Although I’m more interested in history and naval/land forces than in fighter aircraft, I was enthusiastic about the new possibility to fly MiG 29 Fulcrum fighter aircrafts in Russia. Given the very high cost of operating a MiG 29 Fulcrum jet fighter, I was surprised that the price to fly MiGs is not that high.

When entering the airbase to fly a MiG 29, I realized that not much changed since the Soviet time, even when fly MiGs is possible in this place now. It seemed to me that the behavior of the crew there hasn’t changed much: They are old-fashioned, and talking a lot about the glory of the old time, when Mikoyan MiG 29 Fulcrum and Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker frightened the NATO-member countries and their military leaders. Somehow you can feel as “fly mig-tourist” in Russia that some older members of the ground crew would probably prefer to see flying MiGs to defend the Russian glory rather than flying MiG with passengers from western countries.

"I was dreaming to fly in a fighter jet since I was a child", says Bryan, a now 32-year old technology consultant. Years ago, he applied to the USAF since he wanted to fly a fighter jet just like other people drive a car. Unfortunately, he couldn't become a pilot as his eyes classification turned out to be too low for flying jet. Few people can tell that it's still possible to fly a jet fighter, even if you've never made a military career: Civilians are flying jet fighters on different airfields all over the world. How's that? Thanks to excellent connections to jet operators, specialized companies like Zurich-based MiGFlug are able to allow anyone interest to fly a jet fighter - provided these people have the funds required to fly in a fighter jet. MiGFlug maintains a network of experienced jet flight instructors who can take their clients in the air for a single jet flight. Flying jet is no low-cost adventure: Fuel is only one part of the cost of the jet fighter experience; maintenance, technology usage and taxes further add to the price to fly in a fighter jet. Bryan, however, doesn't mind these cost: "Even though my salary is average, I'm willing to spend two-thousand dollars on my dream to fly a fighter jet", he says.