it. I guess it was an early Christmas present to myself," he
said.
Banwell said he's has always been fascinated by Harriers. He has
no plans to fly the jet... just restore it to its former glory.
"I just saw it advertised on eBay and thought I'd get it. They
really are remarkable things," he said.
The dismantled aircraft was delivered by two trucks in
December... one carrying the wings, and the other the fuselage. He
then used a crane to reassemble the plane at his home.
He bought the jet from an aircraft dealer in Suffolk, who had
purchased it after the Falklands war, which marked its 25th
anniversary last week.
The Sea Harrier was built in 1979, and reportedly led the first
attack in the Falklands and was flown by the commanding officer,
according to the UK Mirror.
On the historic flight on May 1, 1982 the jet was flown by Black
Leader Lt Cmdr Andy Auld, dropping cluster bombs on Port Stanley
airfield. BBC journalist Brian Hanrahan, restricted from reporting
actual aircraft numbers during battle, said as they returned to the
aircraft carrier, "I've counted them all out, and I've counted them
all back."
Argentinian pilots nicknamed Sea Harriers the "black death,"
after the menacing planes shot down 21 enemy aircraft.
Banwell refuses to reveal how much his winning bid was, but
media reports put the price at £10,000, or roughly
$19,975.
"I don't really want to say how much it cost. Some people have
said it was £10,000, others said it was the price of a small
car, but neither is true," he said.
He added, "I'll be working on the plane now and doing it up a
bit. I'm also hoping to find out a bit more about it from records
and history books."